Saturday, September 26, 2015

The Pieces of the Puzzle


Tim Zdrazil
(Note this was May 2015)
I knew when I switched to running my own ride in the FLW/BFL ranks 1 1/2 years ago, that I was going to be challenged most by finding fish and more importantly defining the pattern(s) that would give me a shot at winning. This has been part of my challenge in 2015. In 2014 (my 1st year up front), I did really well overall. This year I have.... well.... not done well... at all... literally worse than I could imagine including my first zero's in FLW competition as a boater.  Don't get me wrong, I have also done some really good things. I have had some shining moments that make me proud of my progress. But man it stings. Really really stings. I put a lot of what I am into these events, and when the pieces don't all fall into place the damage inflicted on my spirit and drive is heavy. However the drive that... well... drives me, is a deep reservoir and is not daunted easily and will never ever quit. Here is just how close I came to having all the pieces fall just right, and how one piece of equipment may have been the only thing I could have done differently.

In the fall of 2014 as I was scanning the schedules for all of the FLW events in the area, I saw a chance to do two things. I could fish my first BFL on Lake Seminole (a home lake of sorts for me). This was also two weeks out from a FLW Rayovac event on Lake Seminole.  Both of these events were perfect for my schedule which is very complicated because of my oldest son's disability. I try to fish events that have the lowest impact on my rather large and crazy household. This was a great chance for me to step up to the Rayovac level for the first time as a boater, on water very close to home, and hopefully have a strong showing. I fished the entire southeast division in 2010 as a co-angler. This would be my first shot at an $85,000 prize package. Just typing that freaks me out a little bit, but I was ready to do it.

My plan was pretty simple. I already knew the Flint River, Spring Creek, and the main lake pretty well. I had a bunch of history to help me figure it out, so I gave myself 3 days to practice and fish the BFL 1 day event prior to the much bigger Rayovac. This should get me dialed in pretty well.

The conditions were miserable. I took off on Day 1 of my practice from Jack Wingates which is close to mid lake. Day 1 was going to be all about checking my favorite spots and finding new ones in the mid lake area all the way to the dam, but with special attention paid to the Spring Creek area.  I found out quickly that reports I had heard were very much correct. They were dropping the bottom out of Lake Seminole. Add to that zero wind and even as the sun was barely up the temperatures were sky rocketing. The main lake was chocolate milk and it was obviously lower than I had last been on the lake. Over a foot and a half by my guess and dropping fast. The main lake buoys confirmed it further. The deep 'V' lines behind the buoys that were straining to go to the dam said that it was wide open. Ridiculous optimist that I am, I told myself that the current would help, but I was going to have to find clean water. That meant creeks and hydrilla. I poked around some of my favorite spots catching decent keepers within minutes of pulling up on each spot, but I couldn't catch a second fish at any of them. This was not a good start.
 
On the way out of one of my favorite pockets I was graphing and hoping for a big school. Bingo!

This is just a small slice picture of the school. It went on for about 100 yards just like this. In the picture you can just see the way points I was dropping like bombs all down that 100 yards. I quickly turned around and started firing a rattle trap back towards the school. On the very first cast I hooked up. Unfortunately it was a hybrid, but I knew that bass and hybrids swim together all the time and if the hybrids were here the bait was most definitely here.  Again like most of my practice, I caught a large mouth a few casts later, but in an odd way. I had caught several hybrids and was about to give up, but the larger arcs kept telling me there were large mouth down there. I had already cycled through all of my standards. So I picked the rattle trap up again, and started jigging it. I would cast it out let it sink all the way to the bottom (dicey with so many stumps) then pump it up and let it fall while retrieving a bit of line each time. I call this yo-yo'ing, but not sure if there is a more technical term for it. Finally got a large mouth to hit it on the fall after one of my hops.


Unfortunately that guy was the only taker. This bothered me quite a bit. I knew the summer conditions were in full affect and the bite was probably going to be tough, but a school this size not firing up even a little bothered me. The yo-yo bite told me reaction only. The largemouth were suspended in that school but not really eating. However, I was more optimistic at least. This was a large concentration of fish in exactly the kind of spot they are supposed to be in during summer patterns. I had a lot of hope as I sped off to find some main lake hydrilla.

I ended up at the dam itself fishing hydrilla in 5-6 feet of water. Yet again within a very few casts I caught a nice keeper on a Lockjaw Jigs 3D eye jig with a Mister Twister trailer slathered in Liquid Mayhem garlic minnow (my favorite).

Again this was the only taker. However I felt a little better after this guy because he flew out of the grass to nail the jig, so I felt like at least that was a feeding bite. I was swimming and bumping it through the scattered hydrilla at a slow but steady rate.  It was still trouble though because I couldn't depend on jumping all over this big body of water all day hoping for five one off fish. Because the opportunity was literally right in front of me down by the damn. I fished a retaining wall, scattered laydowns, and a few little 'bowls' I graphed down in that area. No luck on any of them.

I had already burned half the day, but was still desperate to find something more promising. I ran way up the Chatahooche river searching some back waters that would hold cleaner water and some fish. I found miltiple spots in backwaters that were very promising, but couldn't even get a nibble. I still had 1 more full day of practice and the 1 day BFL, so I was optimistic. I packed it up for the day, and headed for home.

