On Tour with Todd Hollowell

Everstart Championship, Kentucky Lake
November 2011

I've been looking forward to this event all year, knowing that the month of October and Kentucky Lake are both strengths of mine.  I was alot more relaxed going into this event, not having to learn where boat ramps, hotels, restaurants, etc. were located - in fact, it felt like I was going home.  This was the event that swayed me to fish the Everstarts in 2011, and I was ready to give my best effort to capitalize on the no-entry fee Championship. 
 
My practice period was about as expected with fish in transition to fall patterns.  It was difficult to find groups of fish, with many familiar places producing 1-2 bites at a time.  At some level, the key in many of these events is finding the right quality of fish that will put you in contention to win.  So as with any other event, I started with the mindset of finding the area with the most fish and the area with the most quality fish.  I practiced all over the lake and covered 60 miles of water in order to narrow down where to spend my time during the tournament.  We checked several patterns, from shallow to deep and water in between.  We were blessed with some beautiful 80-degree sunny days, and dad and I were able to have some fun just like we have in so many years past.  I was confident going into Day 1 that a 14-15# bag was in the works. 
 
I also try to do my homework before events to get a close estimate on how much weight it will take to make the cut and to eventually win.  I had figured this event would take 10-12# each of the first two days to make the Top 20, and an estimated weight of 13-14#/day to win the event.  Boy was I wrong....Interestingly enough, a new phenomenon had emerged just days before the Championship began - the Alabama Rig.  I didn't have one, but knew a few guys that were catching alot of weight in practice on it.  More on that to come....

EVERSTART CHAMPIONSHIP DAY 1

As is the case more times than not in fishing, Day 1 saw completely different conditions than our practice period and the ones who made the proper adjustments would be the ones that had a good first day.  We launched to 46 degrees and rain, teamed with a stiff 10-20 mph north wind.  If you've ever fished Kentucky Lake, you know what a north wind will do to the main lake - it's not fun. 
 
The newest craze in bass fishing made headlines just a week prior at the Guntersville FLW Tour event, and hundreds of anglers stood in line the night before our event began to get their hands on one.  Yes, I did too.  But I made the commitment to myself that I was going to fish my style until I had a limit in the boat, before I started experimenting with it.  Find out how that turned out in a minute....I had drawn Richard Peek, who was arguably the hottest co-angler on the tour in 2011.  He had won a couple of events and had several high finishes on an un-named bait.  I was about to get a lesson on the Alabama Rig up-close and personal.
 
I ran about 10 miles down the lake to my first spot, a main lake point that is usually good for a quick keeper.  I pulled up and caught a short smallmouth on my first cast with a custom tube poured by Craig Jurgonski with River Rat Tackle LTD.  I hadn't caught a smallie in practice, so I figured the nasty weather may have them up and feeding.  I weeded through another couple of short fish and moved on out a little deeper on the point dragging a Wolfpak Tackle football jig to no avail.  As I'm working deeper, Richard begins throwing the Alabama rig towards the main river channel and a few casts later he hooks up....not with one fish, but two - both solid 2.5 pound largemouth.  I passed it off as a fluke, until he repeated and caught two more on the next cast.  He had me down 4 fish to none in 2 casts, that's how the Alabama Rig works.  I quickly turned the boat and picked up my newly tied Alabama rig and started casting.  The 2nd cast produced my first bite, but with no experience throwing the A-Rig, I pulled it away from the fish.  I made a few more casts and appeared to have spooked the school of fish.  Knowing that there was a group of fish there and how to set up on it now, I pulled up the trolling motor with intentions of coming back later. 
 
I made a quick move to a shallow area and started throwing my topwater.  Within a few casts, I had a 3 pound largemouth and a 2.5 pound smallmouth in the boat and my nerves had relaxed.  I fished around the area with no bites, and decided to move further down the lake to another shallow area that I had found in practice that had quite a few fish on it.  I pulled in to find 2 other boats fishing the area - one was Chad Prough who eventually made the Top 10 fishing this spot.  I made one pass through the area that the two boats left open and boated a 2.5 pound largemouth on a Red Dirt spinnerbait.  The wind was really starting to blow now, and I decided to make a move to a more protected area where I had found some deep fish.  
 
After a quick run, I stopped and caught my 4th and 5th keeper on a crankbait and figured to be in safe with about 12 pounds.  In multi-day tournaments, my dad has always told me that you can't win it on the first day - but you can certainly lose it by not catching a solid bag.  I figured 12 pounds would put me in the Top 30 and another 12 pound day would make the Top 20.  So I relaxed and went to back to work.  As I turned the boat to work down the ledge, Richard fired his Alabama Rig out into the area and hooked up with a nice 3 pound fish.  At that point, I knew I had to learn the A-Rig and Richard put on a clinic from the back of the boat with it.  We worked on that one school of fish for the next 45 minutes, catching fish on almost every cast.  I was only able to cull twice, while Richard was able to cull up quite a bit and approaching 16 pounds.  At that point, I knew there was a huge school of fish that I could make the cut on and chose to leave the area saving some for Day 2. 
 
I ran around the rest of the day fishing different areas, but was never able to cull up my weight.  At 3:00, we came to weigh in soaking wet from the rain and put the fish on the scales.  My fish weighed 12-10 and landed me in 28th place.  The weights were a little higher than I expected, but I was confident that I could duplicate my weight on Day 2.  Richard weighed in a stout 15-10 and landed in the Top 5.  He went on to finish 2nd in the event, and he really helped me understand the new A-Rig.  He was the ideal co-angler, one that respected my water, stayed out of my way, and fished for the fish that I wasn't trying to catch.  He helped me throughout the day and we had a fun day.  For the co-angler's that are reading this, I have to tell you that I always try to find enough fish for both me and my co-angler's to have good days during the tournament.  This requires days of practice from daylight til dark, and hundreds of dollars in gas and expenses.  The best way to approach the day with a Pro is to show up prepared, offering plenty of gas money, and being respectful of their water and equipment.  There's no suprise that Richard is one of the best on the Tour as he exemplifies how a co-angler should perform, and I hope to draw him again one day. 
 
My family was in town for the event, so it was off to the house to settle down for some relaxation, dinner, and preparing for Day 2.

EVERSTART CHAMPIONSHIP DAY 2

Day 2 saw the tail end of a major front, lows in the 30's and high's in the 40's with another stiff north, northeast wind.  I had a few offshore ledges that I wanted to fish, but the wind probably wasn't going to allow it this day.  I was in the last flight, so I knew that some of the places I had fished the first day may be taken.  
 
I started on another mainlake point and within 10 minutes had my first keeper on the Alabama-Rig, loaded with Castaic Jerky J 5" swimbaits.  That was just the start I was looking for.  A group of big stripers had moved in on the point and in my mind had probably chased the largemouth off.  So I moved to a shallow area where I had caught two fish the day before.  I fished through the area with no bites, and decided it was time to move down the lake and go to work on the school of fish I had left biting the day before.  To my surprise, no other boats were on the ledge and I was excited to fish it. 
 
I had slightly mis-underestimated the cut weight, and knew that on Day 2 I need to catch everything I could catch, thinking that a 13-14 pound bag would put me in the Top 20 and get me to Day 3.  I made two passes through the sweet spot without a bite, and immediately knew something had changed.  I moved over to the deeper part of the drop and the screen on my depthfinder lit up with bait fish.  I passed down the deeper side with the Alabama-Rig and before I knew it, my co-angler had put 4 small keepers in the boat on a crankbait.  So I made the adjustment, and ended catching a solid keeper and a 4 pound fish to bump my weight up to 8 pounds.  I knew I was two bites away, and had plenty of time to get it done.  We were able to get the fish up and feeding a couple of times over the course of two hours, but the quality fish that were there on Day 1 seemed to have gotten much smaller.  My co-angler had a small limit, and I was still stuck on 3 fish at noon.  I decided to leave the area, and move to some shallow spots in hopes of putting keeper number 4 in the boat.  But as happens sometimes in fishing, it simply didn't happen.  I ran back to the ledge and fished for another hour to no avail.  At 2PM, I knew I had a couple of hours to pull this thing together and scramble for a couple of bites.  I started running through every place I had caught fish in practice, and finally at 3PM, I boated my 4th keeper on the Red Dirt spinnerbait, pushing my weight to 10+ pounds.  One bite away!  
 
I had worked my way far enough south that the next closest place I had where I thought I could catch one was 10 miles away either north or south.  As I ran out onto the mainlake, the north wind had really started to blow and I was forced to make a decision on whether to make a 10 mile run or stay put.  The waves got bigger as I approached the Paris Landing bridge at 3:20, and I was due in at 4:10.  I stopped under the bridge to collect my thoughts and let the livewells fill up with water while taking a few waves over the bow.  I knew that the run south would only leave me with 10-15 minutes to fish, and being in the last flight meant that there would be no boats following me back in case of a breakdown.  Unfortunately, I let that sway my decision and decided to make a quick run into a protected bay thinking that I could scrape up one more fish in the last 45 minutes.  I fished through the area twice fruitlessly, and eventually time was up.  
 
We made it back to weigh in with a minute to spare, and my fish hit the scales at 10-12.  Just over 2 pounds from making the top 20, and one fish short of a limit.  I'll be honest, I was pretty disappointed.  I had found enough fish in another area of the lake to give me the confidence to make the Top 10 and chose not to go to them on Day 2 and saving them for Day 3.  It turned out to be a critical error, along with not staying on the school of fish on Day 1 to try to cull up my weight.  Interestingly, I always seem to learn the most from the tournaments that I feel close to doing well in and make a few mistakes along the way.  This was one of those events.  I finished in 37th place out of over 170 boats, and took the night to let the season and the Championship sink in.  I had so many people pulling for me in this event, and I felt like I had let some of them down.  At the same time, it occurred to me that in my first full season on a Pro circuit I had finished in the Top 40 in 4 out of 5 events.  Without the guys at Red Dirt Baits, I wouldn't have even been able to fish the last two events.  I owe alot to them and am grateful for their willingness to step up to help me.  It was a solid year nonetheless, and there is alot to look forward to in 2012. 
 
Look for my Championship Re-Cap later this week, along with some exciting news coming soon about 2012!

EVERSTART CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP

37th place at the no-entry-fee EverStart Championship at Kentucky Lake - not exactly what I had planned in mind, but a good ending to a very consistent season full of learning experiences.  Decision-making is paramount at this level, and only experience and confidence can help a person make better decisions on the water.  Overcoming adversity, and believing in yourself and the decisions you make - I learn more about that every event.  As always, I've kept a detailed journal from each event and take time to reflect on opportunities for improvement that I can take with me to my next tournament.  I've worked hard to become more well-rounded with different techniques and different seasonal patterns that have paid huge dividends, only missing the money in two weekend events all year and none since April.  Fishing is a series of highs and lows, and momentum can give an angler the confidence to try something he'd never considered possible before.  That's where I'm at mentally....

Next up for me - there are some major decisions to be made.  Qualifying for the 2012 FLW Tour through the EverStart Series, I have an opportunity to fish at the highest level of professional bass fishing with FLW Outdoors. How exciting!  I'm proud of that accomplishment alone, and many would love to have that opportunity next year.  Yet it's a major commitment - $24,000 in entry fees and a total including expenses to exceed $40,000 for the six Majors alone.  Without sponsorship and partnerships, it's a bad business move to go into without the right support - a move that I've seen many make and fail.  It's a family decision, and one that cannot be taken lightly without the right people supporting me.  There's a lot of planning on the agenda for the upcoming weeks, looking at 2012 schedules and calendars and making some important decisions.

