April 2001

April 2001

(New Hampshire)
Dan writes:
We spent just over two weeks at home in New Hampshire. Since we were living at Bob & Flo’s house we weren’t able to have the kids overnight, but they live only ten minutes away and we tried to spend as much time with them otherwise as we could. This included the following:

Chris and I went bowling after school;
Kate and I filled out her first-ever tax-return;
Jeff and Chris and I went up to the lake house for a day (where the snow drifts were still anywhere from three to six feet deep!);
Annie and I went to Kate’s first tennis match of the season;
Chris and I went bowling again, and took Annie with us this time;
Annie and Kate went shopping;
Chris and I went to the baseball batting cages;
Annie and I went to Kate’s second tennis match;
I took Chris to his Babe Ruth baseball tryouts;
We went to see Kate’s third tennis match;
We picked up Jeff and drove him home from track practice two or three times;
I drove Chris to school when he missed the bus;
Annie and I went to Chris’s football booster club meeting;
Jeff, Chris, Annie and I went to Boston to see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park.

Aside from all that, Kaitlyn and Brandon, Annie’s niece and nephew, slept over one night, which happened to be the night it snowed six or eight inches. The three of them bundled up, went out and made snowmen in the yard. Also, Annie went shopping with her mom once or twice (and even once with her dad!), the two of us met with a local Realtor who is going to work on trying to find us a house, we made airplane reservations for our next trip home, and we spent a great deal of time creating, printing, and submitting more sponsorship proposals. We picked up one new sponsor this week - H2Optix sunglasses, so everyone should check out the new link on our website.

Also this trip home I did a radio interview for ESPN radio with Hoot & Flakes - two guys who’ve got a TV show on ESPN on Saturday mornings, as well as a nationally broadcast radio show. (The show can also be accessed from the ESPN Outdoors section of the ESPN.com website.) I also sent some emails off to Japan, to try and find out how serious Noriaki was about coming back to the states to do some more fishing. I told him that I’d be honored to take him out again, and that the little grub he was throwing down on Lake Martin a couple of weeks ago would be just the thing for these smallmouth up here in New Hampshire.

Finally, we took a drive up to Kittery, Maine one day to visit a big sports shop there. We attended a bass fishing seminar in the evening and while there, Annie got tapped on the shoulder and asked if she wasn’t the one these people had seen on TV and who writes that journal for ESPN. Well of course that just thrills her to death, to be recognized like that far from home, so after that she’s ready to get back to work fishing! Let’s go!

Thursday, April 12

(Leaving New Hampshire)
For some crazy reason we decided we would begin after dinner tonight our 1,000 mile, non-stop drive to Tennessee. Today we spent packing all our stuff and loading up the truck, and with that out of the way we then went over to see the kids after school. We were going to go to one more tennis match today but that got rained out, so we threw the baseball with Chris for a half-hour in the yard and then went and picked up Jeff after track practice. After dropping him at home we returned to Bob & Flo’s for one last dinner, then at 7pm we were off. We’re headed for Knoxville first, to pick up the camper and the boat, and from there it will be another 750 miles over to Arkansas and Beaver Lake for the FLW tournament. I hope it’s springtime there - there’s still snow on the ground here in New Hampshire.

Friday, April 13

(Driving to Arkansas)
We made it to Knoxville and to our motorhome at 4pm. It was so nice to be home. The sun was shining, it was 75 degrees and we were in shorts and sandals. We considered cranking up the big diesel and putting a few more miles under our belts before hitting the sack, but decided instead to unload the truck, get everything unpacked and put away, and stay the night right where we were. Exhaustion got the better of us, and we were in bed by 8:00.

Saturday, April 14

(Driving to Arkansas)
Annie writes:
Thank goodness Dan let me sleep this morning. I awoke at 8:30, took a much needed shower and was ready to hit the road. Our plan was to pick up the boat up from John & Laraine, who are about an hour away, but when we called to let them know we were coming they said they would meet us half-way, which saved us some time. It was wonderful to see them again, and when we said our good-bye’s this time it was not so difficult, as we will be seeing them again in only three days.

We drove most of the way across Tennessee, but stopped short of Memphis at a WalMart supercenter. There was nothing in our house to eat except a few condiments, some boxes of rice and some dog bones, so at 9pm we were inside WalMart doing our grocery shopping, and by 10pm we were in bed for the night in the WalMart parking lot.

Sunday, April 15

(Driving to Arkansas)
Annie writes:
What a night! It started off okay, but at 5am we woke to the sound of very loud rain on our roof. We both got up and looked outside, and it was not pretty. The rain was blowing sideways, and it was extremely windy, and the camper was actually shaking. I will admit, I was scared. I got dressed and thought for sure there was going to be a tornado, and we were going to have to evacuate. We sat in the living room and watched the whole storm. It is amazing that nothing flew into us. It was over in about a half hour, but that is a long time when you are sitting in it. I knew we would not be driving for a while, so I went back to bed. Dan was up for the day and began doing his computer work.

