The BFL Super Tournament is over...

The Illini Division super tournament is over.  I finished somewhere in the mid-forties.  I could give you a laundry list of reasons, but all boils down to this:  if you don't figure out what the fish are doing, it makes it very difficult to be successful.  I had practiced a day and a half for this event, and actually thought I had an idea of how to catch a few.  I thought I could catch 8-9 lbs if everything went right. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.  The river rose an additional 6-12 inches overnight, which I believe repositioned the fish I was targeting.  Regardless, I finished the event with three fish for 3lbs - 15oz.  I did however finish the year in 17th place overall, which qualifies me to fish in the BFL regional on Barkley Lake next week.  I'm looking forward to this tournament.  I like Barkley Lake, it should be a good event.  I'll keep you posted on my practice.
God Bless,
Duke

Final event for the 2010 Ilini Division set to take place this Saturday

The last stop of the 2010 Illini Division BFL is scheduled to take place this Saturday and Sunday at Golconda, IL on the Ohio River.  The final tournament is titled the "Super Tournament", it is the only regular season two-day event on the schedule.  20% of the field will advance to the second day.  Lord willing I'll be one of those. I'm hoping to head to the river on Thursday.  That will give me a  couple of days to figure out what the fish are doing.  Stay tuned, I'll post the results.
God Bless,
Duke

A few pictures from the PAA Event at Lake Tawakoni

Standing for the National Anthem on the final morning

Just about to weigh-in on Day 3

Some more video from the PAA Event at Lake Tawakoni

Day one:
http://www.anglerschannel.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=radio.home&filename=2010-09-09-05-paa.wmv

Day three weigh-in:
http://www.anglerschannel.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=radio.home&filename=2010-09-11-06-paa.wmv

Some Video from the Final Day Weigh-In

Here's some video from the final day weigh-in taken by my friend Chad Morgenthaler's wife Debbie.

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/3d1b24b3b956d42c6c994910ecb2aa6b/video/18330941

Check back, I'll have some more video links posted form Angler's Channel.
God Bless,
Duke

PAA Tour: Lake Tawakoni...finally, a good tournament!

I just finished the third stop of the PAA Tour at Lake Tawakoni, near Garland, TX.  I finished the event in 23rd place, Yahoo!! Finally a finish in the money.  The troubling issue is 23rd is not indicative of how well I had figured out the fish, it's more of an indicator of how well I could have done. I had a lot of trouble landing the fish that bit my lure on the las two days.  I had about a 25% landing rate, in other words, for every four bites I got, I only landed one, that's just downroght terrible!  The lost fish were due to the vegetation I was fishing, it was a very thick, tightly woven vine, I believe it's name is aquatic smartweed, it's very similar to the plant called Gator Vine found in Florida lakes, regardless, it's tough to land fish in this type of vegetation.  Boy, did I learn that the hard way.  With all of that said, I'm still excited about the finish, I was very blessed to put a good limit of fish together on day one, which helped propel me in to the final day cut.  All in all, it was a great tournament!
Next up is a BFL tournament at the Ohio River in Golconda, IL on September 25th.  Lord willing I'll be able to piece together another strong finish.
God Bless,
D

On my way home from

On my way home from Texas. I finished 23rd. I'll post more when I get home. God Bless, Duke

PAA Tour visits Lake Tawakani on its third stop of the season

The Lake Tawakani PAA Tour event will take place next week in Norhteast Texas.  It looks like the lake is primarily considered a shallow water fishery which I hope will fit my strengths.  Lord willing it will be a good tournament for me, I need to get in a better position in the angler of the year race.  I don't know if I'll have access to the web, while in Texas, I'm staying at a private residence.  So, check back next week I'll update as soon as possible.
God Bless,
D