In an individual sport where selfishness sometimes gets the best of us, I've come to learn that this is about much more than me.  There are dozens of people that have stepped up to help me in many different ways this season, and I'm humbled and grateful for it.  I also owe a huge thank you to my sponsors in 2011 that have helped me in so many different ways - Wolfpak Tackle, Red Dirt Baits, Reaction Strike, Castaic, Eco Pro Tungsten, The Outdoorsman Sport Shop, and River Rat Tackle.  Before ever landing my first sponsor, I made a commitment to only represent companies that I believed in and people that I respected in the highest regard.  I'm proud to represent these companies that have a huge heart and make some great products that make my job on the water much easier.

Below is a recap of the gear from Kentucky Lake:

• Tube Gear:
  7” Medium Fast spinning rod and reel
  10# Fluorocarbon line
  ¼ head with River Rat Tackle green pumpkin orange, dark pumpkinseed tubes

• Spinnerbait Gear:
  6'10" Medium heavy rod, 7:1 reel
  15# Fluorocarbon line
  1/2 and 3/8 oz. Red Dirt Baits Tandem Series spinnerbaits - white, smokey shad, and chartruese sweet shad

• Crankbait Gear:
  7' Medium rod, 6:1 reel
  10# Fluorocarbon Line
  Strike King Series 5, 6 Sexy Shad
  Reaction Strike XSD 80, Ayu and Ghost Minnow

• Topwater Gear:
  6'10”  Medium rod, 7:1 reel
  15# Monofilament line
  Zara Spook sexy shad

• Alabama Rig Gear:
  7'6”  Heavy rod, 6:1 reel
  65# Braid
  The Original Alabama Rig
  Castaic 5" Jerky J Swim Ayu and Strike King Shadalicious 4.5" Sexy Shad

You can find these baits on the shelves of The Outdoorsman Sport Shop in Greenwood, IN or online at www.reactionstrike.com, www.reddirtbaits.com, www.wolfpaktackle.com and www.ecoprotungsten.com.

As I've said before, to all of you following here on Big Indiana Bass and everyone that continues to find me around our local lakes, thank you for all of your encouragement.  You’ve all made this year an absolute blessing and I appreciate you.  Thanks also to Brian Waldman for publishing these journals.  Publicly journaling this season has been exciting, embarrassing, humbling, and encouraging all at the same time.  Hopefully someone has been able to take something from my journals, whether good or bad, and use my experiences to learn from.  Our God is awesome, and the creation and sport that we all have grown to cherish was given to us by Him.  How amazing is that!

There's a lot of work to be done to take the next step, and if God has this planned I trust Him to reveal the path where He needs me next.  Stay tuned for some announcements later this fall.  Until next time….God bless and bass wishes!

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Everstart Central, Table Rock
October 2011

PRACTICE DAYS

I came out to Table Rock about 3 weeks ago just to look around and see the lake.  There's nothing that baffles me more than showing up to a new lake and not knowing where anything was, so I wanted to do that before official practice and familiarize myself with the lake, the ramps, the launch, and how the lake sets up.  
 
What set up to be a fall tournament turned out to be a late summer pattern.  A week full of sun and 80+ degree weather coupled with Table Rock turning over, and I knew immediately that this was going to be a mental grind.  I had done my pre-tournament research and figured 9 pounds/day would make the Top 10, and possibly 6-7 pounds/day to get a check.  Instead of focusing on the unpredictable smallmouth bite, I chose to focus on spotted bass in this tournament.  I've always enjoyed fishing for them and somewhat understand how they relate to an impoundment reservoir with current.  And I knew if I could get on a school of spots, I could possibly make this cut.  More importantly, I came into the event in 10th in the points, where the Top 40 made the Championship at Kentucky Lake and the Top 10 qualify for the 2012 FLW Tour.  Goal #1 was to catch a fish and make the Championship.  Goal #2 was to keep my spot in the Top 10 and have an opportunity to fish the Tour in 2012.
 
Dad and I drove all night for 10 hours to get to Kimberling City, Missouri and check in to the Kimberling Inn.  With my engine still under repair, my sponsor and the great guys at Red Dirt Baits offered to let me run their wrapped Triton in this event and I'm very grateful for that.  We hit the lake at dawn and got right to work.  After fishing daylight to dark and checking several different patterns, I could tell that this was going to be a junk-fishing tournament for me.  The fish were really spread out, and I could only manage 3 keepers most practice days.  I had checked water from 2 feet to 100 feet, and had gotten bites everwhere in between. 
 
If you've not been to Table Rock, you're missing out on one of God's finer creations - it's a beautiful place.  This week, however, was not going to show it's fishing potential.  The lake is full of big spotted bass, smallmouth and largemouth bass - but this event was going to be a tournament where keepers would be hard to come by.  Going into Day 1, I felt that I could catch a few offshore, a few on docks, and a few fishing shallow - but I knew the bites would be scattered and hard to come by.  This practice came down to alot of hard work, persistence, eliminating water, and staying positive.  After all, there was a lot on the line.

TOURNEY DAY 1

I drew a fairly early boat number and was partnered with a great guy for Day 1, Joseph Nega from Chicago.  My nerves were pretty relaxed, as I was confident that catching 1 fish to qualify for the Championship would happen at some point on Day 1 - the earlier the better. 

We launched and made a short run to my first area and was surprised to find it unoccupied.  It was a large main lake flat with some isolated rock and gravel scattered across it that I had found in practice to have feeding fish on it during low-light conditions.  I started with a 3/4 oz. Wolfpak Dozer football Jig and got 2 bites on my first cast.  The 2nd cast of the day produced my first keeper, a 15 1/4" spotted bass, and the Championship became a reality (for now).  I fished around the area for another 45 minutes and caught 2 more fish that barely didn't make the 15" mark. 

I ran to a slough of docks I had found bites on in practice in 40-100 feet of water, where I had planned on Jigging a spoon around.  The dock bite seemed to be better once the sun got high, but as the whole week went at Table Rock, all of the bites I got were random and hard to duplicate.  I fished through 5 sets of docks without a bite, so I headed up the lake to check 2 more main lake flats that I had found spotted bass on.

I was confident that I could catch 1 keeper on each of these places, but this day would be different.  My previous Ozark lake experience taught me that a wind change could change the water clarity, and for the first time all week, we had wind.  It started blowing 15-20 mph out of the south and blew some dirtier water out from the back of that creek to the flats I was fishing.  And when I say flats to my Indiana followers...I was fishing 35-40 ft deep....on flats.  No bites, and knowing that a spotted bass is a sight feeder, I figured that the water clarity was the problem.

So at 1pm, I ran back down to fish docks for two hours only to come up empty-handed.

At 3pm, I went back to the flat I started on and within a few casts, landed a nice 15 1/2" spotted bass on a dropshot.  We had to be back at 3:30, and at 3:10 I landed a keeper smallmouth on the dropshot.  Wow!  That should put me in check range, and 1 more keeper in the Top 10!  I was only a mile from check-in, but with ten minutes remaining, I decided it was more important to get back to check in and be sure I got those Championship points in the books.

I sat down and turned the key, and the motor wouldn't start.  Really?!?  Not this again!  Checked the kill switch, nothing.  Flipped the breakers and turned off all of the electronics, nothing.  Tried to boost it off the other batteries, nothing.  It's 3:20 and I'm due in at 3:30.  My co-angler started flagging down approaching boats.  About that time, another boater (who I'll keep nameless) came around the corner and told me he couldn't take me back because he had 10 more minutes to fish.  I understood his position, but I personally would never do that and intentionally look the other way when someone needed help.  Wow!  I may not get back on time, and 6 minutes late means a zero.  Maybe I'm not in the Championship after all!

After having 5-6 boats pass by within a hundred yards and not stopping, finally two boats stopped to ask if we were ok at the same time.  I dropped an anchor near the Kimberling City bridge and hopped in Tom Murphy's boat with my 3 fish at 3:28.  Tom had a limit, so he put the pedal down and got us back at exactly 3:30.  Whew!!!  Close one.  God's timing always amazes me, and He put Tom in my path at an amazing time.  Fittingly, Tom Murphy went on to make the Top 10 and he deserved it.

Those three fish weighed 5-11 and landed me in 24th place after Day 1.  Only 6 limits were weighed in, and Table Rock showed how tough it really was.  I caught a ride back quickly to get the Red Dirt Bait Co. boat and returned to our marina.  I plugged in the battery charger and the motor fired right up.  Best I can figure, I had left the livewells and all 3 electronics units running all day and it drained the battery.  Everything was fine, but I'm not sure I've ever felt so close to a heart attack.

Time to celebrate and relax.  My dad had caught two keepers on Day 1 and landed in 9th place.  We had both qualified for the Championship on Kentucky Lake.  Goal #1 was in the books.  Awesome!

TOURNEY DAY 2

Day 2 saw about the same weather conditions, and I was paired with Roger Hahn from Ohio.  Roger blanked the first day, and needed to catch a keeper to make the Championship.  I was much more relaxed going into this day, knowing I'd made the Championship.  It's probably the most relaxed I've been fishing all year on the Everstart's.

We launched and headed directly to my main lake flat where I had caught all three of my keepers on Day 1, and like fishing is most of the time, this day was different and I went the first 30 minutes without a bite on what I thought was my best spot.  I ran back in to the docks and started pitching the spoon around.  About 10 minutes in, I hooked up with a solid 16" spotted bass and we were off to a good start.  I fished a few more groups of docks and decided to run up the river to see if the bite was better up there.  I fished through two of my mainlake flats with no bites, and moved shallow to a group of docks with some brush piles around it.  The shallower I went the more bites I got, although all short fish.  With another hour or so before the sun got high enough to leave no shade, I ran in to fish a couple of super shallow pockets in search of a big largemouth.

The first pocket I came to landed me my second keeper of the day, a 15" largemouth that gobbled my topwater bait.  My partner was on edge all morning, knowing he needed just one keeper to make the Championship.  I was trying to give him plenty of room to cast and wanted him to catch the fish he needed, and he soon landed his first keeper of the day.  Being from Ohio, he felt much more at home in the shallow water, so we both agreed to run a few more shallow pockets to see how long the shallow bite would hold up.  We ran three more pockets before the sun got high, and in one pocket, a couple of fish came up schooling behind us.  I hadn't seen much of that happening all week, so I spun the boat around and kicked the Motorguide 101 on high for about 30 seconds to get back to that corner.  When I shut the trolling motor down, Roger and I both made a cast to the vicinity of the blowups and we quickly had a double on!  Awesome!  Roger had 2 keepers and probably a check, and I had my 3rd keeper securing what I thought would be a check as well.

The shallow bite was waning, and it was approaching noon with a 3:30 check in time.  We made the run back down the lake, and I committed the rest of my day to fishing docks and the main lake flat that had produced 3 keepers on Day 1.  I was hopeful that I could catch one more.  I passed through the mainlake flat again with no bites and ran back in to the docks.  The 2nd set of docks I fished, a fished hooked up on the spoon and the fight was on. This fish did not want to go to the weigh-in, and it took a few minutes to get it landed and out from underneath the boat lift.  Roger slid the net under the boat lift and the fish finally swam in - keeper number 4 was on board, another nice 16" spotted bass.  As I came around to fish the next dock, Roger pitched a shaky head under the walkway and hooked up with his 3rd keeper of the day.  I really could have used that fish, it may have put me in the Top 10!  But on this day, I had a sense of calm and appreciation for the blessings I'd already received.  I was thankful to have made the Championship, and quite confident that I had enough in those 4 keepers to qualify for the 2012 FLW Tour.  So I wasn't upset at all - instead, Roger and I were hooting and hollering, giving each other high fives for a few minutes in celebration.