Before leaving I called my parents and my Brother’s family to wish them a Happy Easter. I could not call the kids yet as I was sure they were still sleeping. We got on the road a little after 9:30. We were anxious to get there now and to get all set up.

It was such a long drive. We could not believe we finally made it. We were on our site and set up by 6pm. So glad to be here, but our site is very un-level and we will have to move to another site tomorrow. Dan worked outside while I started dinner. After dinner, at 8:30, we decided to go for a walk. It was so nice out and the park is fairly empty so we did not have Cooper on his leash. Just as I was telling Dan how we should do this every night Cooper takes off into the woods. It is pitch dark and Dan has a flashlight but we still could not see anything. Then Cooper starts barking like we have never heard - whatever he was chasing turned around and started attacking him! I was screaming, Dan was trying to locate them, and Cooper finally came out of the brush. We think it was a raccoon, and after this experience Cooper does not recommend playing with them - they simply are not playful with dogs! We took him home and examined him, and he was fine, and ready to play some more. As for our romantic every night walks, they are over.

Monday, April 16

(Beaver Lake, AR)
Dan writes:
I spent the morning getting set up here at the campground, which involved moving to a better site. Also worked on my tax returns, and was on the water just after lunch-time. I stayed within two minutes of the launch all afternoon. Water temperature is 61 degrees, and at least right here, it’s a lot less clear than I expected. Still though it’s clear enough to see fish on beds in three feet or less, and there are plenty of them to see. Both the spotted bass and the largemouth are doing the wild thing, and this should only progress as the weather and the water continue to warm over the next week.

Annie writes:
I woke up around 7:30, mainly because Dan was jumping on me. There is a nice campsite right across from us and the camper that was on it last night is now gone, so Dan is ready to move. I got up and showered while Dan went to the desk to tell them we were switching sites. I was out of the shower and he was still not back yet. He had stopped to chat with Dwayne Horton, who is camping on a site not far from us. Dwayne told Dan that the fish are really biting and it is a blast out there right now. That’s all Dan needed to hear, and now he’s acting like he has ants in his pants, just itching to get out. One problem though. One reason we had to get here by today was that our income tax return was being sent to us here at the marina. We had to pick it up, review and sign it, and get it off in the mail. We did this and then Dan went out fishing, while I went to get our loads of laundry done and wash the truck. Dan came in around 6:00, we ate dinner and opted not to go for a walk tonight.

Tuesday, April 17

(Beaver Lake, AR)
Dan writes:
A cold front moved in late yesterday, and this morning we saw temps in the 30’s. I delayed getting out on the water until around 10am, and started fishing from the marina up towards the dam. I fished many of the short pockets off the main lake, moving fast and doing a lot of looking for shallow fish. I did this for about three hours, and was surprised that I didn’t see a lot more fish than I did. Water temp was in the low 60’s, just like yesterday, but yesterday I had seen dozens of shallow fish, and that was in the very first, randomly-picked spot that I went to. What was different? I decided that perhaps I was too close to the main lake, instead of a half-mile or more up one of the creek arms, so I motored down to the nearest creek that went in any distance and followed it all the way up to the back. There they were. Plenty of shallow fish back here. Just because I could see ‘em though, didn’t make ‘em easy to catch. Most of them are on beds, but many are not "locked on" yet, and they spook away easily. A caught a few, bed-fishing, but left many others whom I couldn’t get to bite.

Annie writes:
After launching Dan in the water I went out to do a few errands. I bought a new water hose for the camper along with new bow numbers for the boat, then headed for home. After 20 minutes I had to stop and call Dan. I told him I was lost, and asked which highway I needed to get back to town. Apparently there is a map in the boat, but none in the truck. I finally found the right road and an hour later arrived safely back home. Dan came in around 5 and he needed boat gas, so we made a cup of coffee and went out to get gas. The little store right up the road has gas and when I went in, I also noticed they had movies for rent. 5 movies for $5.00 for 5 nights. You can’t go wrong with that price. We came home, I cooked us dinner and we went to bed at 8:00 and watched a movie together.

Wednesday, April 18

(Beaver Lake, AR)
Dan writes:
John Hobbie came out with me today, and where we first started, there seemed to be a fish on almost every bush in the water. The bushes are only about a foot deep though, and the water very clear, so we couldn’t get any of these fish to bite. They all spooked out as soon as they saw either the bait or the boat. There are fish on beds, too, but none of them were willing to bite either. We saw very few bigger fish, and I’d really like to see the bigger ones on these beds - I’m pretty sure the ones we’re seeing are largemouth. If they were spots, they’d be worth the time and effort it would take to catch ‘em; but if they’re largemouth, which have to be at least 15" here, then this would all be a waste of time.

We continued to work our way down towards the dam, where the water got progressively clearer, and where there are more spots and fewer largemouth. The further we went though, the fewer fish there were up shallow. The water seems to be a little cooler further down also, so tomorrow I’m going to go the other way, upriver, and see what’s going on.

Water temps today ranged from 61 to 66 degrees, air temps from 30 to 60.

