TNT Tournament 2 Results

I arrived at O'Shaughnessy at 5:00. Mizike had already checked us in and drew our boat number. He drew boat #1 this time. We hurried and got the boat ready and on the water. They called our number and we started idling out of the boat dock area. We got past the idle markers and opened up the throttle. The first three boats were heading to the same spot. Boat #2 had a 225 HP motor and passed us by a boat length to get the first spot in the cove. We were able to go on past them to the first spot I wanted to fish.

We tried my spot in a down tree. We didn't catch anything but the next boat that came along did catch one small bass out of it. I guess we should have tried a little more.

We fished for a while in the cove around structure before the trolling motor batteries died out. I had intentions of pluging them in all week but had forgotten to do so each evening after work. Last week was really busy and I didn't even have time to tie on what I was going to use in the tournament.

We ended up letting the wind blow us down the bankline then we would motor back and try again. I had done that in my dad's boat in high school since he did not have a trolling motor on his boat. We were not able to fish spots very well and once again we did not catch any bass.

There were only a handfull of people who caught over 1 bass and several that did not catch any. The top place the week before did not catch any either.

I have been very dissapointed. I'm very competitive and am taking it pretty hard not even getting to weigh in a fish yet. It is very discouraging. I am second guessing all of my tactics and fishing knowledge wondering if I even have a clue what I'm doing.

I just want to catch a bass. It's been 3 weeks since I've even caught one. I watch informational fishing shows, read fishing magazines, and articles. I just need to get out and find them. I am going to spend some extra time on the water this week. I will be fishing after work Wednesday, have the tournament Thursday, then I'm off Friday for some unpaid time off so I will be fishing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

This last weekend was kind of short. I spent 36 hours traveling. It took 16 hours on the way to Kansas on Friday. We had a wedding on Saturday and on Sunday it took 20 hours to get home. I didn't feel like being back in the car yet so we made a lot of stops on the way home. We got back to Columbus at 4 in the morning and I had to work a few hours after that. I was tired yesterday.

I got a good night of sleep after watching Quantum of Solice and feel a ton better today. I am going to mow when I get home tonight. After that I will either play with my fishing gear or go to a buddy's house to have a couple of drinks for his birthday. I really want to organize a small box of tackle with what I want to use this week. I have a lot of tackle that I take along in case I might use it but I want to make a box of what I will use and try and leave the rest at home. I need to get some confidence in some of my lures.

I'm still excited about the rest of the season. I thought we would start out better. Now we just have to work harder to get the fish. Not being able to go fishing last weekend killed me. I need to know that I can catch them. It is only a 3 hour tournament but that is plenty of time to catch a couple even if we don't get all 5.

I think we have tried to fish each spot too long. We need to try different spots until we find the fish. Part of the problem has been not having everything ready. This week I will be ready. My batteries are charged, my poles will be rigged after tonight. My tackle will be organized and ready to be tied on. I will pre rig some Carolina rigs. Time seems to be a major key that is affecting us on the water and more prep work will help so we can spend the time that we have locating and catching fish.