Day 2 of practice I put in at the Boat Basin in Bainbridge, GA where the launch would be. I wanted to spend a lot of time on the river, and I needed to remind myself things like how much gas and time did it take to make the long run down the Flint river to the main lake. I also wanted to check one more big grassy area I noticed the day before but hadn't fished yet. I ran all the way down the river which takes about 25 minutes on average took the cut through to Spring Creek across from Wingates, and dropped the trolling motor as soon as I left the cut thru. This costs about 9 mins of idle time, but it saves about 20 minutes of time if you go down and around thru the timber cuts to get to this area at the mouth of Spring Creek. I was happy almost immediately. There were bait fish everywhere, lots of fish chasing movement, and a perfect area chock full of hydrilla. The depths ranged from 3 to 15 feet with scattered to thick and matted hydrilla. There was also a decent mix of other vegetation in the area. Only problem is that after casting 10 different baits for a full hour, I didn't have a fish to show for it. However, I liked this area a lot! It was perfect for the Timmy Z grass fishing methods. There was definitely going to be some traffic though. There were a bunch of local boats and what looked like several other tournament guys practicing in this area, but like all of my favorite areas, it was huge.

Here is a shot from the cut leading into the area. You can just see the beginnings of the matted hydrilla on the left hand side of this shot.



I spent the rest of the day searching for flipping spots in the river working my way back up towards the launch site in Bainbridge. This was not easy because the water level was dropping so fast. I did find some really good flipping stuff, but got two bites all day doing it. Both times they took the claws right off of my Mister Twister Pocit Craws. This was again very disheartening. I thought for sure I could get bit flipping junk up and down the river and small backwaters that are all over the system.

So I had now spent the better part of two whole days trying to dial in what I needed for the BFL. I had found a giant school in deep timber, a huge grass flat with tons of bait and activity, and a few promising flipping and casting spots, but nothing like what I needed. I still had the BFL the next day which in my mind was really my last practice day prior to the Rayovac event. I would focus and do my best and see what the fish had to say once I buckled down in an area and went to work.

Despite the spotty practice, I was pumped. It was tournament morning and I had finalized my decision to fish the big hydrilla flat first thing if not all day. I knew it was the single best chance at catching some decent fish and had enough varieties of depth and grass combinations that I could dial this thing in. I like big areas. I don't like individual spots. This area was huge and I had all day to work it. The 25 minute burn down the river and the 9 minute idle thru the cut to Spring Creek flew by and we (me and my co-angler) were casting. And casting... And casting... Three hours later still casting with nothing to show for it. The conditions were horrible. Slick calm and a billion degrees. I was obviously frustrated, but I had one of those co-anglers who just screams happy and peaceful. He had zero doubt and loved the area. We made a quick run (mostly for moving air frankly) to my big school spot close by just to do something different. Couldn't get a bit there either. I only used an hour there and with a late check in time I wanted to use the last 3 hours back on the flat, but this time I was going old school.



The grass on the flat was thick almost everywhere, so I pulled out a medium heavy worm rod with a heavier weight 5/8 put on a Mister Twister Comida(stick bait-Junebug color), rubbed it generously with Liquid Mayhem and went to work. Very Very Very slow work. Dead sticking is not for the faint of heart. In fact it will kill most anglers, but in Florida especially on slow bite days, you have to have this trick in your arsenal. Once I figured out what I was targeting, I caught 2 very quality fish over the next 2 hours. Those two fish beat half the field. I came in 45th place with two fish. My co-angler also caught two fish and jumped over 20 spots in the overall standings, almost guaranteeing him a spot at the Regional Championship.



So the lesson of the BFL and practice was simple enough. Slow down and fish the typical summer patterns. I salvaged a decent finish for me and my co-angler, and now had a very good plan for the Rayovac event coming up.

The Rayovac event dawned with a complete change in conditions which has fast become the story of this 2015 season. The lake was no longer being drained and was coming back up. The water was clearing up, and the wind decided to take a turn at ruining all of my well laid plans.  I had a late boat number on Day 1 and was boat 9 on Day 2.

The plan worked perfectly. It worked perfectly for my co-anglers to be clear. The quality fish were still in the area, but the wind made fishing this way extremely difficult for me. This flat had deep sections with very scattered hydrilla and very shallow sections with hydrilla so thick you can't move in it. The fish were in the deeper sections around the scattered grass. While I fought to keep the boat in the deeper water in very strong winds, my co-anglers went to work. My Day 1 co-angler caught over 13lbs. My Day 2 co-angler caught over 14lbs.  My Day 1 co went on to win 3rd place overall and a check for $4,000. My day 2 co went on to finish 15th overall and won a check for $1,000. Once again I had found the perfect pattern for a co-angler who could concentrate on fishing while I was having a hard time even getting a line in the water.

The primary problem was there was no way to peg myself down in the shallow water with my 6ft Talon and still fish the deeper pockets with the wind and boat traffic. The only thing that would have worked is having 10 or 12 foot Talons. I know I did everything I could do in those conditions to fish. I caught two small keepers on Day 1 and zeroed day 2.

I have to feel good about how well I put together a plan. I had found quality fish as proven by my co-anglers. The wind is a variable on most of my tournament lakes, but usually I am in much shallower water. I would love to add two 12 foot Talons, but that is an expense I just can't afford right now. I will continue to learn and grow and adjust as I live this dream. Peace.





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