Annie writes:
John & Laraine came to visit this morning and were surprised to see Dan still here. Dan had to organize some of his tackle, so he did not get an early start. After a brief discussion John & Dan decided to go fishing together. John ran home to grab his stuff and Laraine was driving him down the lake a little ways to meet Dan there.

I spent the entire day working my butt off. I filled the water tank, dumped our gray water, washed the front of the coach as it was covered with dead bugs, cleaned my house spotless, called my nephew, Brandon, as it is his 7th birthday, cut up veggies for tomorrow night’s dinner, and made a big dinner of corned beef and cabbage for tonight, which is a first for me.

Bobby and Elaine came to visit for a bit, they had just arrived and have a cabin up the road. It was getting close to 6pm and I knew Dan & John would be in soon. I walked down to the truck so I could meet them at the launch ramp, and just as I got there Laraine arrived also. The men came in five minutes later, we put them on the trailer, visited briefly, then went on home. The corned beef & cabbage came out GREAT. I was very proud of myself. Danny did the dishes and we were in bed by 8:00.

Thursday, April 19

(Beaver Lake, AR)
Dan writes:
We trailered up the river today, Annie and I, and put in at Monte Ne. This creek is usually full of spotted bass, and I caught a keeper spot on about my third cast of the morning. We fished in Monte Ne for at least another hour though and never caught another fish.

Outside Monte Ne I started fishing the bluff walls with jig. Here we were sitting maybe twenty feet out from the wall, and the water was seventy feet deep below the boat. In the two hours we spent on the wall, we covered about a mile of it and I caught maybe ten fish - every one of them a largemouth and every one between 12 and 14 inches.

We moved upriver some more, to a nothing-looking bank which in the past has always produced fish for me. It was tough to fish today though because the wind had increased to about thirty mph. Annie threw a spinnerbait up against the windy bank while I threw a little crankbait. I caught six or seven more fish here, but again, all largemouth that wouldn’t measure.

About 3:00 we’d had enough of the wind and moved back into Monte Ne Creek. We spent the last two hours fishing the steep bank in there with the jig and the crankbait, trying to find some spots who would bite. All I caught though was more largemouth, and again none that were fifteen inches! All in all I caught perhaps twenty fish today, and only one of them would measure.

Water temps today were 62-63 degrees, all day long.

Annie writes:

We decided last night that I would go fishing with Dan today. I haven’t been in so long, and it is supposed to be in the 70’s, so what better day to go? Boy, was I wrong!!! I fished hard all day and did not catch one fish. Oh, correction, I did catch one fish at approximately 3pm, but it was short. My sunny 70 degrees turned out to be cloudy, and the wind blew all day. What turned it into a good day was that I got to spend the entire time with my honey, and I would not trade that for a calm sunny day, ever!!

We were heading back to the ramp after fishing, when Dan got a piece of dust, or grit, in his eye. I drove the truck home so that he could keep his eyes closed, which helped ease the irritation. Back at the camper he got right in the shower and that seemed to make it better. Actually, it was so good that he announced he was cooking dinner. He cooked us some delicious chicken fajitas, then we watched a movie. What a great day after all.

Friday, April 20

(Beaver Lake, AR)
Dan writes:
Fished upriver again today, at a number of places that had worked for me in the past. Nothing doing this year. There are just no spots to be caught up here any more, and all the largemouth are non-keepers. I worked my way all the way to the back of War Eagle Creek, and here I found large flats covered with buck brush, where the water was deep enough (2-3 feet) that they ought to hold fish. It was too late in the day to check it out thoroughly, so I’ll come back again tomorrow. Number of fish caught today was about fifteen, number of keepers, zero.

Annie writes:
Out of bed by 7:00 again this morning, that’s what happens when you go to bed at 8pm. Cleaned our house a bit then took a shower, fed the dog and called Dan’s mom. We chatted for a while and then Elaine came over to see if I wanted to go to lunch with her, Laraine & Stella. I had not been to lunch with them yet, so I went, and 3 hours later we got up from the table. We were so involved in our conversations that we lost track of time.

The kids start school vacation today so I called to say hi. Chris got his report card and did great, Kate and I never have a hard time finding things to talk about, and Jeff was on his way to the mall, so we made it quick.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on my calendar since I just got the schedule for next years B.A.S.S.. Dan came home around 6:30, I made us dinner and he had to work on a few lures. We went to bed around 9:30, but both had difficulty sleeping.

Saturday, April 21

(Beaver Lake, AR)
Dan writes:
I left the campground at 6am for the drive down to Monte Ne, where I’ve been putting in the last couple of days. From there it was a twenty-five minute boat ride down the back of War Eagle Creek. I started out throwing a buzzbait and a spinnerbait in the buck brush near the edge of the creek channel. That didn’t work. I left the flats and ran up the creek as far as I could go, until I ran out of water (and hit rocks). Nothing good up there, so I ran back down to the buck brush flats. I figured maybe the bottom here was too soft or muddy for bedding fish, so I moved all the way across the flats to the far side and fished the bushes up against the far edge, where the bottom was hard. Here I caught a few fish, on a crankbait, on a buzzbait, and flipping a jig, but still nothing over fourteen inches.

