As the crisp air of fall approaches, many sports lovers' thoughts turn to bow hunting the allusive whitetail buck. This case was not so for Melvin Lawhorn, of Boyd County Ky. Melvin had spent the entire summer learning everything he could about the bottom composition of Yatesville Lake, which is located in Lawrence County, Ky. October was now here and now was the time for his hard work and dedication to pay off, in a big way.
Just two weeks prior, the Ky. State B.A.S.S. Federation had held it's state tournament there. The total weigh-in of the tournament was very light, leaving many questions about the amount and quality of bass in this eastern Ky. lake. Melvin had been an observer in that tournament. He knew from his time on the water, that it was just a matter of the water temperature falling a few degrees, before everything would bust wide open. That time was now here as he expected.
The Louisa Bass Club was holding their fall club event and Melvin was ready. His prefishing had included two days of on the water preparation. He had looked for location patterns as well as presentations' patterns. He had tried to determine the areas of the lake that would harvest the largest numbers and size of bass. As he lay, to sleep the night before the tournament, his mind replayed the vast amount of time he had spent on the lake. With all data considered, Melvin made the final decision. He would concentrate all his efforts on one spot and one bait.
Saturday morning was finally here. Blast off found Melvin fishing by himself, as no partner had shown. This made his decision making process easier to follow, as he could now fish the day out as he had planned. He arrived at his confidence area and began to fan cast the area with a 7/8 oz. Bulldog jig. The black and blue, rubber leg was dressed with a Prowler plastic pork frog. His presentation was slow and methodical, as he gently pulled the bait up to each limb in the submerged brush, shook it to flare the skirt and shake the rattles. At this point, when no fish had taken the offering, he would pull the jig over the limb and let it fall back to the bottom. The repeating of this process had worked on many other occasions. This morning the bite had been nonexistent.
Two full hours had quickly flown by, as Melvin began to question himself and his
decision. He began that all to familiar self talk, going over the what if's. What if I had
gone there first or tried this. Deep in his heart he knew he was right. He knew that he
was fishing to his strength and the jig was his confidence bait. Over the years he had
caught most all of his big fish on a jig.
Slowly but surely he began to build his confidence back to a high level. The thought ran
through his mind " Oh God, Please don't let me blank this tournament - Please just
one 15 inch keeper fish - Please, I promise I'll be in church tomorrow."
Before the thought had cleared his head, Melvin felt that all to familiar faint tap. With a quick, sideways sweep, hook set, he became tied into a quality bass. A fleeting thought wised by, as he wondered if this was what it would be like to hook into a run away rhinoceros. The monster bass shook its' head ferociously, trying to tangle and break Mels' 25 pound test Berkley Big Game line. It was no use. All the struggle in the world could not help this bass, for it was well hooked and now in open water.
For Mel, the next few moments seemed like an eternity. The fight was finally over and he lifted the 7 lb. 11 oz. bass, into the boat. As he placed the fish in the live well, he remembered his promise and even said aloud " Yes, God I'll be in church tomorrow". On the next cast, Melvin was still shaking. He stopped to regain his composure. After drinking a Pepsi, he picked up the rod and began to work the jig through the timber. On the second hop the jig felt very heavy. Mel once again set the hook, and like de-ja-vu, another bass was on the line. This time the fish only weighed 7 lbs. 8 ozs.
The most fantastic, fishing day of Melvins' life continued. During the next two hours he was able to land his tournament limit of 6 largemouth bass. After culling three 15 inch fish, with 4 pounders, Melvin had accumulated a total weight 32 pounds 11 ounces. Needless to say, yes Mel won this club event. This was not only a lake record catch for Yatesville, but the largest 6 fish stringer of bass ever caught in eastern Ky., by an individual.
This amazing catch that Melvin experienced took place as a result of learning experiences and intense determination. Not only did he learn all he could about the lake itself but he remembered the KBF qualifying tournament on Barren River, last spring. He had been on fish but after catching nothing in the first hour he panicked. He abandoned the fish that he had located and went looking for something else. This day he was determined to follow his game plan. He stuck with the area and fish catching pattern that he had predetermined.
This turned out to be the most productive day of Melvin's fishing life. The steps that he used to reach success are available to anyone. It is only a matter of learning, spending time on the water, storing all past experiences so that information can be recalled. If you put these factors together and focus on the task at hand with determination, you too can experience the catch of a life time.