First tournament of the year

[carolina-rig-01]

Britney and I fished our first tournament of the season yesterday. We got second place with 16.43 and missed winning by 1lb. The bad thing is that I caught all of our fish, Britney didn't catch a fish all day and I lost a big fish that would have culled a 2lber and certainly would have bumped us up to 19-20 lbs and would have won the tournament. I will happily take a 2nd place finish to start the season though, especially considering that my only goal was to do well enough to not take us out of Angler Of The Year contention. I honestly wasn't expecting to do that well but my pattern held up better than I expected and we had fish moving up into our areas all day long. All of our fish came on crawdad colored Wiggle Warts fished on chunk rock points infront of spawning areas.

[lilmule]

Congrads,as for the cull fish that missed the livewell,it happens,all part of same game.
Consider it a plan well put together,and if youwere to ask bet first place also lost fish that would have made them heavier,its those that make it to the live well that count.
Say livewell as had several escape after coming in the boat.In one side on a boat flip out the other.
Used to have a boat pard years ago that set the hook and they would fly past the boat completely over it,most however stayed on but not all.He set the hook on a 5 lber in a t and it landed in the boat from hookset,jig came out and it flipped out the other side.Exciting but can laugh about it now.

[carolina-rig-01]

Yeah I know it's all part of the game. I just put a lot of pressure on myself to fish as clean as I can and not make mistakes. You can't always control whether or not you get the right bites, but getting the fish in the boat is usually one of the few things you can control. That's why it hurt so bad. I agree that probably most boats in the tournament lost fish that would have helped them, but you really want to capitalize on their lost fish by fishing clean and not losing fish of your own. Oh well like I said, we finished a lot better than I expected and I feel good about doing it on my own. Every other team had both members contribute and I was able to beat all but one team on my own. And the 1st place team had to have both members contribute to beat me LOL. Not being cocky about it, but it was just one of those days where I made good decisions, plans came together, and the fish read the same playbook that I did.

[Jrob78]

Congratulations on a good finish. It sucks that Britney couldn't get in on the action, that had to be disappointing. I know fishing a clean tournament is critical to winning but it's got to be tougher to do on a cold water crankbait bite. All you can do is try to figure out what you could have done differently, if anything and correct it. The worst thing you can do is let it rattle you during the event. 2nd place by yourself is solid, nice job!

[bcklash]

Good job Kory. And about your fishing partner, I think about jumping off the boat when I look at my fishing partner. I bet you don't. Not only that she can outfish his sorry azz.

[coldbasser]

Congrats good finish Kory. Wiggle Warts big or small warts? What speed reels were you cranking the warts with? Hope that i'm not digging to deep.
Rick

[lilmule]

Oddly while on days you may not be perfect everything else falls together and places you in the $,and on days when you dont lose a fish may not get bit as much or they just dont weigh enough.So most importantly you were in the $.
I bet it was a color called Homer.

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by Jrob78

Congratulations on a good finish. It sucks that Britney couldn't get in on the action, that had to be disappointing. I know fishing a clean tournament is critical to winning but it's got to be tougher to do on a cold water crankbait bite. All you can do is try to figure out what you could have done differently, if anything and correct it. The worst thing you can do is let it rattle you during the event. 2nd place by yourself is solid, nice job!

Thanks Joe. She felt terrible that she didn't contribute. I kept telling her not to sweat it. She can generally hold her own on the water, but I didn't ask her to fish with me for any reason other than getting to spend some time together and she did contribute to that.

Originally Posted by bcklash

Good job Kory. And about your fishing partner, I think about jumping off the boat when I look at my fishing partner. I bet you don't. Not only that she can outfish his sorry azz.

your right, I never think about jumping off the boat LOL.

Originally Posted by coldbasser

Congrats good finish Kory. Wiggle Warts big or small warts? What speed reels were you cranking the warts with? Hope that i'm not digging to deep.
Rick

The regular Wiggle Wart is what we were using. I was throwing it on a 5.4:1 reel and reeling it as slow as I could while keeping it banging into the bottom. The bite was really faint, basically it felt like you drug it into some moss.