Around noon-time I left the buck brush. I spent the next three hours working my way back out the creek, fishing stuff that I didn’t fish on my way in yesterday, and finally at about 3pm I gave up on War Eagle Creek entirely. For the last two days I have been looking for big fish. I had had high hopes for War Eagle Creek, for this is where Rick Clunn won this tournament last year, and I was in the camera boat that followed him when he did it. He fished two stretches of bank only, going over and over and over them again, never fishing deeper than five feet, and never alternating from the big, shallow-diving balsa crankbait he was throwing. He caught plenty of smaller fish, just like I was doing, but every once in a while a big one would grab it too. For the last two days I’ve been in this creek trying to duplicate the way he fished it. I’ve been throwing a similar bait, in similar-looking water, trying to find those certain banks where the bigger fish are holding. I have made the decision not to fish any of the same places where Rick fished last year, and in fact I’ve had to start up the big motor and drive right by them maybe six times, and there are plenty of other guys fishing those banks, but I wouldn’t feel right doing it myself. I picture myself up on stage during the weigh-in, with the weigh-master asking "Dan, tell us how you found those fish?", and of course I’d have to say that I didn’t find ‘em, Rick did, I just went in there and caught ‘em. (Also, if Rick is planning on fishing those same areas again this year, then I don’t want to be the one in there taking his fish away from him.)

So, finished with War Eagle by mid-afternoon I headed back down towards Monte Ne, stopping to fish a few points at the mouths of other little creeks. I have fished for five solid days now without giving in to the temptation to throw a Carolina rig. I got burned last year by throwing the rig when I should have been shallow-water fishing so I have been avoiding it at all costs, but I finally gave in. I the last two hours of the day I had perhaps ten bites on the rig. All small fish or course, but perhaps a guy could weed though enough of them to pull out a few keepers if he kept at it long enough, especially if we could find some spotted bass instead of these largemouth.

I got off the water at 6pm, after eleven-and-a-half hours in the boat. Air temperature today hit the high 70’s and water temps ranged from 65 out in the lake to 68 way back in the buck brush. Total fish caught was around twenty; total keepers: zero.

Annie writes:
I slept in seeing I had such a tough time sleeping last night. My day was busy I got things done around the house, took the camper out to dump our tanks, went to check on a package we are expecting, and printed some new business cards for Dan. It was a day filled with lots of piddly things, but they needed to be done.

My parents called to catch up and see how things are going. We usually try to talk a couple times a week. Dan came in at 7, we had a salad for dinner and nachos, he was exhausted and went to bed soon after dinner. Our night together was short, but it was very nice, no TV or radio, just quality time.

Sunday, April 22

(Beaver Lake, AR)
Dan writes:
Things didn’t go much better today. I fished from the tournament site up to Monte Ne, ten or fifteen miles upriver, and still never caught a keeper fish all day. I fished some more bluffs with the jig and caught some more fourteen-inch largemouth, but I just can’t catch a fifteen this way. I wish I could because these are un-pressured fish. I rigged a lot of points, and I fished a lot of docks "Guido-style" with a spinning rod and finesse worm, but in all of this the area with the most potential is one surrounding a major spawning cove, where on both of the points outside the cove I had literally dozens of bites. For a while there it was on virtually every cast that I caught a little fish, and it’s a prime staging area for fish wanting to move in or out of the spawning cove, so I think if I stayed with it for a while I’d eventually catch a few bigger fish. That is just speculation, though.

I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow. I really did not want to be forced to fish for bedding fish in this tournament. Like Clunn did last year, I had hoped to find a secondary pattern that was strong enough to keep me competitive. With only one-and-a-half days of practice left though, I don’t have a clue how to go out and catch five keepers unless the spots have come up down in the clear water, and I go down there and bed-fish with everyone else. One possibility might be just fishing right around the launch. This is one of those tournament lakes where it very common for guys to catch their last fish of the day in the final minutes before weigh-in, fishing within sight of the weigh-master. If I can catch one or two keepers around there early tomorrow, then maybe I should just stay there all day long on tournament days. Otherwise, I guess I’d better move back down into the clear water and find those bedding spotted bass.

Air temps today were mid-70’s, water temp 65, and for the fourth day in a row the wind blew out of the south at at least 20 mph.

Annie writes:
I woke up at 7 and was so glad to see Dan was still here. He was getting ready to go, so I got dressed and launched the boat for him, that lets me have the truck for the day. I came back, showered, did the dishes, answered a few emails and then went out on the road. I got our laundry done, made some phone calls, picked up a few groceries and mailed our letters.

John, Laraine & Elaine came over to visit and we sat out at our picnic table for a little while. The sky was threatening and at exactly four o’clock we heard one thunderclap. Fifteen seconds later my phone rang. It was Dan saying he was coming in. I met him at the ramp with the trailer and we went home. It never did rain, and in fact the sun came out again afterwards, so we took the boat up to the car-wash and cleaned it up real nice. The black truck still looks yellow though from all the pollen. Later we decided to cover the boat since we knew it might rain at some point during the night.

