Bassmaster Kayak Series #3: Dale Hollow Recap
A battle for greens and browns!
What an epic week on Dale Hollow Lake that borders Kentucky and Tennessee! The BASSMASTER Kayak Series event #3 was held there this weekend with 233 incredible anglers from 33 states and Canada competing for those coveted Blue Trophies and AOY points to qualify for next year's championship! Practice was not good for me. Just couldn't get things dialed in as I noticed some spawning fish and scoped a few smallies. So on Day 1 I simply traveled about 4 miles from the ramp to the very back of a creek channel hoping to find some fish there. It had rained heavily the night before there and it showed. I found a couple of bass there and lost one. After a couple hours I ventured back out to the wider part of the channel and found several bass boats and kayak anglers in every cove I tried to explore. I scrounged up three more fish for the day and got a small limit. I would find out the next day that I should have stayed closer to home where the fish were moving in rapidly to spawn.
Day 2 I decided to stay closer to camp and selected a creek channel that looked like it had potential for spawning fish on a shallow shoreline. It took awhile to get there and there were others as well. After losing my first fish and an hour without a bite I crossed the channel to the deeper side with the bluff walls and two small pockets. Sure enough! There were bass spawning there in about 3 feet of water. I used a white Zoom fluke and Molten Craw Neko Rig to catch them. Then I moved about two miles to an area that showed promise in practice and had some Cypress trees finding more bass there. After a disappointing 71+ inches on Day 1 and finishing 132nd out of the 233 my efforts proved worthy as I vaulted to a 74th place finishing 21st on Day 2 with 89.5 points.
It was a great lesson on keeping a positive mindset. I'm just grateful I got to fish this incredible fishery and the beauty that surrounds it! Congrats to Ewing Minor on the win and his college team as well! The Dude is a hammer and when he finishes college this year has a great promising career ahead! Also, to all the check winners who all had some interesting stories on how they caught the fish. Thanks to Steve Owens, his crew, and especially Mark Cisneros who take care of everything for us during these events! And thanks to the guys around camp who were very encouraging and hospitable.
Here are some things that might help you when things get tough whether in a competition or job. These are some things I use to stay focused and keep a growth mindset.
1. Show up -mentally and physically-. ( I write this on the white board at schools as a goal for students when I sub.)
2. Am I well prepared? (Planning, time management, equipment)
3. Is my self talk positive? (Am I blaming others for my mishaps?)
4. Am I keeping a level head and focused on my goals? *Write them down!
5. Am I concentrating on my effort and containing distractions?
(Don't get caught up in what others say or do. You can only control you!)
6. Am I giving my best effort to the last second? (Today I caught three fish in the final 28 minutes while upgrading my score while I could have just given up and went in after not getting a bite for quite some time.)
I would also like to thank my sponsors and supporters!