Lanier.

Last week I had the pleasure of going out for the first time with my new pro-staff team to pre-fish a tournament at Lake Lanier.  Not only were they great company but we worked great together to come up with a game plan and figure out what was going on with the lake. 
When you fish a lake a lot you kind of get in tune to whats going on with it.  You know with alot of confidence where the fish are and what they are doing.  You can figure out where they're going fast and it's just one of those instances where everything just clicks.  It's a great feeling. 
Last saturday I had that feeling after fishing a lake one time.  Thanks to all the help and input from the other pro-staffers I was able to figure out what I thought was a winning pattern.  I had a great week leading up to the tournament and was really looking forward to hopefully being competative at the tournament. 
After a week of anticipation the time had finally arrived.  Tournament day!  I wokeup at 4am and headed straight for the lake.  I was so excited I got to the ramp at 5:15.  Over an hour before I could start fishing!  Not to waste time I loaded up the kayak and headed out in the dark to one of the spots I wanted to fish.  When the time finally came I was able to stay calm and not go into overdrive mode like I did at my one and only previous tournament.  I slowed my fishing way down and after about 30 minutes I was able to land a pretty small fish.  (7 1/2 inches)  I was happy I had one of my three fish needed but kind of bummed to start off with such a dink fish.  I wanted to get at least 50 inches out of my three biggest fish to be confident in my day.  Never the less, I was happy I had caught a fish and was hoping it was a sign of things to come!  After about 20 more minutes I landed another fish.  Another dink, but this one was 9 1/2 inches.  Not huge but a step in the right direction!  Unfortunately, after I landed it the fish flopped out of my hands and went back into the water before I could take a picture for the tournament!  After I landed (and lost) this fish I fished for a little bit longer in my spot and decided two things. 
1) there were fish in this spot but they were small
2) I needed to get to another spot and see if I could find bigger fish. 
The whole time I spent worrying about how much the lost fish could cost me if I couldnt land some bigger ones.  I needed three fish total and I was only at 1!  I kept trying to ignore the tiny voice in the back of my head yelling "I CAN'T BELIVE YOU LOST THAT FISH!  THAT COULD COST YOU!"  So I pressed on to another spot I thought could be productive.  When I arrived I was able to make my first cast right where I wanted it and sure enough, I had a fish on!  When I landed it, it measured 10 1/2 inches.  GREAT!  Now all I needed was one more fish and I could start culling (in tournaments you only count your three biggest fish.  When you get rid of a smaller fish for a bigger one to count it's called a cull)  After fishing this spot for another 20 minutes I decided to move across to another bank.  I felt like the fish had moved slightly and gone to another bank since the last time I had fished in this spot.  Everything was starting to click for me.  Sure enough, after a few minutes of fishing the other bank my line starts swimming.  ANOTHER BITE!  I was almost positive it was a dink but happy I had a fish on.  So I set my hook and to my disbelif a HUGE fish came up from the water.  As soon as I saw it I started praying I could land it.  I KNEW this fish could possibly win me the tournament.  I took alot of time to land it and once I did it took everything I could not to jump out of my kayak and start screaming!  I was SO PUMPED!  I put it on the measuring board and took some pictures, it was 18 inches!!  I was so ecstatic I even took some pics of myself holding it and I weighed it as well.  It was 3 1/2 lbs.  Not a huge fish on an average day.  But for a tournament at this particular lake, it was a game changer! 
I was now up to 36 inches total and culling and it was only around 9am.  I had only been fishing for 2 1/2 hours and I had 3 more hours to fish!  Let the culling begin!   My very next cast after the big fish I caught another fish.  This one was 13 1/2 inches!  That put me up to 42 inches with plenty of time left!  I continued fishing for a couple more hours and caught a few more fish but nothing bigger than my three biggest.  A few minutes before I had to go back for the ""weigh in" I decided to hit one last spot.  Low and behold I was able to catch a 14 1/2 incher!  This put me at 46 inches total.  Close to my goal. 



Last fish of the day and she culled!

 I was happy but filled with anticipation.  I kept telling myself.  I did a great job and I did the best I could do.  Now all I could do was give it to God and hope for the best.  But reguardless, I was happy with my performance! 
When I arrived at the meeting place I was immediately greeted by several people asking me how I did.  When I told them I had a limit they seemed surprised.  I guess others were having a hard time catching limits.  when I turned in my pictures I was informed I was currently 1st.  All I could do now was wait untill all the other anglers got there before the time limit was up. 
To make a long story somewhat short.  I won it.  Everything was clicking, and after I had a decent limit I was having alot of fun!  I wanted redemption for a bad showing at the Acworth tournament and I got it!! 
Hopefully this is a sign of great things to come and I hope me and my other pro-staffers can keep this going.  (Another pro-staff team member won the previous tournament at lake acworth)  This makes 2 in a row for us! 
Right now I am still super pumped (guess you couldn't tell by the use of all the caps) and I can't WAIT to see what the future holds for me and my other teammates. 
For now, I'll keep fishing and practicing and take care of some other obligations that I have. 
Take care everyone! 



18inches!  I love this fish!