March 2002

March 2002

Sunday, March 3

Fly to Alabama
Annie writes:
We drove out of the driveway at 4:30am. With one eye opened I managed to drive us to the airport. Our plane left at 6:30, and we had to connect in Chicago, where they had 9 inches of fresh snow. With a slight delay we flew on to Louisville, and from there on to Birmingham, where we arrived about 1:00. Picking up the dog at the kennel was next. He looked great, all clean and healed from his last kennel experience, and happy to see us. We left the vet and went to Sammy Lee’s house where we had stored the boat for the week. Had just a brief visit with Sammy and Penelope, but had to get on the road to Alexander City before it got dark. We arrived at Wind Creek State Park and got our site at 5pm. It was freezing. We managed to set the tent up in an hour and turn the heaters on. Craig Sahms is here and asked us to go out to eat, but we had been up since 4:00am and still had to get organized. We managed to stay up until nine but that was our limit. Decided to skip dinner and just go to bed.

Monday, March 4

Practice Lake Martin, Alabama
Dan writes:
Air temperature was about twenty five degrees this morning, and the wind was blowing. My practice partner, Craig Sahms, and I decided to go in one boat instead of two. We fished the clear water down towards the dam, but it was COLD out there for hours. So cold that the line froze in your rod tip. The temperature stayed below freezing until about eleven o’clock, and the wind blew hard. Mostly we Carolina rigged, drop-shot’ed, or threw a Texas-rigged finesse worm, but in four or five hours doing this we caught only one fish.

Next we moved up towards the end of the creek, where the water has more color. We fished shallow brushpiles, docks, and protected pockets, where the water had had a chance to warm up some, and we caught five fish. Considering the conditions, this is better than we had expected for today. Water temperature ranged from about forty six to forty nine degrees, and the weather is forecast to warm up by the end of the week, so this kind of fishing should improve as the days go by.

Annie writes:
It was freezing all day. The temperature might have reached 40 at one point but it sure didn’t feel like it. I went to town to do groceries, laundry, and make some phone calls. We have very bad phone reception out in the campground. Can’t do any email, and even voice calls are bad. Also we are back now to our one pot meals, and eating dinners inside the tent.

Tuesday, March 5

Practice Lake Martin, Alabama
Dan writes:
Last year when we were here for the FLW, I caught the majority of my fish here in Wind Creek, within a mile of take-off. I started today by fishing a point not three hundred yards from the launch, and I got bit on my first cast.. In two hours I had three bites Carolina-rigging the community holes, and then moved off down-lake to look for some other stuff.

There was no wind at all, and the bright sun warmed things up quickly. By mid-day I was back in the backs of the pockets looking for fish who’d come up to sun themselves, but I never found any. I did catch two more fish before the end of the day though, again on the Carolina-rig in fifteen feet, so that gives me a limit. I’m not too disappointed with that.

Annie writes
It was very cold last night. Dan even stayed in this morning until about 8:00. The day turned out nice later on though, in other words, no need for hat or mittens. I did last night’s dishes once the water unfroze, but I spent most of the day in the tent on the computer doing work.

Wednesday, March 6

Practice Lake Martin, Alabama
Dan writes:
Final day of practice. I found three new brushpiles close-by in Wind Creek. Only got bit in one of them, but all have potential. Went down the lake looking for other spots, but never got another bite all day. I think I’ll stay in Wind Creek tomorrow, the first day of the tournament.

Annie writes:
I’m going out in the boat with Dan today, but it was very cold so he let me sleep in this morning and came back to get me at 9:30. I spent the rest of the day preparing his tackle while he got in his last few hours of practice.

In town after the registration meeting tonight, we made some more phone calls and then tried to get our email. No luck. I can’t imagine how many messages we will have waiting for us by the time we get online again.

Thursday, March 7

B.A.S.S. Eastern Open, Lake Martin, Day One
Dan writes:
Drew out with a friend, Brett King, and we spent all day within just a few miles of take-off. Those brush piles I found yesterday that I did not get bit on - today we found eight fish in there. Between those and Brett’s spots up the river a little, I had a limit or spotted bass and culled one, and Brett had four.

Annie writes:
Dan had to leave the campground at 5:00am. I was not about to get up that early, so I walked over to the parking area later on to get the truck. I spent much of the day cleaning it. It needed a good cleaning. I filled the tires with air, checked the oil, and cleaned and vacuumed the interior. I returned to our campsite and was eating lunch when Dan and his partner pulled into the cove we are camped. I watched them fish for a while, and was glad to hear that Dan had three fish in the livewell. I also watched him catch fish number four right in front of me. At this time he still had about two more hours to fish, so I knew chances where pretty good of him coming in with a limit.

Friday, March 8

B.A.S.S. Eastern Open, Lake Martin, Day Two
Dan writes:
My pattern fell apart today. Well maybe the pattern didn’t, but my brushpiles did. We spent four hours trying to get bit somewhere there in Wind Creek, but by ten o’clock my partner had just one fish and I had nothing. We gave up on the spotted bass and went fishing for largemouth up the river. By the end of the day my partner had four, and I had two. This was a big disappointment, after having caught a limit yesterday.

The good news though is that my partner for tomorrow is another friend, Jack Bell, and he caught ‘em good today. In fact there is every reason to believe that, fishing with Jack, I can catch the ten pounds I need tomorrow to get a check here.

The bad news is… I found out that the leader of this tournament is fishing the same little cove where Craig and I found those fish in practice (Monday afternoon). I am kicking myself now for not having returned to them during the tournament. My excuse is that I have to split the day with my partner, those fish were more than a half hour away, and all my other fish are (or were) right here close by. I wish I could make that decision over again.