At 3:00, I ran back out to my main lake flat for the 3rd time that day.  I hadn't had a bite there all day, and Roger told me that he felt this time it was going to happen.  He had some uncanny senses as he was basically calling the shots on where we had caught keepers already that day, so I think I believed him this time.  We were due in at 3:30, and at 3:15, my dropshot went soft and mushy.  I started reeling, and the fight was on.  A few minutes later my fifth keeper, a 15" spotted bass, was in the boat and I was absolutely elated.  I thought there was a slim chance that I'd sneak into the Top 10 and get the chance to fish another day.  We decided it best to go in early to make sure we both got in securely, so we headed in a few minutes early.  Roger ended up in 13th and qualified for the Championship, and I was happy to have been part of it.  My 5 fish hit the scales at 10-05, and I was in the Top 10 until the last flight.  When the scales closed, I finished 11th and dad had finished 13th.

My family grabbed a plane from Indianapolis that morning and flew in to Branson to be there to celebrate with us.  They were waiting for us at the weigh-in, and I was overjoyed with emotion knowing how much hard work and sacrifice we all put in to make this year a success.  Brad Ray and Terrance Smith were also there fishing as co-anglers, and they had both been part of my support group this entire year.  Anyone who thinks they can play this sport without a strong support group is mistaken.  I was disappointed to miss the cut and not be fishing the final day, but I also knew that my family deserved some special time.  We planned a fun day in Branson the next day, and went out with friends and family for a celebration dinner.  My phone was littered with congratulations and well wishes from many people, and I appreciate all of the encouragement so many people gave to me this year.  What a tough, yet rewarding week it had been at Table Rock!

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Pre-Practice Journal – September 28, 2011
2011 FLW Everstart Central – Table Rock Lake, MO

As always in this sport, it’s been an interesting couple of months since our last event at the Detroit River in July.  I’ve stayed busy with local tournaments at Geist and Morse to keep sharp and took a fun trip up to Lake Erie about a month ago.   Rick Quade from Reaction Strike took me on a muskie trip this summer, and he taught me how to fish a 9” swimbait for the first time.  That was an awesome experience, and I was sore for a week after casting that bait all day!

My good friend, Terrance Smith, and I took a quick weekend trip to Branson and Table Rock a few weeks ago.  He’s fishing the Co-Angler side and decided to come along for a quick getaway.  I’d never seen the lake and wanted to just spend a day on the water familiarizing myself with the lake.  We spent a lot of time riding around and learning how the lake lays out.   We were able to take advantage of a passing front and a couple hours of fishing while the fish were feeding.  We caught a few nice spotted bass and a couple of beautiful Table Rock smallmouth.   Table Rock Lake is one of God’s finer creations – it’s absolutely stunning!

My track record in October has been strong over the years, so I’m going into this event with a lot of confidence.  Once I saw the lake and how much offshore structure there is to explore, I’m really excited to get out there and fish my strengths.  Currently sitting in 10th in the points, my main goal for this entire season has been to qualify for the Championship at Kentucky Lake, and I’m in good shape to achieve that goal.  The Top 40 qualify for the Championship, yet the Top 10 get priority entry into the 2012 FLW Tour.  Not having traveled a major circuit for the past 5-6 years, I wasn’t sure what to expect and how far along my fishing had progressed.  Striving to qualify for the Tour was always on my mind beginning the year, but that has become a reality and within reach.  I believe goals are something we all set to test our boundaries and push ourselves to be the best we can be.  I believe that’s what God expects from all of us –not perfection and results, but our best effort with faith in His love for us.  Through that faithfulness, we draw closer in our relationship to God and He reveals to us the path down which He needs us next.  I’m not sure what’s next for me, but I promise you that I’m giving it my best effort.  And I trust God to show me where He needs me next, wherever that may be. 

I’m going to be without my rig again this tournament, as I’ve been patiently working with my dealer and the manufacturer to get my motor problems resolved.  It should be ready for the Everstart Championship at Kentucky Lake next month.  Until then, my sponsor and friends at the Red Dirt Bait Company have offered to let me run their wrapped rig at Table Rock – which is extremely gracious, and I appreciate them being there to help me.  It’s also quite fitting, since I plan to do a lot of work with their tunable titanium spinnerbaits and buzzbaits.  They’ve custom-built some baits for me to use at Table Rock, and I truly believe they will give me a competitive edge, as the Red Dirt spinnerbaits and buzzbaits are the best and most durable on the market.

 

Until next time, I’ll leave you with a quote from William Jennings Bryan.  "Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. "

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On Tour with Todd Hollowell
Wrap-Up Journal - 2011 FLW Everstart Central
Detroit River - July 2011

Day 1

This was probably one of the most solid practices I’ve ever had.  Dad & I probably found over 25 schools of fish, and I was going to make a milk-run like I always love to do.  I knew I’d catch a solid bag, with 15# being the goal and hopes of a 17-18# bag.  I was fishing hard bottomed, key transition areas that the fish were using as they were moving out into their summer patterns.  The Eco Pro Tungsten dropshot weights really gave me an advantage in practice in identifying that bottom contour and helped me find those key places.

I ran 25 minutes to Lake St Clair to be greeted with a stiff NE wind and big waves.  I had to slow down and run 8 MPH for the next 45 minutes – nothing tests a guy’s patience like wanting to get to your first spot quickly and having to deal with one of the Great Lakes and a big wind.  My experience on Kentucky Lake over the years certainly helped me stay patient, and I knew it didn’t matter how long it took to get there – the fish were there and waiting to eat. 

I arrived at my first spot and dropped the trolling motor right on the key stretch.  The first pitch with my dropshot, and a 3 pounder ate the bait before it made it to the bottom.  My co-angler was still sitting in his seat untangling his rods.  I boated the first fish and dropped it in the net in the bottom of the boat.  I grabbed my tube rod, made a short cast, and opened the bail on my reel.  After putting the first fish in the livewell, I picked up my tube rod and it was hooked up as well – another 3 pound fish in the boat before my co-angler had a chance to wet his line.  Within 45 minutes, I had 14# in the box and all day left to try to cull my weight up.  We were off to a good start!

As the morning progressed, it seemed the clouds thickened and the wind stirred up the water I was fishing.  I could tell by the way the fish were biting my dropshot that they weren’t seeing it well.  I moved around through my best 4-5 schools of fish and culled to about 15 pounds, with my co-angler stuck on two fish.  I took him to a school of fish that was really stacked up, but mostly 2-2 ½ pound fish.  Within 10 minutes, he finished his limit.  From there, I moved shallow to throw the Red Dirt spinnerbait looking for a fish to cull me up to 15# but was only able to cull by an ounce or two.  So I decided to move back out to my deeper schools of fish to look for a 4-5# bite.  This being my first time fishing a smallmouth tournament, I was about to learn a big lesson.  Smallmouth HAVE  to be able to see your bait.  The water continued to dirty up from the NE wind, and my co-angler made a change to a dark-colored tube.  15 minutes drifting through my best spot, he hooks up with a 5# fish and on the next cast, a fish that was pushing 4#.  I was happy for him, and it took his weight up to 15#, but it stung a little knowing that if I’d made an adjustment and caught just one of those fish, it would have bumped my weight to 17-18#.  It stung even more when he told me he had a dream the night before that he caught 18# and his boater blanked.  Gee – how nice….I’d been practicing daylight to dark for days to find these fish while he sat at home, only to show up and catch over 40 keepers.  Still not sure how some co-anglers can think that way….but that’s for another time and another entry.

I finished day one right on the check cut-off line in 48th, and knew if I could repeat that weight on Day 2, I’d get a check and hold my ground in the points.  It was a solid first day and I was pleased.

Day 2

I decided to spend more time in my deeper areas on Day 2.  I felt like I may not get as many bites, but I knew there was the opportunity to catch a bigger bag there.  I ran straight to my best spot and again put two solid 3# fish in the box within the first 5 minutes.  We drifted a little shallower than I had the day before, and my co-angler jumped off a 5# smallmouth.  I knew there were some good fish around.  This morning saw heavy clouds and wind like the day before, and this day – I made the adjustment quickly.  I threw the tube and put 14# in the box within an hour once again. 

We moved on and rotated through my best 5 deep areas and wasn’t able to cull up.  So I moved to a couple of schools of 3# fish to work hard to hit that 15# mark.  We pulled up on one school and really caught them good for 45 minutes or so.  I found that when the sun gets high, the smallmouth can really see well and feed by sight.  I was mixing in a Reaction Strike jerkbait and crankbait to try to get a reaction strike from a bigger fish, and those St Clair smallmouth would just smash the bait – it was a blast!  My co-angler and I both culled up to the 15# mark and were having so much fun catching 3# fish that I started to lose track of time.  I knew I had a solid 15# and that I’d met my goal, but now it was time to push.  I had a little over an hour of fishing time left, so I ran back through my best 3 deep areas looking for a big bite.  In the last 30 minutes of fishing time, I caught two 4# fish that culled my weight up to over 17#.  Awesome!

I knew I’d had a good day and wanted to make sure we got back in plenty of time while being able to stop 3-4 times on the way back to take care of our fish and fill up the livewells to keep the fish from taking a beating.  If you’ve ever ran the Detroit River, you understand what I’m talking about.  There’s a 3 mile stretch through downtown Detroit that the locals call the “Miracle Mile” – because it’s a miracle if you make it through without breaking anything.  I made sure to slow way down, idling at times, to make sure we made it in safe and sound.  A dead fish penalty could mean losing ½ pound, let alone one of God’s most beautiful creatures.  5 dead fish penalties would take a 17# bag down to a 14 ½ pound bag and probably cost me a check.  We managed to navigate the Detroit River with no problem this day and made it in with 20 minutes to spare – our fish in great shape.  When they went to the scales on FLW’s stage, I was delighted to see the 17# mark hit and knew I’d surpassed my goal for this event.  My co-angler, Mark Fennell from Northern Indiana, was a great partner who weighed in 15# and later told me it was one of the most fun days he’s ever had on the water.  We probably caught over 75 smallmouth and had a great time trying to net those crazy brown fish.

Recap

I have to say, I’m really proud of this tournament having never fished for smallmouth before.  I finished in 31st place in this event, brought a decent check home to help cover expenses, and surprisingly moved up to 10th in the points.  The Top 10 in the points after the next event will have priority entry into the FLW Tour – and that’s something I have to start thinking about, as that dream is possibly going to become a reality in the next few months.   My dad held his ground in the Co-Angler points, and currently sits in 14th with one event to go.  If we both end up qualifying for the FLW Tour, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to keep my emotions in check at Table Rock in October.  We laughed, cried, yelled, and told stories all the way home from Detroit.  We’ve had a great time together through this journey, and I thank God for the time He’s given me to spend with my dad. 

I’m currently having an open dialogue with Evinrude regarding my motor situation – we’ll see where it goes.  Meanwhile, I need to get serious and face the question – do I want to fish the FLW Tour in 2012?  If so, I’m going to need to find a company to partner with, one that I can help market and promote their product and in return, they help fund my season.  I’m learning as I go, and thankfully, I have a great core group of people around me that are helping me make good decisions.  I’ve also had multiple people step up to offer their help, their knowledge, their equipment, their maps, their lures – they know who they are and I won’t name them publicly.  But I’m forever grateful and humbled by the people who have really given a lot to me.  I even had a good friend come to Detroit this weekend with his boat so that I’d have a backup boat should mine break down at some point.  How selfless is that?  It’s taught me how God gives us the opportunity to help and to love each other by using our gifts and blessings to help other men.  It’s a rewarding feeling to help someone, and I know these guys are cheering for me – encouraging me to make it happen.  It’s pretty awesome.  I also owe a big thanks to Dave Skeen who let me borrow his Ranger Z521 to take to the Detroit River with my motor in the shop.  His boat is for sale, and it’s the best rig I’ve ever fished out of – with a Yamaha 4-stroke SHO that really ate the water.  I was impressed – if you are looking for a new ride, you should check his boat out.

