Big Indiana Bass

Jacob on the way home from Beaver Lake, weighing in with his final thoughts on event #3.

I'm not exactly sure where to start this journal, as I'm still scratching my head.  Coming out of practice, I thought I could catch 9-11#/day and it just didn't happen.  What I haven't learned to understand is how the Ozarks lakes can change so quickly and how you have to adapt with conditions and I didn't do a good job of that this week.

I was finesse fishing this week and got on a solid bite in practice, with most days producing 10-20 keepers using River Rat Tackle shaky heads.  For whatever reason my areas just didn't produce and I can't explain it.  Maybe I picked the wrong areas, maybe I should have fished differently.  Either way, we learn lessons from mistakes and I'm still sorting through this one.

I'm off to Kentucky Lake for the Everstart event and am looking forward to that.  It almost feels like a homecoming when we go there, and it will be great to spend a week with my family there and one of my best friends who will be fishing the Everstart as a co-angler.

I'm ready to put Beaver behind me.  Hopefully I didn't slide too far down in the points race, but I'm sure I'll have some making up to do at the Potomac.

Illinois is leading the way in the High School bass fishing arena, now with 231 official school clubs in the state. A simple Google Search will lead to a lot of stories on the subject. Here's a recently published video of one of their most recent regional events.

Practice here at Beaver Lake is now finished and we're off to clean up, rest up, rig up, and spend time with 8th graders in Rogers, AR on Wednesday.

Practice saw some pretty tough fishing conditions, with strong north winds the first two days and a strong south wind on day three.  We appear to be in between spawning waves, and there are a lot of ways to catch fish right now although many of them are small and non-keepers.  I have no history here, but the fishing seems tough even for Beaver.  Unless something changes, I definitely don't think the weights will be at the high end of the spectrum for Beaver.  8-12#/day will do just fine, but it's not easy. 

Spotted bass only have to be 12" to be a legal keeper, but those may not even weigh a pound.  Largemouth, smallmouth, and meanmouth must all be 15", but they're going to weigh a lot more and those bites will be key in moving up the leaderboard.  I feel good about this event....about as good as a guy could feel about a tough lake. I'd love to grind out a Top 50 here on move on to the 2nd half of the season on some power fishing venues and a shot at Kentucky Lake.

Our time with about 100 eighth-graders was spent dealing with bullying during a retreat that brought students in from various middle schools around Rogers.  It was certainly an eye-opening experience to get inside the minds of 13-15 year olds in today's world.  My boys are 5 and 7 now, and it will only be a few short years away before we'll be dealing with these same issues in our household.  During several large and small group exercises, it became very clear that there are some unspoken social structures in our schools.  While we may think of bullying as a violent type of behavior, I'm learning that it can be as subtle as the "popular" group of kids making the "unpopular" group of kids feel inferior, unworthy, or unloved. 

Folks, if you have kids, neighbors, relatives that are in their teens, please take time to spend with them to talk with them about this.  Let them know that they are each children of God, whom He loves richly despite their faults and shortcomings. Let them know that they have a choice in what they believe about themselves and their worthiness.  Let them know you love them.

Day 1 begins tomorrow.  Pre-tournament meeting, a trip to the service trailer to repair a damaged transducer, and tackle prep are on the agenda for the afternoon.

Thanks for the prayers and well-wishes this week!

Lake Waveland is one of the best bass lakes in the state again this year, and the Hendricks County Bass Masters will be having an Open Tournament there on June 10th, 2012. See the attached (downloadable) entry form for more information. Don't delay because there is a 25 boat limit for fishing tournaments at Lake Waveland.
 
Go to http://www.hendrickscountybassmasters.com/ for more information on the Hendricks County Bass Masters.

Download HCBM Waveland Open June 2012

Terrance and are on our way to Rogers, AR to begin practice on Beaver Lake for our 3rd FLW Tour Major of the year.  It's been a hectic few weeks at home after our last week at Table Rock, Beaver, and Kentucky Lake.  It's also been a busy few weeks at the office working with and serving my insurance clients.  But it's such a blessing to have the opportunity to travel the country and do what I love to do most - fish!

My brother Troy and I were blessed with a great day during the Jet-A-Marina Classic two weeks ago, weighing in 23 pounds and beating many of the best teams on Kentucky Lake, and several guys I've grown up watching and learning from over the years.  Several years of hard work have went into winning a tournament of that caliber (300+ boats), and we're proud to now have that feather in the cap.  More importantly, Troy now has bragging rights within the Tournament Director Staff at FLW for a whole year.

Now to Beaver.  It's my first event on the lake, and I'll be honest, this tournament makes me a bit nervous.  Had you asked about my strengths as an angler 5 years ago, it would have been finesse fishing and competing in low-weight tournaments.  However, over the past few years I've really started to grow into more of a power fisherman. 

Beaver Lake sets up pretty well for the sight fishermen and finesse specialists, and it will probably prove to be a much lower-weight event than any other venue on the schedule.  Ounces will separate pros on the leaderboard this week, and this lake has a lot of small fish to work with.  I'm going to have to tap back into those mental resources that growing up fishing tournaments in Indiana have taught me.  In the big picture, it's also an important week to have a solid finish here to stay in the points race and have a shot at the Forrest Wood Cup in August.  You have to approach each event methodically and one day at a time.  I naturally like to plan and set goals, but sometimes it's important to not get caught up in anything but the day that's in front of us.

The week appears to have fairly cool and stable weather in store, which should make for some pleasant days to spend on a beautiful lake.  3 days of practice from sunrise to sunset, then an off-day on Wednesday where we will be spending some time in the Rogers schools with students in working with their anti-bullying program.  We're looking forward to that as well.

I'll check back after practice finishes up!

For guys interested in the Wed. evening tourneys that are held in Indy, director Doug Ashley has created a website with all the info about dates, times and limits. Doug is also a numbers guy, and has compiled one of the best sets of historical tourney data for his events that are now available on the site. The records go back to 2001 when the circuit first started. Check it out at the link below:

White River Wednesday Night Tournaments