What makes it even more frustrating though is that this is the second time this season that this has happened. I didn’t write about it back then, for I didn’t find out until much later, but remember the Okeechobee tournament back in January? I had found a pile of huge fish in practice, ten days before the tournament, and then thought that they had all left by the time competition got under way. During the tournament I didn’t go back to that area until the very end of the second day, at which time I culled my entire limit in the last hour. Well guess where the winner of that tournament fished… that’s right. That’s twice now in three tournaments where I have found the winning fish in practice, but did not even fish for them during the tournament!!!

Annie writes:
I woke up around 7:00, and had such a busy day planned that I knew I’d better get up. I spent the entire morning tearing down the campsite and trying to make it all fit in the back of the truck. It’s a huge job for one person, especially since Dan is usually the truck organizer, but I managed to get it all taken care of.

During the weigh in I found Larry Vann, director of the Alexander City Parks and Recreation Department. I told him about how I had taken our tent down today because it is supposed to thunder and lightening all day tomorrow, and it would have been no fun packing up in the rain. Our problem now is that the only four hotels in town are all booked. I asked him if he knew where we could get a room for one night, and without hesitation he said yes. When I asked where, he wouldn’t tell us, but said he’d show us instead. He brought us to a beautiful private house out on a long point with water on three sides, and with a fabulous rock patio about the size of a football field. He gave us the key and asked how long we wanted to stay. "Is two nights okay?" "Sure," he said. We were shocked, and could not believe our good fortune.

We returned to the weigh-in, and when it was over went back to the house. It was nice to be able to cook dinner indoors again, and to be able to enjoy the evening knowing that the campsite was all packed up and dry, which is especially important since we are leaving everything for a month when we fly home again on Monday.

The hospitality here in Alexander City is incredible. I will say it again: You don’t find this kind of friendliness, hospitality, and people going out of their way to help you out, in a lot of places these days. But every time we come to Alexander City, they treat us right. They even feed the anglers during the weigh-in’s. All three days, and for free, right after you weigh-in you can go over to the tent for free hot dogs, pizza, and sodas. That’s something we don’t get ANYWHERE else, so we are sending a great big THANK YOU to everyone in Alexander City, Alabama. We really appreciate everything you do for us.

Saturday, March 9

B.A.S.S. Eastern Open, Lake Martin, Final Day
Dan writes:
I fished with Jack Bell today. He was twenty-something in the standings, so I didn’t even bother asking him to go to my fish. He caught seven or eight keepers, enough to move him up into sixteenth place in the final standings, and me, I caught two fish, both short, and missed one other by breaking off on the hookset. Sometimes it’s just not your turn. We fished the same spinnerbaits, the same jigs, the same spots. He got the bites; I didn’t. I don’t know what else to say.

Annie writes:
Dan was ready to go fishing this morning. He drew out with Jack Bell, and he thought he could catch ten pounds today. I was up at 4:30 to give him a ride in to the launch ramp. When I returned to the house, I was not going to go back to bed, but I was exhausted. I slept a few more hours and then enjoyed the view of the lake while I worked on the computer.

At the weigh-in, I saw Dan walk up without a bag. I could tell he was disappointed. He had to wait in line to sign Jack’s weigh slip, and then he disappeared. He had seen me standing in the crowd with some friends, but he did not feel like socializing and answering questions. We left the weigh-in soon after I found him, and it was a quiet drive back to our house. As soon as we got there though I told him to take a shower and change clothes. It’s over. We were going to dinner. We went out and had a wonderful dinner, and our night ended up being the best one this week. By the time we got back it did not even seem like he had fished today; all of it seemed like so long ago.

Sunday, March 10

Drive to Memphis, Tennessee
Dan & Annie write:
We woke up around 7am, both anxious because we know we will be back in our own home soon. We packed everything up, cleaned the house and left around 9:30. It was much further than we thought, about 350 miles, but we made it to Memphis, Tennessee by late-afternoon. Our friends, Geoff and Shelley King, live near Memphis and offered to let us park the truck and boat at their house while we fly home. We spent the night with them and had a wonderful time. Shelley cooked dinner, and we got to just hang out and visit with friends.

Tomorrow we fly home to New Hampshire, for the third and final time this winter. I fear we will not be welcome this time though, if we do not bring Cooper-dog back with us. On our previous two trips home, Cooper stayed in a kennel, much to the dismay of all those who were crying about how much they missed him. This time I believe the kids will lock us out of our own home if we show up without him, so like it or not, Coop, you’re going to be on that plane with us tomorrow.

March 11 - April 7

Home in New Hampshire
Dan & Annie write:
If you haven’t done so already, you need to go back and read the week of February 17th, up through and including the 24th, to find out why we are not fishing the FLW tournament at Lake Ouachita right now. We are home in New Hampshire instead, following the tournament results over the internet the same as the rest of you.

Sounds like the fishing was tough, huh? Only took twelve-something pounds over two days to make the cut. Pretty much what we had expected. The truth is, though, that it’s probably not the catching of fish that’s tough this week, rather it’s meeting the sixteen-inch limit that is making the results look so poor. KeyesJrnlLogo In fact it is conceivable that some of the fishermen out there are actually catching ten-to-twelve pound sacks each day, but posting zeroes at the scales because they don’t have fish that measure sixteen inches. On the other hand, the guy who catches just four or five barely-sixteen inch fish over a two day period could be making it into the finals. So don’t be fooled just because you’re seeing a lot of low weights being posted; on this one you have to read between the lines to get the true story.

Link to: April 2002