I borrowed a lot of equipment for this event, but I narrowed down the most high percentage set-ups for me for the week.  You’ll see some of the same baits I’ve been catching fish on all year long below.  I also filmed a video of some spinnerbait fishing in practice, using the Red Dirt Spinnerbait.  Their tunable titanium wire is the best on the market.  If you’ve ever seen a smallmouth destroy a spinnerbait wire, you’ll appreciate this video and the way they make their spinnerbaits- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9yugNCBV4Q.

Dropshot Gear:
    • 7’ 3” Medium Fast spinning dropshot rod
    • 10# Fluorocarbon line
    • 3/16 and 1/4 oz. Eco Pro Tungsten dropshot weights
    • 4” finesse worms in green pumpkin and watermelon and Tiny Flukes in pearl.

Tube Gear:
    • 7”  Medium Fast spnning
    • 10# Fluorocarbon line
    • ¼ and 5/16 homemade tube heads (by Craig Jurgonski)
    • Green pumpkin and watermelon 4# tubes. 

Spinnerbait Gear:
    • 6”10 Medium heavy rod, 7:1 reel
    • 15# Fluorocarbon line
    • 1/2 and 3/4 oz. Red Dirt Baits Spots & Smallie Series spinnerbait w/ chartreuse/white blades & skirt

Jerkbait/Crankbait Gear:
    • 6’10 Medium rod, 6:1 reel
    • 10# Fluorocarbon Line
    • Reaction Strike XRM 100, Ghost Minnow and Ayu
    • Reaction Strike XSD 80, Ayu and Chartreuse

You can find these baits on the shelves of The Outdoorsman Sport Shop in Greenwood, IN or online at www.reactionstrike.com, www.reddirtbaits.com, and www.ecoprotungsten.com.  

Next up - the final event of the Everstart Central Division at Table Rock in early October.  I love fall fishing, and I’m looking forward to another challenge and another new lake that I’ve never been to.  I’ll be working over the next few months to get my boat/motor situation settled, as well as pursuing companies to partner with for 2012 and a possible run at the FLW Tour.  This will be a family decision, one that we all agree on.  We’ll see what God has planned – I’m excited to find out.  To all of you following and that continue to find me around our local lakes, thank you for all of your encouragement.  You’ve all made this year an absolute blessing and I appreciate you.  Until next time….God bless.

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FOMTT National Legacy Championship

Pickwick L., AL (June 24-27)

Last week we headed down to Pickwick Lake in Alabama for the Fishers of Men Legacy National Championship. We had such a great time at Guntersville last year that we decided to travel down again this year and experience another weekend on the Tennessee River. The Fishers of Men Legacy Trail is a Christian-based trail where one of the team members must be under the age of 19. I can’t think of a better trail to be involved with – one that promotes getting youth involved in our sport and also promotes the ministry of Jesus Christ. I’ve continued to think about using the gifts that God has given me and passing the legacy along to the next generation. It has continue to stir in my heart, this has been the most rewarding and fulfilling circuit I’ve ever fished in. Watching these kids smile with joy and excitement….it’s simply awesome!

My partner again this year was 14 year old Matt Herning from Greenfield. It’s been awesome to watch Matt progress his skills over the last year, from learning to use a baitcaster, to learning advanced offshore techniques like deep cranking and Carolina-riggin. Taking a young man from Indiana and to not let him throw a lure at the bank for 4 straight days….I figured that it would be mentally challenging for him. There’s a real sense of imagination that comes in to play when fishing out off the bank, something that I’ve had to learn how to do over the years. But Matt adapted to offshore fishing quickly and with a great attitude, and we had a great weekend at Pickwick with more fish than I can remember catching in a long time…more on that later.

We narrowed our practice down to a 10-mile stretch of the lower end of Pickwick and started our practice. As usual, I spent a lot of time researching and studying maps and my GPS. We had 40-50 locations to check on Day 1, and the first 2 places I dropped the trolling motor we found schools of fish. I knew immediately that we were going to have some fun at Pickwick. We went on over the next two days to find 10-15 good schools of fish, but we didn’t really fish those schools hard in practice – so I wasn’t exactly sure what we had found. I just knew we were going to catch a lot of fish. We were catching over 100 keepers/day! We were focusing on both main river ledges from 18-24 feet, and ledges in two creeks from 12-16 feet where fish were transitioning into their summer patterns. We were using Wolfpak football jigs, Carolina and Texas rigged worms with Eco Pro Tungsten weights, and Reaction Strike and Strike King crankbaits. 

Pickwick certainly suited my style of fishing. Matt was really excited to get to work on these schools of fish and looking forward to Day 1. We settled in at our hotel in Florence, AL after the pre-tournament meeting, where B.A.S.S. Elite Series Pro Randy Howell delivered a powerful message and testimony. We were humbled and feeling blessed to be there. Ready for a good nights sleep in the air conditioning, we called it a night and were anxious to see what the tournament was going to throw at us.

Day 1 we blasted off at 6AM and started down the lake.  We had about a 25 mile boat ride, and 8 miles down the lake, my “No Oil” light came on and shut my motor down to 1000 RPM’s. After a few minutes of trying to diagnose and fix the problem, I knew that the motor was stuck into safe mode and that we weren’t going to be able to run it….let alone get down the lake another 20 miles to all the fish we found. I have to admit, lots of negative thoughts start running through your head – especially when you’ve driven 9 hours to fish, spent two grueling practice days and hundreds of dollars in gas to find enough fish to have a great tournament, and you can’t even get to them. I felt absolutely horrible for Matt – but I know that sometimes mechanical failures happen in fishing.

Matt & I talked for quite a while that day, as we spent over 3 of our 7 tournament hours idling back toward McFarland Park. We talked about how God challenges us with obstacles all the time in our lives, and we have a choice on how to deal with them. We both agreed to make the most of our day, to enjoy His creation and the beautiful lake that we were able to witness that day with a slow boat ride. Sometimes I wonder if this was a sign that it’s time for me to slow down my competitive side and to soak in all that God surrounds us with.

We stopped on a main-river ledge on the way back that looked good, and within 10 minutes, we had two keepers already in the boat. I was nervous about getting back on time and having enough time to get my boat to the local Evinrude dealer. So we continued to idle for 30-45 minutes, and then stop and fish an area that looked good for a few minutes. At about 10AM, I pulled up to a row of main river cypress trees and flipped my Wolfpak jig and a Red Dirt spinnerbait around. The 3rd tree I casted to, a 4# fish shot out and took the bait. Matt landed the fish, and we already had about 8-9 pounds in the boat. This day was going about as good as you could expect with no big motor. We fished our way back to the take-off site with no more bites, and with 30 minutes to go, we pulled up to a bridge area with heavy current. Matt threw his Carolina rig around and found a small, key shellbed with the Eco Pro Tungsten weight, and within 5 minutes boated our 4th and 5th keepers. Amazingly, we weighed in a limit that went over 12#, landing us in 37th place out of over 160 boats after Day 1. What a blessed day.

Meanwhile, I ran the boat over to the Evinrude dealer to find out that the oil injection system failed and they couldn’t get me back on the water. My father was kind enough to let me borrow his boat for day 2, and my brother selflessly drove the boat 2 hours to meet me. This has happened one too many times. I’m going to deal directly with Evinrude after this tournament. I’ve broken down more times than you can imagine the last 5 years with this motor, and it needs to be made right by the manufacturer. More on that another time….

I got back to the hotel at midnight to find a newly arrived family reunion party at the hotel, with nowhere to park or plug the battery chargers in. The challenges kept coming. We ended up parking it in a gas station parking lot across the street, and settled in a for a short night’s sleep. But I was really looking forward to getting Matt down the lake to the schools of fish we found so he could have a blast.

Day 2 saw us with a smooth boat ride all the way down the lake. With 10-15 schools of fish located, I was confident we’d be able to get on a couple of places. I narrowed it down to what I thought were our best 3 schools of fish that were within a 4 mile radius. The first place I pulled up on had a school of 3# fish we’d found in practice, but it had 2 boats from our tournament, so it was off to the next spot a couple of miles away which surprisingly was unoccupied. I was excited, as out of all the places we found I thought this one had some potential for a big bite and for smallmouth. I was without my electronics this day, so I hunted around until Matt found the key shellbed with his Carolina Rig. That Eco Pro Tungsten weight really helped us find a few of our key ledges – there always seems to be a small stretch where the fish actually feed and it’s absolutely vital that you find that key spot-within-the-spot, and that new weight made it pretty easy to distinguish the bottom composition.

Three casts into the day, Matt hooks up with a good fish and lands a 4.60# Pickwick beauty and our day is off to the right start. We went on to the milk the area for the next 45 minutes and cull our way up to 13 pounds or so, after catching 20-30 fish. I decided it was time to head on down to hit another school that was absolutely loaded with fish. I wanted Matt to enjoy himself, but I wasn’t sure if we’d catch any that would help us. We pulled up and the spot was empty, so we went right in and starting catching fish cast after cast. We stayed for about an hour and one of us was landing a fish the entire time. I’m confident that we could have continued to catch fish there the rest of the day, but I didn’t feel like there were any fish there that would help our weight. So we left them biting and agreed to go work for some bigger fish and try to cull up to the Top 20 which was our goal going in.

 

We moved around the rest of the day, getting on the places where we could. The boat traffic picked up substantially and the lake got pretty busy. We milked our fish for all they were worth, catching over 80 keepers and finishing with over 14# and a great day on the lake. We landed square in 20th place, which was an absolute miracle considering all we’d been through with engine failures. It’s a trip that brought to mind that we’re not in control in life, that we have to deal with challenges and obstacles every day. It reminded me to make the most out of every situation, and to be thankful for every opportunity we’re given. Fishing is one of the most humbling sports I’ve ever played, and I think that’s why I like it. Just when I think I have everything figured out, I’m humbled and brought back to my knees. And I thank God for that. Fishing keeps me close to my faith and close to my knees, and it always reminds me that I still have a lot of learning and growing to do in this life.

All in all, Pickwick was a great fishery - I can’t wait to go back. Matt and I had a blast, and I couldn’t have asked for a much better week (less the motor issues). Here was the equipment we used this week:

• Carolina/Texas Rig Gear – 7” MH rod, 7:1 reel, 15# Fluorocarbon, ½ and ¾ oz Tungsten weights, 3/0 hooks, 10” Zoom Ole Monster Worms and Brush Hogs in Watermelon, Green Pumpkin
• Cranking Gear – 7’6” MH rod, 5.2:1 reel, 10# mono, Reaction Strike XSD 80 in Ayu, Ghost Minnow and Strike King Series 5 and 6XD in sexy shad
• Swimbait Gear – 7”6” H rod, 6:1 reel, 15# fluorocarbon, Castaic Swimbaits Catch 22 6” threadfin shad, 5” Jerky J Swim Series in Ayu
• Jig Gear – 7” MH rod, 7:1 reel, 15# Fluorocarbon, ¾ oz Wolfpak Tackle Dozer Football Head in Waveland Wildkat and Kenlake Claw
• Spinnerbait Gear – 6’6” MH rod, 7:1 reel, 20” fluorocarbon,1/2 Red Dirts Tandem Series Spinnerbait Golden Retriever.

You can find these baits on the shelves of The Outdoorsman Sport Shop in Greenwood, IN or online at www.wolfpaktackle.com, www.reactionstrike.com, www.castaicswimbait.com, www.reddirtbaits.com, and www.ecoprotungsten.com.   This lineup of sponsors has really paid off for me this year with quality products, most of which are all made and/or distributed from here locally. Please help support these companies as they’ve all been a great help to me.

Next up – Everstart Central at the Detroit River in mid-July. This should be a fun event. I’m sitting in 24th in the points, and the Top 40 qualify for the Championship at Kentucky Lake. I’ll be looking to have a solid tournament to hold my position in the points and hopefully to move up a bit. The Great Lakes are new to me, so I’ve got work to do. Thanks for following and for all the encouragement that I’ve received this year.