We ate dinner and it was only 7:30, so we went outside to sit and enjoy the view. We have the prettiest view in the whole campground. While we were outside a man came by to inform us of a tornado watch until 1am. GREAT!!. We came in, went to bed and watched a movie together, another very nice night.

Monday, April 23

(Beaver Lake, AR)
Dan writes:
This morning I started by dragging a Carolina rig around the points here at the launch area, and fishing a grub along the steep banks, and a spinnerbait in the wind for about two hours. One short fish is all this produced. So much for that idea.

I caught a couple of keepers spots mid-day by throwing a little finesse worm into the cedar trees in 15-18 of water, but the very last place I looked today turns out to be the best thing I’ve seen so far. It’s a long, finger-shaped cove, kind-of hidden off the main lake, and I must have seen thirty beds, with a fish on each one. I’m going back first thing tomorrow to give it a better look.

Annie writes:
We had a pretty strange night, the wind was howling at times, then it was extremely calm, then a thunderstorm, more wind and it continued like that throughout the night. I got up at 7 and Dan was still here, the rain had just ended and he was getting ready to leave, so I went to launch him. There were only about a dozen boat trailers in the parking lot, I guess everyone decided to wait out the storm.

Dan is getting pretty discouraged with his practice, he is working so hard, but not getting the fish to bite. I offered to go out with him again today, but as we recalled from earlier this week, I am definitely not the fish attractor. We had a good start to the year getting 2 checks from the last 2 FLW’s, I would love to see us pull out another one here. I’m going with the plan that a bad practice will be a good tournament.

One of our journal readers, Beau Jones, lives about 1 1/2 hours from here and he came to visit with us for a while tonight. He met us at 5:30 and we just hung out and talked fishing. He left around 7pm. It was nice to visit with him. He is 17, and started following our journal when he was 15. I helped Dan work on his tackle and organize the boat. We finished stripping line and organizing the boat around 8:30. It was 9:00 when we sat down to eat dinner. After dinner we watch the rest of the movie we started last night, "Meet Joe Black". What a movie, we both loved it and cried like babies, it sure makes you appreciate what you have.

Tuesday, April 24

(Beaver Lake, AR)
Dan writes:
Finally I had some fun fishing today! I started out this morning on those fish I found on the beds yesterday. I wanted to accomplish two things - first to find out if they’d hit any kind of moving bait early in the morning, instead of having to finesse them, and second whether they’re spots or largemouth. On the moving bait issue - I couldn’t get a rise out of any of them. On the other issue, I spent a half-hour on one two-pounder, and when it finally bit I was dismayed to find that it was a largemouth! A non-keeper, and a waste of time. I had to catch two others, which both turned out to be spots, before I could leave them alone and say that it would be worth me coming back here tomorrow.

Next I moved further down into the clear water, and what I found there makes everything I’ve done for the last week seem a waste of time. Down here there are fish everywhere right now. I was down here last Wednesday with John Hobbie and these fish were not up yet, but it’s been sunny and 75 degrees for the last two days and just like last year, these fish are responding by racing up to the banks. Not only did I find a bunch of bedding fish this afternoon, but I think I found an area with bigger-than-average fish, that is not terribly obvious-looking, and that might be overlooked by most anglers.

Now I’m excited about going out tomorrow morning for the first day of this tournament. The timing was perfect, with me finding these fish today, so bring it on!

Annie writes:
Dan’s last day of practice, I did things around the house, knowing he should be in fairly early. He came in around 3, we cleaned the boat, went to fill it with gas and then unhooked it at the campsite. Dan got cleaned up and we went to the registration. After registering we had about an hour to eat and visit with everyone before the partner pairings.

On the drive home Dan and I were talking. I have decided to take another college course. I am very excited about it, and am going to sign up as soon as we get back to NH. We got home around 7:30, visited with our neighbor for a bit and then went to bed.

Wednesday, April 25

FLW Tournament Beaver Lake - Day One
Dan writes:
Boat number 129 - kind-of a late start, but I get to fish until 4pm because of it. We took off at 6:30 and my partner, Todd Lee, and I raced down towards Rambo Creek. At the mouth of the creek I paused to check the wind direction, which dictated my choice of fishing locations. I made a choice and headed for it. No one there, good. We moved in - a small pocket with steep sides and an overhanging cliff at the far end. We went in quietly on the trolling motor, moving down one side of the pocket and looking for fish. I saw one nice one who wasn’t there just yesterday, and told him I’d be back to pick him up in an hour or so. All the way back, underneath the overhanging rock, were three good fish, two of whom I had made bite yesterday and then shaken off. I positioned the boat and began pitching to them today, and in less than ten minutes caught the first one. The other two were together on one bed, and were rolling all over each other as I started pitching to them. I asked Todd if he knew how to make them bite when they were like this, and he said that they just won’t. I stuck with it though, and what happened is that one of them eventually got tired of my bait sliding over her back, so she left the bed. The other one stayed, and ten minutes later I put my second two-pounder in the boat.

