Finally, the year that wouldn’t end is now coming to an end. There is a lot on the line this week for a lot of guys, myself included. These fall tournaments have not been real kind to me. They could have been worse, but they certainly could have been a lot better.
I wouldn’t say I’m on the bubble for the Classic in 34th place, but I certainly need to catch them this week. Barring a disaster, I am on pace to make the Classic. That is definitely the goal this week. Obviously, I want to win the tournament, but if I can get some points, that will be a victory in my eyes. You can’t win the Classic unless you are there, so making the Classic is always a good way to judge the season.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have made the Classic five out of my six seasons on the Elites so far. Hopefully, I can run that number up to six out of seven.
This event is my second tournament on Lake Fork, but I haven’t been here this time of year before. Most people haven’t been here this time of year either; only a handful of guys have any experience at this time of year that I know of.
It’s going to be another one of these fall, junk-fishing types of tournaments like we’ve seen over the past few events. We won’t see 28 pounds each day to win like Brandon Cobb did in 2019 when we were here. Fish still live in the lake, and they don’t leave, so they are out there somewhere.
Overall the weights are down, though. This lake has so many big ones in it, so we should see more weight caught than we have in these past three fall events, just because there are so many 4- to 8-pound bass swimming around here.
Water temps are down in the low to mid 60s so this one is finally an actual fall event. These others were more like lake summer events, so that is a good thing. There are fish everywhere, too. I’ve caught fish from 1.5 feet deep to 15 feet. I haven’t caught a lot of fish, but I’ve got a couple of different deals going.
For certain, when the water gets down in the 60s in the fall, I feel like that it is time to start flipping and pitching a jig – a lot. From now until the prespawn, I like to throw a jig. This week I will tie up two rods with a 1/2-ounce jig and an X Zone Lures Muscle Back Craw on the back and fish it on 20-pound Vicious fluorocarbon. I’ll lock it in my hands for the most part.
A jig is a big-fish bait, and the Phoenix Boats Big Bass of this event wins a new Toyota Tundra. That’s just awesome. I own a Tundra but would certainly like to have another one.
A jig can be flipped, pitched, cast and skipped under docks, so I will be fishing a jig many different ways this week.
I would rate my practice as decent, and I found an area of the lake I think I will stay in. This place isn’t real big so you can run around here a bit. I’ve got a good place to start Day 1, and we will see how this one goes.
Y’all stay tuned.