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On Tour with Todd Hollowell
USA Bassin Classic – Kentucky Lake
April 16-17, 2011 – 2nd Place, 32.14#

Practice Journal

To be honest, I’m always excited to go to Kentucky/Barkley Lakes.  For a guy from Indiana that usually fishes for 5 bites, a chance to go to one of the best fisheries in the country and have a chance to catch 50-100 bass/day is an opportunity that’s almost impossible to pass up.  I always learn more in a few days on those lakes than I do most of the rest of the year, and I cherish the time to get there to spend with my dad as well.  I made it to the house at a decent hour, in time to settle in and have dinner with the family and get ready for the rest of the week. Two weeks prior saw a Top 10 finish in the FLW EverStart Central, and my confidence and hopes were high going into the weekend.

Mid-April is a tough time on Kentucky Lake, as the transition to the spawn is always volatile depending on water levels, water temperatures, and the amount of current being generated by the TVA.  This event was a team tournament, but my partner was unable to go due to work obligations.  I’d usually practice on both Kentucky and Barkley to look for the best shallow bite, but this week I was forced to maximize my time by myself and chose to focus on Kentucky Lake.  When I arrived to begin my practice, I was really hoping the water would be high and warm with shallow cover being the main targets full of big females ready to spawn.  Boy was I wrong.  The first day of practice, I spent the first few hours of daylight checking shallow spawning bays and looking for fish on beds.  I saw one fish about 12” cruising around, and otherwise nothing.  The TVA was pulling a lot of current, and the water was stained from recent heavy rains and storms.  After looking at the upcoming forecast and thinking that there weren’t many fish up shallow around me, I decided to start moving out towards the main lake to connect with the fish. 

I started checking areas outside the spawning pockets and immediately started getting bites on a Wolfpak Tackle Shake Down Shaky Head with a green pumpkin finesse worm.  I moved to some docks and got even more bites, both largemouth and smallmouth.  They were really eating the bait well, and I knew I was keyed into something solid.

When the wind started blowing that afternoon, I was able to catch them on moving baits.  I had a couple of 3# bites on a Red Dirt Shaky Head Shad vibrating bait and spinnerbait, and realized I could cover more water and put a pattern together. 

That’s what I went on to do for both days of practice and felt I found enough areas to catch 11-12#/day and give me a shot at a Top 10 with some luck.  I checked some offshore river ledges and could only catch small fish, so I committed to the shallow pattern.  I hadn’t had a big bite in practice and honestly had no thoughts of winning this tournament, as I had heard rumors of a lot of big fish on bed on Barkley and knew a lot of the field would be over there.  But I’ve learned to accept that with maturity, and have learned that sometimes you just have to catch what you can catch and be thankful for whatever God gives us.

At the pre-tournament meeting, the USA Bassin Tournament Directors had a big decision to make.  We had severe storms in the forecast for the next morning, and they were in a position I don’t envy with over 200 teams waiting to fish for the chance at three new Nitro Boats.  Ultimately, they decided to cancel Friday and resume the two-day tournament on Saturday and Sunday.  While many teams were affected in a lot of ways, it was the right call to make to keep everyone safe, and I respected their decision.  I was also looking forward to resting up a bit after fishing daylight-to-dark the previous two days.  The storm didn’t produce the tornadoes that were forecasted, but nevertheless it was a powerful storm.  My prayers have gone out to these people over the past few weeks with the storms and flooding that continue to impact the people and the economy surrounding these areas.  Above left is a picture of our previous home near the lake that the storm destroyed from an uprooted tree:

Day 1

I made a short run to the first point I had found in practice only to find a BFL boater sitting right where I wanted to be.  I worked around the point and away from him and managed a few short fish on the Wolfpak Shake Down and decided to run on down and fish the docks that I figured wouldn’t get as much pressure.  When I had found these fish in practice, the sun really had them tight to the docks.  But this day, the clouds and wind and kicked up and I wasn’t getting as many bites.  I picked up the Red Dirt spinnerbait and Shaky Head Shad and starting covering more water and started getting bit.  It was a mental grind, but I felt that if I stuck with it I could grind out a limit and keep myself in contention for Day 2.  My dad has always told me that in multi-day tournaments that they can’t be won on the first day, but they can be lost.  I always try to put myself in decent position for Day 2, and this time was no different.  I caught a few key fish off the docks, and a few more off of secondary points with the Wolfpak Shake Down.  I grinded out my limit at around 11:00am and with about 11# in the box, I moved to the river ledges to finish the day in search of a big bite. At noon, I stopped on a spot I had a caught some big fish on in the EverStart and made a long cast with a Strike King Series 5 crankbait and before I could get it to the bottom, I had a fish about knock the rod out of my hand which told me there was a group of fish down there competing for the bait.  It didn’t help my weight, so I threw it back and lined my cast back up.  For the next 30 minutes, I caught fish on every cast and culled up a time or two before finally jumping a 5# fish off and spooking the school.  I left and ran a couple of more ledges on my way back to the Kentucky Dam Marina.  With 20 minutes to go, I stumbled onto another school and caught fish every cast that didn’t help my weight.  With about 5 minutes of fishing time left, I hooked up with a giant fish that pulled off under the boat, and lost another 5# fish on the next cast.  Have you ever tried to land a fish by yourself in 3 foot waves?  I fell down a couple of times trying to get the net – it was almost comical.  Yikes!  Time to go!  I made it back with a few minutes to spare, and weighed in a disappointing 12.92# and landing in 36th place going into Day 2.  Kentucky & Barkley Lakes shined, with over 100 teams weighing in a 5-fish limit on Day 1.  The top 3 teams all had over 18# and I figured my missed opportunities were really going to hurt this time.  But, at the same time, I had a hard time sleeping that night knowing that I had found two schools of fish that I could really make up some ground with if I fished clean the next day.  I couldn’t wait to get back out there on Day 2.

Day 2

I ran straight to the school of fish I left at the end of Day 1 and they were still there.  It was an interesting first hour, as 4 different boats watched me catch fish on nearly every cast for the first hour on the Strike King Series 5.  The wind was blowing a solid 15-20 mph, and the boat was rocking with water crashing over the bow.  It was another interesting morning netting fish by myself in some less-than-ideal conditions.  I had a solid 14-15# in the boat by 8AM and was really looking forward to swinging for the fence the rest of the day knowing that I had enough to make it close to the Top 10 and go home with a decent check.  It’s amazing what having 5 keepers in the boat will do to make you relax and just go fishing.  After catching dozens of fish, culling multiple times, all while protecting the sweet spot, it was time to move on.  I ran to the 2nd school I had found on Day 1 and they were still there.  This was going to be a fun day!  I probably caught fish on every cast for another 45 minutes or so, but never could get a fish over 3# to help my weight.  From there, I decided to start fishing places that usually don’t hold schools of fish, but single big fish that I hoped would help me cull up and get close to the Top 5.  Shortly after noon, I stopped on a main river spot and worked downed a ledge for about 100 yards to the end where there were a couple of stumps.  I was dragging a 3/4 oz. Wolfpak Tackle Dozer football jig, the same one my dad and I used in the EverStart event, and I found the stumps.  Before I could say “there are those stumps,” I felt a fish inhale the jig.  I set the hook and it was a 6# giant!  Things just became interesting, as I knew that pushed my weight to over 18#.  I ran a few more places looking for another big bite for the last hour, and was able to catch two more fish on a Wolfpak jig and Red Dirt Spinnerbait that culled me up almost another pound.  I was hopeful that it was enough to get me into the Top 5 and get a nice check to take home to my wife.  The lake was pretty rough this day, with 3-4 foot waves most of the way back.  I made sure to leave a little early and made it back with plenty of time to spare. 

What an amazing couple of days!  To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever gone 8-10 hours without talking to someone.  Listen, I talk to people for a living in my insurance agency – that was tough talking to myself all day!   When those fish hit the scale at 19.22#, I really couldn’t believe that just happened!  It moved me into the lead, but I couldn’t imagine it would hold up for long.  There were several boats left to weigh in, and nothing will rack your nerves like sitting around waiting for other people to knock you down the standings.  So my dad and I went to my boat and started cleaning up the boat and getting ready for the ride home that Sunday night.  After about an hour of trying not to think about it, my dad came back over to tell me that the Top 5 from Day 1 were being held for a drive-through weigh-in.  But everyone else had weighed in, and I was still leading.  Wow!  I had already talked to one of the Top 5 and they had a bad day, so I knew I had been blessed with a Top 5 and made that goal happen.  One by one, the boats come through and weigh in, and finally Luke Estel & Josh Jackson took over the top spot.  The last boat weighed in, and I settled into 2nd place and was awarded with a certificate for a new boat – the first time I’ve ever won a boat.  That was pretty exciting, I must admit.

Recap

It’s been a grueling first two months to start this season.  I’ve been on the road more than I’ve been home it seems and I’m ready to take it easy for a few weeks.  I’ve tried to relay the experiences, both good and bad, through the journal.   Next up is the Fishers of Men Legacy National Championship in June at Pickwick Lake in AL with my 13 year-old fishing buddy, Matt from Greenfield.  I’m really looking forward to watching him catch a bunch of bass!  After that is Event #3 in the EverStart Central Division at the Detroit River mid-July.  I have only a few days experience in both places, so I’ll be starting to prepare for those events in the coming weeks.  I’m sure I’ll take in a few Tuesday Nighters at Geist and look for some other tournaments to compete in – it gets in your blood, you know….Look for my next Journal in June.    And look for some cool video clips that I will be shooting over the next few months as well.

The questions I get most often when I’m on the water from other anglers have to do with rod/reel/line/tackle setup and choices.  So going forward, I’ll be sure to document my equipment choices to help answer those questions.  I believe in keeping things simple by using high-percentage baits and colors that I have confidence in – so you’ll probably start to see a pattern with me and the things I use a lot.  Also, make sure you go check out www.wolfpaktackle.com – the owner called me this week to let me know that the site is live and inventory is stocked for the spring season.  If you need shaky heads or jigs, you’re going to like these a lot – with custom head and skirt colors that you can only find with Wolfpak that have already proven to be winners to me.  www.reddirtbaits.com has a big selection of spinnerbaits, vibrating jigs, and some amazing buzzbaits that I can’t wait to throw this summer.  Be sure to support our local companies and tackle shops when you can – they want and appreciate your business!

Winning Gear Notes

> Shaky Head Gear: 7’ Medium Fast spinning, 8# Fluorocarbon, 1/8 and 3/16 oz. Wolfpak Tackle Shake Down Shaky Head, green pumpkin finesse worm

> Jig Gear: 6’10” Med Fast, 7:1 high speed reel, 15# Fluorocarbon, 3/4 oz. Wolfpak Dozer football jig, colors: Steamplant Chaser and Wildkat Blood

> Spinnerbait/Vibrating Bait Gear: 6’9” Med Heavy, 6:1 reel, 15# Flourocarbon, 3/8 oz. Red Dirt Baits Shaky Head Shad, 1/2 oz. Red Dirt Tandem Series Double Willow, colors: Chartreuse Sweet Shad, Citrus Shad

> Crankbait Gear: 7’6” Castaway Long Range Launcher, 5:1 reel, 12# Fluorocarbon, Strike King Series 5, colors: Sexy Shad, Citrus Shad

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On Tour with Todd Hollowell
2011 FLW Everstart Central – Kentucky Lake

Back on Track, Part 2 – Tournament Recap

Going into the first day, I had 8-10 areas that I was going to rotate through hoping to pull up on a couple that had 2-3 bites each.  I thought going into that 1st day of the tournament, I felt that if I got 5 bites I would be heading back with 18-24# and in contention to win.