Next I went back to the fish we had seen on the way in, who I promised I’d be back for, and while this one took a little longer, with a little patience I soon had my third two pound fish in the livewell. I fished for a couple more, but since they weren’t as big as these others I didn’t work too long on them. On the way out of the pocket on the other side though I spied another big fish. We sat the boat behind the cedar trees and pitched up to this one until she bit, but when it came into the boat it turned out to be a largemouth. It just barely touched the line at fifteen inches, and probably would shrink in the livewell but you never know, so that one went in with the others, at least for now. That’s four good fish out of my very first spot, and at least three that I left there for tomorrow. My partner Todd also caught two keepers out the back of the boat, throwing out into the deeper water.

My next fishing spot was where the even bigger fish were yesterday. We cruised down the bank looking for them, and I saw the one I had caught yesterday, but she was very spooky today. Fifty feet beyond though was another big one, and this one took all of an hour for me to catch, but it was worth it for she was two-and-a-half pounds. Todd didn’t complain either, because he caught two, two-pound fish out of the back of the boat while I was teasing this one on the bed.

I now had close to a ten-pound limit, but that largemouth was bothering me so I felt I needed to catch one more that I was sure was a keeper before I could feel comfortable. The wind had started blowing some, enough to make sight-fishing almost impossible in most locations, so I ran around in new water looking for protected coves. I found a nice one, and sure enough there were fish bedding in it, so I started fishing a pair of fish on one bed. I asked Todd, and he said they were largemouth, but I was just hoping he was wrong and I kept pitching to them, running a Gambler Dion’s Classic grub right over their backs as they rolled all over each other in there. This time I didn’t have to wait for one to leave before the other one bit, and when it came in the boat, thank-goodness it was a spot. Only thirteen or fourteen inches, but now at least I could get rid of the questionable largemouth, and I still had a limit that weighed over nine pounds. That should put me in excellent shape even if I didn’t catch another fish all day, and it was only 12:00.

At this point I sat down to make a plan. It was too windy now to do any sight-fishing. I told Todd that I didn’t know what I wanted to do the rest of the day, but before I did anything I wanted to make sure that he had a limit of fish. He was very thankful, and said "Okay, just take me over to the cedar trees on that bank." I took him over there, and believe it or not ten minutes later he caught his fifth keeper! Well, shoot, if it’s that easy then maybe that’s what we should do the rest of the day. We spent a couple of hours moving around from one place to another, pitching to the cedar trees, but without a lot of success. I spent the rest of the day moving fairly fast, looking for more fish to catch tomorrow, or one more big one to fish for today. We both caught one or two smaller fish throughout the day, but none bigger than what we had already in the box.

At weigh-in I ended up with nine-five, which left me in 44th place. The Top-Ten cut is 11-10. Todd had six-something, and he sits in eleventh place on the non-boater side. An excellent day for both of us, with both of us within reach of that Top-Ten cut tomorrow.

Annie writes:
Dan was so ready to go fishing today, and the weather is supposed to be just like yesterday. I was so anxious to see him at the weigh in, but as always you hate to get your hopes up in fear that the fish did not agree with him today. Laraine and some other wives came by to see if I wanted to go to the candle factory. I went with them without a second thought, as I love candles. The candle factory was great and I was very good, only spending $11.00. Weigh-in time!!! Dan was not due in until 4, so I had a good wait. The bags did not seem to be very big, but there are quite a few limits. It was finally time for Dan’s flight, and at that time I believe 11lbs was leading. I met Dan at the water and asked him how he was, and his reply was "GREAT!!". That got me excited and I asked how great? He said he had about 9 1/2 lbs. I was so excited. He weighed in at 9.5 lbs.

It was a very good night for us, Dan was in 44th place at the end of today. We finally calmed down and made it to bed around 10. I can tell Dan is kind-of nervous about tomorrow. He needs the wind to stay down for his sight-fishing. I am very excited and proud of him for today, and I pray he can do the same tomorrow.

Thursday, April 26

FLW Tournament Beaver Lake - Day Two
Dan writes:
When I awoke the skies were clear and the winds calm - another perfect day for sight-fishing, thank goodness. I ran right back up to the little pocket where I started yesterday, for I know that while we took six keepers out of there yesterday we also left at least three fish on beds that I know of. I looked at all three again this morning, and fished a few minutes for each of them before settling down to catch the biggest. I tried for two hours to catch this one fish, and I made her bite twice, but she missed the hook both times and I ended up leaving without catching her. I was very anxious about having wasted all that time on one fish, and decided that the other two in here were not big enough to spend any time on at all at this point. My other prime area, where we caught our biggest fish yesterday, was just a mile or two away so I had to run over there and look at it while the winds were still calm.