Originally Posted by lilmule

Oddly while on days you may not be perfect everything else falls together and places you in the $,and on days when you dont lose a fish may not get bit as much or they just dont weigh enough.So most importantly you were in the $.
I bet it was a color called Homer.

Right about everything except for the color. Brown Phantom Craw was the color.

[Bassboss]

That's a real nice fish Kory! 2nd place is a pretty good way to start the your if you ask me!

[woody]

Congrats Kory and Britney. I'm sure Britney will catch 'em next time.


-Mark

[bassinbob]

Congrats on the second place finish. Get em next time.

[bamabassman]

good job kory.



oh......and it's nice of you to hold up britney's fish while SHE takes the pic. hahahaha!!!

[skeeter1804]

Congrats buddy, I don't think I've ever been mad at myself for a second place finish but we all strive to do the best we can. What lake were you fishing?

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by skeeter1804

Congrats buddy, I don't think I've ever been mad at myself for a second place finish but we all strive to do the best we can. What lake were you fishing?

Our club fishes Grand Lake in Oklahoma.

[rrw4258]

Congrats to both of you on the solid finish! Nothing wrong with a 2nd place finish for the first tourney of the year. What is the water temp down there in your neck of the woods?

Ryan

[WatterBoy]

Originally Posted by carolina-rig-01

Yeah I know it's all part of the game. I just put a lot of pressure on myself to fish as clean as I can and not make mistakes. You can't always control whether or not you get the right bites, but getting the fish in the boat is usually one of the few things you can control. That's why it hurt so bad. I agree that probably most boats in the tournament lost fish that would have helped them, but you really want to capitalize on their lost fish by fishing clean and not losing fish of your own. Oh well like I said, we finished a lot better than I expected and I feel good about doing it on my own. Every other team had both members contribute and I was able to beat all but one team on my own. And the 1st place team had to have both members contribute to beat me LOL. Not being cocky about it, but it was just one of those days where I made good decisions, plans came together, and the fish read the same playbook that I did.

Wow, you do put a lot of pressure on yourself if you expect to get every fish in the boat, otherwise you consider it a mistake. I'm assuming you saw firsthand at the Classic how many of the best fishermen in the world lost fish, and it seemed like they lost quite a few...unless some of them were just exaggerating.

Maybe it's because I don't fish tourneys that I see this differently, but I would be interested to see how many others feel the same way you do when you say that "getting the fish in the boat is usually one of the few things you can control". It seems to me like there are plenty of times when I think I do everything "right", but it just isn't the cards and the fish gets away for whatever reason.

Anyway, good finish and a good start to the year. Congrats!

[rrw4258]

I see where you both (Dean & Kory) are coming from. Getting the fish to the boat is a critical part to doing well in a tournament. In fishing (tournaments and fun fishing), I have had plenty of nice fish hooked, fight them perfectly to the boat and the hook just comes out of his mouth. That is life, and when I physically do my best to land the fish, and the he just comes unbuttoned, that is not something I can't control. However, it can me minimized by having sharp hooks, a fresh knot tied(no knicks in the line), and making a good hookset. Other than those things, if he comes off, then it just wasn't meant to be.

Ryan

[keithdog]

Congrats on the 2nd place finish Kory. Thats awsome pal. I'm sure Britney feels badly, but thats just how it goes sometimes. I just think it's awsome a husband and wife are tourneyment partners! I'm sure she's going to have her day in the sun. Way to go.

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by WatterBoy

Wow, you do put a lot of pressure on yourself if you expect to get every fish in the boat, otherwise you consider it a mistake. I'm assuming you saw firsthand at the Classic how many of the best fishermen in the world lost fish, and it seemed like they lost quite a few...unless some of them were just exaggerating.

Maybe it's because I don't fish tourneys that I see this differently, but I would be interested to see how many others feel the same way you do when you say that "getting the fish in the boat is usually one of the few things you can control". It seems to me like there are plenty of times when I think I do everything "right", but it just isn't the cards and the fish gets away for whatever reason.