Gary and I ran about 20 minutes south and began fishing.  Within 5 minutes, I had a 6# largemouth eat my jerkbait and the day was off to the right start.  I caught another keeper a few minutes later, and Gary boated two quick keepers as well.  As in practice, there seemed to only be a few fish up at a time in each place.  So I rotated through more areas.  After 2 unproductive stops, I caught a 7# largemouth around 10AM and knew I had a chance to have a great day with about 15# in the livewell in 3 fish.  Gary put two more keepers in the box, and we were off to the next few spots.  Gary lost a giant smallmouth that jumped off coming to the boat that broke his heart and mine.  A few hours passed without bites, and at 1PM I stopped on a shellbed and on my second cast caught a keeper and watched 2 more follow my jerkbait to the boat on the next cast.  I picked up the crankbait and caught keeper number 5 and it was time to head north to get back in safe.  Gary finished with 8.5# and went on to make the Top 10.  We had a real fun day on the water and I’m sure will end up spending a day on Lake St. Clair together this summer.  I ended up with over 19# and was sitting in 6th place going into Day 2.  Even more fulfilling was watching my dad walk up on the stage with16-13# and leading the tournament after the first day, catching his fish on a crankbait and the Wolfpak Tackle football jig.  Watching him light up on stage in front of hundreds of people was worth all the time and money I had put into the season at that point.  It was a moment that I’ll never forget.

Day 2 went not quite as smoothly.  I stopped on my best areas to start the day and landed 3 drum over 10# that all broke my heart.  So with no fish at 10AM, I made a move to the other side of the lake to fish in the wind and pulled up on a spot that had a school of fish on it.  I caught 12 consecutive fish and put 4 fish on the box, one over 5#.  I knew I was probably one bite away from having a chance at making the Top 10, so I buckled down and fished as hard as I’ve ever fished for the next 2 hours.  At 1PM, I stopped on another area and landed keeper #5 on the football jig and decided that I needed to get back to the north end of the lake close to weigh in to be safe.  As fate would have it, I ran 5 miles and hit a submerged object that knocked my lower unit loose.  I looked up and there was one boat in sight about a mile away.  I was able to idle up and talk with them, and luckily they were in our tournament.  FLW rules state that you can only return to weigh in by getting towed in by another boat or riding in another competitor’s boat.  We were 15 miles from the weigh in, but Bart Schutz and Sunny Hawk were selfless enough to let us jump in to ride back to weigh in early.  We made it back in plenty of time, but the whole way back I couldn’t help but think that I was going to come up a little short of making the Top 10, and even if I did, I didn’t know if I’d have a boat to fish Day 3.   When we came in, it looked like 28-30# was going to make the cut and I thought I had about 11#.  I knew it was going to be close.  When the weigh-in was over, I ended up weighing in 13-09#, making the cut in 5th place with a 32-15# two-day total.  I waited for my dad to come in to weigh in, and was stunned to find out that he had blanked.  When the scales closed, he finished Day 2 in 10th place and would be fishing the final day with me.  What a special moment….my entire family was there and my dad and I had made the cut together.  Priceless!  When God has a plan for you, there is nothing you can do to stop it from happening. 

Back to the boat….One of my best friends, Brad Ray from Noblesville, had driven down for the weigh in, and little did I know he pulled his boat down in anticipation that I’d make the Top 10 so that he could follow and watch me fish on Day 3 with my wife and two boys.  He offered to let me use his boat for Day 3, which I will always be grateful for, and we were set for the finals.  We drove down to pick up my boat and we were off to have a celebration dinner. 

Day 3 saw a big warm-up in temperature and seemed to have the fish really moving in.  It took me a couple of hours too long to make an adjustment from fishing out on the main lake, and I decided to run into a creek where I had caught some keepers in practice.  After just a few minutes, I quickly boat a 4# fish on the jerkbait.  About 5 minutes later, keeper #2 came to the boat again on the jerkbait.  And a short distance later, keeper #3 came on the crankbait and had 9-10# in the boat.  I knew I was a couple of big bites away from making the Top 3, but I was relaxed more than ever on the final day – knowing I had accomplished my goal of getting back on track.  The day went quickly, as we had to been in early to get to the Benton Walmart for the weigh in, and I was never able to get those last two fish.  I ended up in 5th place and walked out with a $6,500 check that provided a lot of financial relief.  My dad caught 3 keepers that day on his crankbait and the Wolfpak Tackle football jig.  He had a wonderful day on the lake with Brent Anderson, a local guide on Kentucky Lake, and moved all the way up to 3rd place for a nice $4,000 check. 

All in all, it was just a tremendous week.  Hard work pays off, and this tournament was a culmination of many years of putting time in on Kentucky Lake combined with learning how to catch those quality fish in the early pre-spawn.  It was a tournament of persistence and patience, and now we’re back on track.  This event moved me back into 23rd in the points, and moved my dad all the way up to 11th.  Halfway through the season, it feels like my goal of making the Top 10 in the points and qualifying for the FLW Tour is within reach and attainable.  And to do it with my dad by my side has really made this a special couple of months.  We’ll see what God has in store for us next at the Detroit River in July for event number 3.  Meanwhile, Jet-A-Marina is working to get my boat repaired and I have to find a way to fish next week at the USA Bassin Classic on Kentucky Lake.  After this event, I’m excited to get back down and put a few days in to make a run at that tournament as well.  The top 3 places at the USA Bassin Classic win new Nitro boats and I’m hopeful that the weather will warm up and bring fish to the bank.

If you are looking to stock up on your hardbaits or swimbaits, in celebration of my Top 10 at Kentucky Lake one of my main tackle sponsors has agreed to give a free bait to anyone who purchases at least two baits on their website during the month of April only at www.reactionstrike.com.  You will need to put in the promo code TH at checkout and you will receive a free bait from Reaction Strike.  Not a bad deal for some high-quality $10 jerkbaits and crankbaits that really catch a lot of fish!  You can also see these baits on the shelves at The Outdoorsman Sport Shop in Greenwood.

I’ve had dozens of people come up to me congratulating my dad and I and talking to me about reading the journal on www.bigindianabass.com.  It’s been a humbling experience to share the ups and downs of fishing publicly, and to see the response from the Indiana fishing community that is following us this season.  There are so many people pulling for us, and I’m just really thankful for all the prayers and people who have stepped up to help us with so many different things.  So if you are following this journey, thank you.

Next up – USA Bassin Classic at Kentucky Lake April 15-16th.  Stay tuned…..it’s Kentucky Lake and anything can happen.

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On Tour with Todd Hollowell
2011 FLW Everstart Central – Kentucky Lake
Recap Part 1 – March 30-April 1

Back on Track, Part 1 – Practice Recap

Fishing is a such a humbling sport.  The highs are high and the lows are low.  As quickly as the season got started off on the wrong foot at Lake of the Ozarks, it got ramped up and right back on track with the 2nd event at Kentucky Lake.  What an amazing week!  My dad and I were both blessed with a Top 10 finish in this event - a very special week for my family.  I ended up finishing 6th in a real tough event, and my dad finished 3rd on the co-angler side.  Here’s how it happened.

I spent the Saturday before the tournament with my family at home.  My youngest son had his 4th birthday party, and I wasn’t going to miss that for the world.  It’s important to keep first things first, even though I was dying to get down to Kentucky Lake and get a head start on practice.  My son enjoyed his Star Wars birthday party with our family and friends, and later that day I made the 6 hour drive south to put in a lot of hours and work to get ready for an event on my home-away-from-home lake – Kentucky Lake.

The week prior to practice, heavy rains all over the Midwest and Mid-South caused the lake to come up over 6 feet and had the lake well above summer pool.  There were reports of fish being caught shallow flipping and throwing moving baits with some getting ready to spawn with water temps in the low 60’s.  When I arrived however, water temps dipped into the low to mid-50’s and my hopes of fishing shallow didn’t look good with a cold week forecasted ahead.   Similar to the LOZ event, I was going to be forced to confront my weakness of the early pre-spawn patterns fishing with jerkbaits and crankbaits – techniques that I’ve traditionally struggled with in the early pre-spawn.  This week went much differently though.

Sunday my dad and I launched and made a long run to the mouth of a creek to fish a main lake point.  I quickly noticed how much current the TVA was pulling and had a hunch that the fish weren’t going to be suspended like they normally are in March, staged up ready to move in to the shallow creeks and bays to spawn.  I had a feeling that they may be holding tighter to cover, and was actually encouraged with the amount of current that I saw that may position the fish in a way that they would be easier to find and catch.  After my first few casts, I moved closer to the point and we both threw our baits close to some large, shallow rocks.  After one twitch, my dad’s rod loaded up and he quickly boated a largemouth over 7 pounds.  On the next cast as my dad was taking his fish off, my line jumped and I boated a smallmouth over 6 pounds.  We fished around for another 30 minutes and caught two more quality fish.  My mind started racing for places that were similar that I’ve learned on the lake over the past few years.  We ran to the next spot, and my dad caught another largemouth over 5 pounds.  We ran that pattern the rest of the day, many places unproductive with others having 2-3 bites that were all quality fish – the kind you need to make a Top 10 on Kentucky Lake.  Our best 5 were around 25-26 pounds, one of the best days I’ve ever had on the water.  I quickly thought that this may be a special week. 

Over the next 3 days of practice, we expanded and covered a lot of water.  I was looking for current-related areas that had any kind of current break – shallow stumps, boulders, gravel bars, and eddies.  I like to stay close to deep water, but when there’s current running, the fish will pull up on those shallow areas near the deeper channels where they can pull up to feed.  We were able to really dial in on a 6-8 mile stretch of the lake that I committed my entire tournament to.  On Kentucky Lake, I prefer to fish the main lake most times of the year.  But in the spring, you have to prepare to have strong winds and sometimes fishing on the main lake is almost impossible.  So we covered a lot of creeks and bays, looking for a backup pattern that I could fish if the wind and waves got up.  I found a few areas where I could catch some keepers if needed, so I felt pretty good about my chances even if the weather became a challenge.

We were also able to really dial in on the baits and colors that the fish seemed to really be eating.  In the shallower, stained water I was fishing in 4-6 feet of water, I found that the Reaction Strike XRM 100 in Pearl Ayu really put off a glow in the water that the fish could find and would stay right in the strike zone without getting hung up.  On the deeper areas with clearer water, I was throwing the Reaction Strike XRM 100 in Ghost Minnow as well as a Spro McStick in Blue Bandit, both more translucent colors.  Every fish I caught that week had my jerkbait way down in their throat, which told me that those baits and colors were really on the mark.  I also covered a lot of water with a Strike King Series 5 and a Reaction Strike XSD 80, mid-range crankbaits that would get down and dig the bottom in the 8-14 foot range.  The shad patterns were the key, with the best colors being Pearl Ayu, Ghost Minnow, and Sexy all being productive.  When the sun got up high, the fish seemed to push closer to the bottom, making a crankbait and a jig a better option.  So we pulled out a Wolfpak Tackle 3/4 oz. football jig and were both able to get some key bites that way as well.  We met with the owner of Wolfpak Tackle prior to the event and designed a handful of colors that the fish can’t pass up, including Wildkat Blood and Steamplant Special, both of which played a role in the tournament for me and my father.  You will want to stock your box up with these quality jigs with custom colors that fish have never seen for the spring jig bite, both for Kentucky Lake and for our lakes right here in Indiana.  You can see the color schemes at www.wolfpaktackle.com and they should come available in the next few weeks as this new company continues to build up inventory and almost ready to take orders. 