The one fish I had been counting on when I got there was gone. I had to move down the bank looking for more. There was a pair on the bed, and they were doing the wild thing. Twice yesterday I had caught one while they were in the act, so I fished for these and twenty minutes later caught the smaller one - thirteen inches. The female though wouldn’t touch it, and ten minutes later she left the bed entirely. (If I had been really confident, or already had my limit, then I probably should have shaken off the male when he bit and continued aggravating the two of them until the female bit it. Oh well.) I moved to the next bed, centered underneath a fallen log and holding a good fish. This one took maybe a half hour, but was worth the wait for when it came in the boat it was a solid two pounds. These are the kinds of fish I needed to catch, not the thirteen-inch’ers.

I fished one more bedding fish in this area, but all of a sudden, like someone turned on a switch, the wind started blowing and that was the end of that for this area. We had to move out and find a more protected cove, so we ran around the corner to the same place we ran yesterday to escape the wind. I was just cruising along the bank looking, and throwing a little four-inch ringworm out in front of me, when a good fourteen-inch spot grabbed it. Kind-of a bonus fish, but that made three in the boat and I was starting to feel better. The numbers I was looking for today were seven pounds just to get a check; and twelve pounds to make the top-ten cut. Both numbers were within reach and getting closer.

Near to where this last fish bit, we stumbled across another area with a number of beds. One twelve-inch fish didn’t spook when I sat the boat right on top of him, so I stood with my foot on a stump to hold position and jiggled my Gambler grub straight down and right in front of his nose until he bit. Just barely measured, but that makes four. While I was doing this though, my partner, Daniel Workman, was surprised by a big fish that bit him right under the back of the boat, but out in slightly deeper water. He broke it off, and was very upset with himself. He told me that I needed to be fishing for this fish, because it was big and it was holding on a deep bed that we hadn’t seen before. I backed off a bit to where we could just see her, and told Daniel that I wouldn’t fish for her by myself - he had found her and I wanted him to be throwing in there along with me and have an equal shot at her. We both fished, but not two minutes later she bit my grub and then went swimming in my livewell. This one was the biggest yet - over two-and-a-half pounds.

I figured I had right around seven pounds now. I didn’t need another thirteen-inch’er, and I knew where a bigger fish was sitting. The same one I had fished two hours for this morning. I had to go back and try again. The wind was blowing right in on my pocket this time, which made it almost impossible to see the fish, but I had fished it so long that I knew exactly where the bed was and how the fish related to it. I tried for fifteen minutes to catch her before I came up with a new idea. I had thrown a drop-shot rig in there earlier, in fact that’s one of the two things she had bit, so what I did next was to tie a new drop shot rig, only this time instead of a lead weight at the end I tied my Gambler grub. This little deal was just the thing, for on abut the third pitch in there she bit it good, and I was able to cull out the twelve-inch’er in my livewell with this smart, very smart, two-pounder.

With about eight pounds in the boat and an hour and a half left to fish, I decided that with the wind blowing like this I wouldn’t go looking for new sight-fish, but rather I’d fish a TERMINATOR jig on some windy points and windy bluffs the rest of the day, looking for that one big bite. I didn’t get it, and ended up weighing-in exactly eight pounds at the end of the day. That gave me seventeen-five, total, for a fifty-fourth place finish.

Not a Top-Ten finish, but for anyone who’s followed this journal for any length of time knows, it is step in the right direction for us. We’ve collected a check at three tournaments in a row now, and our confidence just got another big boost.

Annie writes:
I woke up fairly early and looked outside. It looked calm, no wind. I began to pray, and continued to pray throughout the day, hoping God would have a spare minute to hear, and to help. The wind seemed to be on and off throughout the day, which had me concerned for Dan’s fish. I tried to keep myself busy so I would not be questioning the fishing throughout the day. I could not wait for the weigh-in. Dan was due in at 3:20 today, so my wait was not as bad as yesterday.

I was just about to walk down to the weigh-in when my doorbell rang. It was Beau, the 17 year old who has been following our journal. He saw that Dan was in 44th place the first day, so he asked his Dad to let him leave school early so he could come cheer Dan on. We walked to the weigh-in together and waited. I saw Dan’s flight coming in, and my stomach began to tighten and I was quite nervous. Beau and I were just watching him. Dan looked up and waved, then there was a smile, so I motioned to ask him how many, and he signaled 5. YEAH!!! Beau and I walked down to see him and he said he has around 7lbs. After he weighed- in , his total weight is 17.5. We are so pleased. He ended up in 54th place and we got a good check. This is our 3rd check in the last 3 FLW’s. You can not imagine what that does for our confidence level.

Dan had a meeting right after the weigh-in, since he is driving a camera boat for the next 2 days. After the meeting we quickly changed, and met up with some friends at a local restaurant. Dion Hibdon was there and I once again thanked him for the lucky boat, and told him that if the luck keeps up I will never let Dan sell this boat. We had a very good night and we are both very happy with the outcome of this tournament. Once again, it will make for a much better trip home.