Anyway, good finish and a good start to the year. Congrats!

What I am saying is this. There are so many ingredients that go into a fish getting put in the boat. You have to deal with weather (which is almost always horrible on tourney days), boat traffic, other anglers, wind, and many other variables and also have to figure out things like what stage of the spawn are the fish in? What is the best way to attack the situation based on water clarity and water temperature? Which areas do you start at and which ones are best for later in the day because of the amount of sunlight they will see? And the list goes on and on. So many of these things are out of your control and can change from hour to hour, also any one of them might be significant enough on any given day to have a negative effect on the amount of bites you get if you don't make the right decisions. Of everything involved with catching a good bag of fish, to me it seems like what happens after you get the bite is or at least should be the easiest for you to control. I am all about controlling the things I have control over, because you can count on the things that you have no control over working against you from time to time. But as long as you control what you can you will more often than not have descent success if you can catch a break or two. I didn't do anything wrong while fighting the fish to lose it, so I guess maybe I didn't word what I said quite right. I just felt like the easiest piece to the puzzle was the one where I tripped up. Losing fish happens, and especially with baits with treble hooks. But fishing clean is a huge part of a successful tournament day because it's usually asking too much to ask for 6 or 7 big fish because you only capitalized on 4 of your 5 chances earlier. I am more than happy with how I fished and the decisions I made, but if I don't put pressure on myself to do better tomorrow than I did today I will never be better, and I am all about improvements no matter how small they might be.

On a side note..........why is it that big fish will come unbuttoned in a New York minute but a dink will have every dang hook in its mouth and take 5 minutes to unhook? LOL

[kennethdaysale]

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

I just composed this prayer on the spur of the moment after reading the last post! But for some reason it sounds awfully familiar?

[nobass]

great job kory if you had been using what i sent you 1st place was a given lol

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by nobass

great job kory if you had been using what i sent you 1st place was a given lol

LOL Donald, we traded so much tackle this past winter that I probably lost 2 MPH off of my boat just by putting all the tackle you sent me into the boat.

[Bubba_Bruiser]

Congrats to y'all Kory! I think second is solid any day of the week. How many people were competing with y'all?

[WatterBoy]

Originally Posted by carolina-rig-01

What I am saying is this. There are so many ingredients that go into a fish getting put in the boat. You have to deal with weather (which is almost always horrible on tourney days), boat traffic, other anglers, wind, and many other variables and also have to figure out things like what stage of the spawn are the fish in? What is the best way to attack the situation based on water clarity and water temperature? Which areas do you start at and which ones are best for later in the day because of the amount of sunlight they will see? And the list goes on and on. So many of these things are out of your control and can change from hour to hour, also any one of them might be significant enough on any given day to have a negative effect on the amount of bites you get if you don't make the right decisions. Of everything involved with catching a good bag of fish, to me it seems like what happens after you get the bite is or at least should be the easiest for you to control. I am all about controlling the things I have control over, because you can count on the things that you have no control over working against you from time to time. But as long as you control what you can you will more often than not have descent success if you can catch a break or two. I didn't do anything wrong while fighting the fish to lose it, so I guess maybe I didn't word what I said quite right. I just felt like the easiest piece to the puzzle was the one where I tripped up. Losing fish happens, and especially with baits with treble hooks. But fishing clean is a huge part of a successful tournament day because it's usually asking too much to ask for 6 or 7 big fish because you only capitalized on 4 of your 5 chances earlier. I am more than happy with how I fished and the decisions I made, but if I don't put pressure on myself to do better tomorrow than I did today I will never be better, and I am all about improvements no matter how small they might be.

On a side note..........why is it that big fish will come unbuttoned in a New York minute but a dink will have every dang hook in its mouth and take 5 minutes to unhook? LOL

Yep, that all makes sense. I probably read it a little differently than you intended in your first post.

[MIbasser]

Great job C-rig! My partner and I don't care who puts the fish in the boat, as long as they go in! I can be the best net man ever.

Go get 1st next time!