On Wednesday night, we headed up to the Moors to meet up with my brother and attend the meeting to meet our partners for Day 1.  Dad and I were both hopeful that we were going to have a good draw.  I drew Gary Emery from Michigan, a Lake St. Clair specialist that was glad to hear how I was fishing and that I was around some big smallmouth.  Dad drew a local from the New Johnsonville area, and he was a little hesitant when he heard that they would be cranking and throwing rattle traps most of the day.  My dad is one of the best jerkbait fishermen I’ve been around, and he had been catching fish behind me from the back of the boat all week.  He was hoping to be back in that situation, but being a successful co-angler requires you to be open-minded, versatile, and patient to take advantage of the few opportunities that come along during the day.  So we rigged him up with a few different crankbaits and encouraged him to just keep throwing them.  We were both anxious to get out on Day 1.

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Quick Update
April 16, 2011

Todd had back to back events down on Kentucky Lake, both being just 2 weeks apart, so he hasn't had time to update us with is thoughts from the Kentucky Lake Everstart event yet. Hopefully we'll have more sometime later this week when he gets back in. In the mean time though, he did send these cell phone pics from his FLW tourney to check out.

 
 
 

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Turning the Page
March 23, 2011

Lake of the Ozarks is over, and the Kentucky Lake Everstart event #2 starts in 10 days.  My disappointment from Lake of the Ozarks still hasn't passed, but I'm turning my attention to the next event and ready to move on.  I really wish there weren't 3 weeks between tournaments, though.  Just like a good bull rider who gets bucked off of a bull, I'm ready to get back on and ride as quickly as possible to get past it.

My brother talked to me before the LOZ event about defining success, and about in fishing how many times we put the emphasis on our finish.  We talked about letting God do His work through us, giving Him room to work in our lives, and to define success more of how our interactions with those around us played out.  I have to say that the week I spent with my father made this trip a "success" in and of itself.  He seems to really be enjoying the Everstart experience and the competition, as well as the time we've gotten to spend together and the people he was able to meet.  We were able to spend some time enjoying a beautiful lake and met some very great people.  It made me miss my family and appreciate all that they mean to my life.  It made me thankful for the business that I own that allows me the opportunity to work at my own pace and allows me to fish.  It also taught me a lot about myself.  So with those things considered, the tournament at Lake of the Ozarks was a "success."

The Kentucky Lake event is up next and scheduled to start March 30th.  I'm keeping a close eye on the lake levels and water temps down at Kentucky/Barkley.  This tournament could go a lot of different ways, so I'm going into practice with an open mind.  I'm a lot more relaxed this week, knowing where I'm staying next week, where the boat ramps are, and how to get around the lake.  Kentucky/Barkley are 2 of the best lakes in the country, and the population of 3-5# fish is simply amazing.  I look for some big stringers to be weighed in next week, and I'm hoping to have a couple of them myself.

The biggest key will be to determine what pattern is developing through the week.  Last year, my practice was lights out shallow.  But, the TVA dropped the lake 6 feet over the course of the next 3 days and the places I had been catching fish were literally dry.  I ended up catching my fish in the tournament offshore.  So I'm cautious not to get caught up in what happens the first two days of practice, and will do my best to keep tabs on how the fish are positioning and changing as the week goes on.  I'm prepared to flip bushes, fish offshore, and everything in between.

These past couple of weeks, I've been preparing my tackle to be able to adjust to the changing conditions at Kentucky Lake.  I'm prepared to fish both shallow and deep, and to cover a lot of water in practice.  So I've been stocking up and getting ready baits like the Reaction Strike XCB-S crankbaits and XV65 lipless crankbaits to throw on flats and points, Red Dirt spinnerbaits to throw around shallow cover, and Castaic Jerky J Sticks to throw around spawning areas.  I'll also put a lot of time in with a Wolfpak Tackle shaky head with a finesse worm around boat docks, looking for multiple bites to key me in on areas that are holding a lot of fish.  It will be key to determine what stage of the spawn most of the fish are in and how close they are to spawning.  On TVA lakes, this can change quickly with the water levels - so I try to use tools that allow me to hit high percentage areas with high percentage baits, and these are the ones I'll have in my hands all week long.

I love to flip a jig at shallow fish around bushes, and the Wolfpak Tackle 1/2 flipping jig will definitely be in the game next week.  The paint on their heads holds up better than any other jig I've fished with, allowing you to fish multiple days with the same jig and not have to replace it.  The Gamakatsu hook Wolfpak uses allows you to set the hook on a fish in heavy cover and keep them pegged and get them in the boat.  When fishing heavy cover, I believe the hook makes a big difference in landing fish, and I helped design the Wolfpak flipping jig for this very tournament.  I like to use 20# Trilene Big Game monofilament when I'm fishing shallow, heavy cover.  The added sensitivity with fluorocarbon for me in this situation is actually a distraction, and I've found that the mono holds up much better around wood.  I like to swing pretty hard and get the fish coming out quickly, and I've found that fluorocarbon will sometimes break in this situation.

I'll be searching every day, deep and shallow, looking for groups of 3-5# fish that it will take to make the Top 10 in this event.  If I can find a couple of these areas in practice, you can bet that I'll have my confidence baits in my hands looking for those key big bites to really make a run at this tournament. Rumor has it that my brother will be making an appearance as emcee during the weigh-ins for FLW Outdoors, so the pressure is on for me to give him something to talk about.  I won't tell you to bet on me in this tournament just yet, but it's Kentucky Lake and I feel at home there.  Anything can happen - it's fishing.  I wouldn't bet against me.  Look for another update from Kentucky Lake next week!

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Lake of the Ozarks Wrap-Up

March 17, 2011

Well, that wasn't exactly the start we were looking for....81st place at Lake of the Ozarks.  As I've had a few days to reflect back on my week there, I realize how inefficient my practice was and how I panicked a little during the tournament.  Although I've had a lot of good fortune the past few years, I still have a lot of maturing to do and have to learn to trust myself a lot more.  My instincts were right, both with what I was doing and knowing how the tournament would be won.  And in the middle of the battle, sometimes your inner voices will lead you astray.  At some point, I have to learn that I just have to do what I do and catch what I can catch - and not think so much about what everybody else is doing and what I should be doing.  There were guys in the top 10 throwing jerkbaits, shallow cranking, and throwing a jig - and in my mind, I couldn't settle in to exactly what I needed to be doing.  When any of the three would have been just fine.  This was a stout field, with several of the best locals and several FLW Tour Pros competing such as Dan Morehead, Terry Bolton, Mark Rose, and Ramie Colson.  A couple of simple mistakes against this field and you are left in the dust.  The level of competition is definitely stronger this year than I saw last year.
 
In practice at Lake of the Ozarks, I had been catching fish up the river about 25-30 miles.  The water was warmer and stained, around 48-50 degree temps and the fish were set up on a typical pre-spawn pattern.  I was catching 11-12#/day up there flipping a prototype 1/4 and 3/8 oz Wolfpak Tackle jig and shallow cranking with a Storm Wiggle Wart in craw patterns.  I spent a day on the lower end and had 10-11#, on Megabass and Reaction Strike Jerkbaits in bone, pro blue, ghost minnow, and american shad patterns.  I'll be honest, throwing a jerkbait is probably one of the least confident techniques for me - in fact, I don't know that I've ever cashed a check throwing a jerkbait.  So when I had the opportunity to run away from that bite, I took it.
 
On day 1 of the Everstart Central, I arrived at my stretch up-river to find out that the wind that had been blowing into it for 2 straight days (which I thought was going to help me), actually turned my pockets from stained to muddy, and from 48 degree water temperature to 42.   I knew immediately that I was in trouble.  I fished around for an hour without a bite, passing through the key stretches where I was consistently getting bites in practice.  Nothing.  I had found a large creek as a backup plan about halfway back to the ramp that had a lot of fish moving up the day before practice.  When I ran in there, I saw the same thing - the north wind had blew cold, muddy water into the creek from the main river.  One thing I learned for certain about Lake of the Ozarks, the water clarity changed every day and the wind, in this case, actually did some damage to the areas I was fishing.  I'm used to wind helping my bite, and in this case, I was surprised to find out that it really changed the water I was fishing.  I scrambled around in that creek for most of the day and grinded out a small limit weighing just less than 8#.  I finished the day in the 70's and knew I had to make a move to bump myself up in the standings. 
 
On day 2, I decided to run to the lower end and throw a jerkbait for the first few hours to see if what I had found in practice would materialize.  I fished there for over 2 hours, we caught a few short fish and my co-angler had 2 keeper spotted bass, but nothing of significance to make me want to stay.  So we ran back to the creek I had fished the day before and went fishing.  The previous two days, I had caught all of my fishing cranking the Storm Wiggle Wart in the clouds and wind.  This day, however, saw sun and warming temps.  I had my Wolfpak jig on the deck, but waited about 45 minutes too long to make the adjustment.  My co-angler caught two quick solid largemouth behind me on a jig and had 4 in the boat.  He went on later to catch his 5th keeper and make the Top 10 cut.  I picked up the Wolfpak jig and fished with it for the rest of the day, boating 2 fish for 4-11#, losing another fish on a jig and one on my last cast of the day with the crankbait.There's nothing that hurts worse than to know that you were around the fish you needed, but made a few strategic errors that cost you a check.  I'm almost always happy for my co-anglers when they catch fish behind me, and my partner that day was a great guy from Arkansas.  We prayed first thing that morning, and he talked with me about how he had been asking God to help him be a more patient person.  He was blessed that day in the boat with me for his patience, and we ended up having a fun day on the water.   
 
Unfortunately, nobody in our condo got a check that week.  My dad and Brad Ray both came up 1 bite short.  We all had agreed to give something back and spend our Saturday with the College Fishing Teams and their tournament.  I had the Louisville team, my dad had IU, and Brad had Illinois.  This College Fishing scene is really taking off, and it's so refreshing to see this next generation and their love for the sport.  We made it home late Saturday night and vowed to put this one behind us.  I limped in missing my cell phone (dropped in the lake on Saturday), a broken Fish Headz mask (sat on it in the pouring rain in practice and broke it), and a broken trolling motor transducer (sheared it off on a Lake of the Ozarks boulder).  I'm hoping the next event will be less taxing. 
 
It's great to be home.  I missed my family, and they missed me.  I've gotten a lot of support from friends and family this week, and God has really blessed me with a strong support group.  Sometimes we all take that for granted, but this past week brought that to light for me.  Traveling and being away is the hardest part - but I absolutely love fishing and could really get used to fishing these new lakes.  There's nothing more challenging and rewarding than taking on a new fishery, and it's something that keeps me fresh and wanting to learn more. 
 
Event #2 starts in two weeks on Kentucky Lake.  I need to make up some ground in the points to get back in line with the Top 40 overall in the points.  With the recent rains, Kentucky Lake is already over summer pool and continues to rise.  The conditions are shaping up to resemble last year's tournament in May.  I'm monitoring the lake levels and keeping an open mind.  I wish the event started to today - I'm ready to get back on the horse and ride again.  I'm mad about how Lake of the Ozarks turned out, and I'm disappointed in my decisions.  You can bet that when I roll into Kentucky Lake in 9 days, I'll be out to prove a point and will be practicing with an appetite to compete for the Top 10.

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March 7, 2011:

After the first two days of practice, I've learned a little about Lake of the Ozarks.  One thing that is absolutely for certain, it has A LOT of docks.  I've never seen so many house and docks on a lake, and at times it makes things a little confusing as you can't get to the bank in a lot of places.  It's a beautiful lake, full of bluffs and mountains - definitely one of God's great creations.  My brother came into town yesterday after finishing up working the FLW Tour event at Beaver Lake in Arkansas, and my dad made the trip down with me.  He has been catching fish behind me quite a bit.  I look for him to have a solid tournament, as he's helping me figure out how to catch them.  He's also been in charge of cooking dinner.