Friday, April 27

FLW Tournament Beaver Lake - Day Three
Dan writes:
I want to go over a few of the products and techniques that worked for me over the last couple of days. First let me say that while there were fish bedding everywhere in the clear water, I stumbled across an area on the last practice day where the fish who were up shallow were just larger than the average. It was at the confluence of the main lake and two major creeks, and during the tournament when I needed to find new fish, (because the ones I had found had either been caught or the wind was blowing in on them,) I sensed that I should not leave this general area. This proved to be a good decision, for when I did find new fish in this same area, they were above average also.

GAMBLER Dion's Classic Grub
Click here for more info.
I used both baitcasting and spinning equipment to catch my fish, and threw eight and ten pound-test green monofilament. As for baits, I caught one or two on a Gambler 4" tube, and some on a Gambler 6" Icesickle worm, but the vast majority of fish I took off the beds came on the Gambler Dion’s Classic grub.

As for technique, the key to catching these fish was aggravating them to the point where they could stand it no more. That meant you had to be able to see the fish at all times, and to make accurate presentations. If you missed the bed by a foot you were wasting your time. On most fish in fact if you weren’t actually bumping the bait into the fish then you weren’t getting bit. A number of times I would actually be yo-yo’ing the bait up and down over a fish’s back in order to aggravate it, but the technique that worked best with the grub was to pitch it three for four feet beyond the bed and let it sink to the bottom. Invariably the fish would turn away from the boat to face the bait, and then I would pop the bait quickly six inches at a time, right into the bed, trying to hit the fish right in the nose with it. None of these fish ever picked up a bait that I left sitting motionless - the key seemed to be motion, even aggressive motion, right in their face.

H2Optix Sunglasses
Click here for more info.
None of this would have been possible of course without being able to see the fish at all times. For this I needed calm winds, and a good pair of polarized glasses. I give a lot of credit for my sight-fishing success to the H2Optix sunglasses I was wearing. My H2Optix allowed me to find these fish in the first place, and then to stay on them long enough to catch them.

Annie writes:
Dan did not have to be at the ramp until 7:15. I got up just as he left. 15 minutes later my phone rang and Dan informed me he only had to work until 10, so he told me not to take off, and we could spend the day together. He came home around 10:30 and we just hung around the campsite. It was so nice to spend a relaxed day together at our house, without the pressures of fishing on our minds.

We went to the weigh in early so we could check out the fun zone. Dan never gets to see it as he is always driving a camera boat. We played some of the games and had a good time. Returned home after the weigh in around 7:00. Tomorrow Dan has to be at the ramp at 5:45am, so he went to bed right after dinner.

Saturday, April 28

FLW Tournament Beaver Lake - Final Day
Dan writes:
I followed Gerald Swindell with the ESPN camera boat both yesterday and today. Gerald, along with all of the other Top-Ten competitors, was bed-fishing down in the clear water. He took between ten and fifteen keepers off the beds each day, and as far as I can recall every single one of them was fooled by a tiny little worm fished on a drop-shot rig. I caught a bunch of bedding fish myself this week, but after watching Gerald and this new technique, I can’t wait to get out there again to try this tactic myself. Gerald finished in second place, behind Clark Wendlandt.

Annie writes:
I began to get the house ready for travel as we will be leaving tomorrow. Dan and I planned to meet at the weigh-in at WalMart today, so I could go early and get a parking space and a seat inside. I went in through the Fun Zone and noticed Forrest Wood (founder of Ranger Boats and owner of the "FLW" initials) signing autographs. There was only a few people around him at this time, so I waited my turn, and got his autograph. He remembered me from previous tournaments, and we started talking. I informed him that Dan has been fishing these since they started, and he asked where we lived, and I explained that we lived on the road full time, had no house, and were fully committed to fishing. He found our life very interesting and thinks someone should do a story on us. He believes, as we do, that we are the only touring pros who live full time on the road, with no house to return to between events. It was nice to have this little talk with him. No matter where or when I see him, he is always very nice.

Dan met me in the tent just before weigh in, I explained my day to him and asked him for one of his business cards to give to Forrest in case he knew of someone interested in writing our story, but I could not find him again. The weigh in was very good and kept us in suspense until the last minute. We congratulated the winners, then went out to eat with John, Laraine, and Daniel Workman. Afterwards we returned to the campground to spend our last night here. Tomorrow we hit the road again, this time headed for a week at home in New Hampshire.

Sunday, April 29:

Dan writes:
We’re flying home to NH from Little Rock tomorrow night, and due to less-than-ideal connections the time spent en-route will be eight or nine hours. Knowing that Cooper-dog would be less-than-thrilled spending that much time in his tiny airplane kennel, we had made arrangements for him to live with John & Laraine in their camper for the week we are gone. Today we dropped him off with his new family, and headed on down towards Little Rock where we spent the evening packing our bags.

Monday, April 30:

Dan writes:
Our plane took off around 4pm and touched-down in NH shortly after midnight. At the airport Annie’s mom, Flo, was there to pick us up. We got home to Flo’s house around 1am.

Link to: May 2001