I've spent a lot of time covering water, and we have actually rode over 50 miles of the lake.  The recent heavy rains have made the lake come up a little and has dirtied up the water in a lot of areas.  I've found two 5-mile stretches where I think I can catch some - the problem is, they are 50 miles apart.  So we have some work to do the next two days to figure out where to place my bet.  I've had 10-11 pounds each day, both doing very different things.  One technique I'm very comfortable with, the other has been a struggle for me for years in March. So, my conservative nature is telling me to fish my strengths, but my competitive nature is telling me to fish the way I think this tournament will be won.

We will see how the next few days progress.  Stay tuned....

 

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Pre-Practice Journal – February 20, 2011
2011 FLW EverStart Series - Lake of the Ozarks, MO

 

FLW EverStart Series in 2011 – Here We Come

It’s been an interesting 3-4 months.  In the months leading up to October 2010, I was pretty sure that I was going to step back from fishing tournaments to run a large circuit as the Tournament Director.  I’m learning as I grow older to understand that God’s plan is something you can’t fight or change, and that His will trumps ours every time.  In this case, for whatever reason I wasn’t meant to run this trail. 

As things developed, the month of October brought an amazing run of post-season events – in fact, all three events I entered in the month of October resulted in a win.  My team partner, Brad Ray (left), and I won the Angler’s Dream Tournament of Champions while my brother and I won Ted’s Party – both at Kentucky Lake.   A month later, the Tournament Director position fell through and FLW released their schedule for the EverStart Series, which included a stop at Kentucky Lake along with the Championship to be held there in October 2011.  It had my attention.

I prayed a lot, and spent a lot of time talking it over with my wife, family, and my close friends.  My brother went to work for FLW in the meantime, and my dad and I discussed traveling together to get to spend time on the road with all three of us together.  Next thing I knew, dad & I were calling in our deposits into the EverStart Central Division.   A few weeks later, my team partner decided to go fish as a co-angler as well.  I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to spending time with my dad, my brother, and my best friend, doing something we all love doing together– fishing.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see my dad and Brad each have some top finishes on the co-angler side – they are both solid from the back of the boat.

I have to admit, I’m excited and scared all at the same time.  It’s been a dream of mine to fish at the Tour level since I was learned to fish in my great-grandpa’s pond at the age of 7, but I’ve learned over the years that competing at a high level comes with a price – time away from home, from family, from work.   Not to mention the financial aspect and risk involved.  Just to fish the EverStarts alone, I’m projecting my expenses to run $6,000-8,000.  My business is still growing and evolving, and being away from the office is going to be hard.  My boys are 6 and 4 now, and I don’t want to miss them growing up.   My wife is the strongest woman I know, and I know she’s committed to giving this a shot to see what God has in store for us.  We’re also blessed with a strong support group and family that is always willing to help us whenever we need them.  We know that this path will lead us somewhere that we’re supposed to be, or it will close the door and help us realize where God wants us to be focusing our time and efforts.

After talking with Brian Waldman, I’ve agreed to capture this season on www.bigindianabass.com to journal and document my preparation, practice, and tournament season while on the road this season.  I’ve always enjoyed reading other journals from touring pros, and I’m looking forward to documenting my journey to help other fishermen learn from my mistakes and misfortunes, and to see the patterns develop as well.

Working with Sponsors – Something New

For the first time in my fishing career, I’ve spent quite a bit of time working on and working with sponsors in the off-season.  I’ve also had a few speaking engagements, including the Outdoorsman Sport Shop Open House in Greenwood and the Indiana Fishing Expo at the Johnson County Fairgrounds, which were both great, well-attended shows.  It’s always good to see a lot of the fishing guys from Indiana after a long, cold winter.  I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with Bill McDonald the past few months, and he’s taught me a lot regarding the business side of fishing.   It’s an extremely tough time for companies in the fishing industry, and there’s more competition for sponsors than ever before.

I’m excited & humbled to be representing some quality companies within the fishing industry in 2011, especially Wolfpak Tackle & Reaction Strike, who are both locally-owned companies.   

The owner of Wolfpak Tackle came to me a few months back and asked me to help design a jig and shaky head line-up that we’re really excited about.  In fact, we tested these baits this past week and I’ve never seen paint hold up on a jig or shaky head like the Wolfpak Tackle line-up.   These were prototypes, but they should be hitting the market at some point in March and will be available to view at www.wolfpaktackle.com in the coming weeks.  There’s no doubt that these jigs and shaky heads are going to play a major factor in my year in 2011.  You’re going to be able to catch a lot of fish with their products without having to repaint the heads.  They have a premium hook, and the attention to detail on their custom skirts making them some of the best custom jigs and shaky heads I’ve ever used. 

This coming weekend, I’m set to work the Indianapolis Boat, Sport, and Travel Show at the State Fairgrounds.  I’ll be at the Red Dirt Bait Company booth in Tackle Town – another locally-owned company that makes a high-quality titanium wire spinnerbait.   They’re a great group of guys that recently took over the old D&S Lures that many of you may remember.  I’m hoping they have some tricks up their sleeve that they can share with me to take out to Lake of the Ozarks in a few weeks.  And I’ll be stocking up my box with some of their buzzbaits as well.

Preparing for Lake of the Ozarks

The people that know me well know that I’m a preparation and organization freak.  I study for hours to find past years events to find out an idea of what kind of weight it will take to get a check, make the cut, and win.  I also look for key baits, key areas of the lake, and typical lake conditions so that I can maximize my practice time through my preparation.  My wife will attest to the fact that I spend countless hours looking at lake maps and familiarizing myself with boat ramps, key areas, travel routes, etc.  I keep an electronic file with all of this information – it will travel with me and I’ll record my notes there to review and to reference in future years.  I started doing this about 4-5 years ago, and it’s definitely helped in recent years.  A lot of good fishermen talk about how experience and time on the water can’t be substituted for – and I believe that capturing that information and being able to retrieve it later can make a difference in a key bit or two in a tournament setting. 

I believe that hard work and preparation payoff – in what a lot of fishermen think is “luck.”  A lot of guys that I know will call around and try to find GPS coordinates or areas that other people have caught fish in.  While I can’t argue that the information age hasn’t changed the sport, I do believe that a lot of the younger guys rely too much on their network and other people and I think it hampers their instincts in fishing.  Too many guys want someone to “put them on fish.”  So I’m careful to gather information, but not to rely on it completely.  I hope that it points me in the right direction and gives me a head start, but I’m not afraid to bail on it if it doesn’t make sense to me.  I have to figure things out on my own in order to have a good tournament, in order to make the proper adjustments and fish the moment.   I believe our sport is partly a glorified process of elimination.  The quicker I eliminate unproductive options, the quicker I find my pattern.

We’ve had a pretty cold winter, and Lake of the Ozarks had ice up until last week.  So it should definitely be an early pre-spawn bite, which historically has not been my strength.  I prefer to fish more of a fast-paced, power-fishing style that includes covering a lot of water looking for active fish with high percentage baits.  The early pre-spawn usually means fewer bites, sometimes only 4-5 a day – and it can be a struggle to get the clues needed to put the puzzle together quickly.  I’m going to get ample practice time at LOZ, so I’m much more comfortable knowing I won’t be pressed for time.

 
 

The Reaction Strike XRM 100 jerkbait (above)  is solid – they remind me of the Lucky Craft Pointers that I’ve caught a lot of fish on the past few years.  The DM100 series will play a role if I have to get the jerkbait down a little deeper on main lake bluffs.  You can cast them a mile, and they suspend nicely in cold water.  I’m not one that likes to throw the same baits that all of the locals throw, and Reaction Strike has a couple of subtle colors that the fish at Lake of the Ozarks have never seen.  It gives me a lot of confidence to be throwing baits that I know big fish are going to eat.  I’ve also been working with Wolfpak Tackle on a specific couple of colors in their jig skirts designed specifically for Lake of the Ozarks that the fish out there have never seen, and I’m excited to keep them to myself for this tournament at least.

A New Approach

Usually I’m so jacked up from a long off-season that when I launch the boat for the first time, I’m usually drinking a Rockstar Energy Drink and have a real hard time slowing down enough to catch a bass in the month of March.  So I usually start off the season frustrated and disappointed.  While I’ve worked hard to improve in the month of March, I’ve still felt a little behind the curve until the spawn approaches and I get in my comfort zone.  So this year, I decided to try something different.  Jacob Wheeler and my team partner Brad Ray were gracious enough to take a roadtrip with me to a power plant lake in Illinois this past weekend, along with another friend Todd Lawson (left).  We had a great time and spent a full day on the lake.  After 90 days of not making a cast over the winter, it took me a little while to work the rust off.  But by the time the sun had set, Jacob & I had caught over 40 bass with our best 5 weighing around 18 pounds.  I can’t think of a better way to get ready for an upcoming tournament than to get a lot of bites using the techniques I plan on using at LOZ, as well as the opportunity to catch some quality fish to boost the confidence level. 

We focused on the techniques that are my pre-spawn strengths and ones that I think will be the major players for me at Lake of the Ozarks the first week of March – jerkbaits, jigs, and shaky heads.  One end of the lake had water temps around 70 degrees, while the other end had water temps in the mid-50’s.  So we were able to move around the lake and catch fish doing different things.  Most of the fish I caught were on the Wolfpak Tackle shaky head prototype with a finesse worm.  This is the first year I’ve tried this approach to kick the season off – and I’m hoping it pays dividends at this first event.

Routine Off-Season Preparation & Maintenance

I’ve spent a lot of time in my boat and working with my tackle, rods, and reels.   In the off-season, I like to inventory my tackle, line, rods, and reels to see what I’ve used and what I can get rid of.  The past few years, I’ve tried to simplify the baits and colors that I keep, and I’ll typically order them in bulk in the off-season to stock up for the lakes and tournaments that I have scheduled in the coming year.  I still have a few rods and reels that I sent down to the Tackle Service Center in Mooresville for repairs that I need to pick up this week.  There’s a new recessed foot pedal sitting in my garage – I just can’t bring myself to go out in that cold garage to spend a few hours installing it!   I ordered some new Optima Batteries and a new Cabela’s Guidewear rainsuit to get ready to be out there from daylight to dark in all kinds of weather.

After a few months, I was able to sell my older SUV to upgrade to a larger truck to handle the miles of towing my Ranger Boat around the Midwest this year.  I drove over the Olio Bridge today at Geist and the ice is melting quickly.  So hopefully I’ll be able to put my Ranger 520 in the water this weekend to make sure everything is working properly before heading to Lake of the Ozarks. 

Next Time

Look for my next journal to follow the first Everstart event, which is March 10-12 at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.   I’ll be relaying my experiences from practice, and from tournament days.  I’m going to be sharing my mistakes, my struggles, my misfortunes, and hopefully how I put the pieces of the puzzle together there.  If you are active on Facebook, you should already know that Big Indiana Bass has a great page that always has fresh content and updates.  If you search on Facebook for Todd Hollowell Fishing, you’ll also be able to follow my journey there in real-time.  I’ve already talked with a lot of Indiana guys that have wished well for my dad, Brad, and I and are pulling for us all to do well this year.  It’s always a good feeling to know that people are cheering for you.

We’re pulling out for Lake of the Ozarks in just over a week – I’m not ready just yet but I guarantee you I will be.  And I’ll be preparing all the way up to the minute my truck hits the highway.  There’s only one KVD, and it’s not me.  I love to compete, and I love to catch bass.  That makes this a fun ride, and I’m excited to see what God has in store.  The EverStart Championship at Kentucky Lake has been on my mind every day for the past 3 months, and it’s going to keep motivating me every day until I qualify or I don’t.   The Top 10 in the points qualify for the FLW Tour, and the Everstart Championship winner qualifies for the Forrest Wood Cup.  Goals are set, and expectations are high.  We’ll see what happens…..stay tuned.