An old fashioned hind-end kickin'...

That sums up my experience at the PAA Tour event on Table Rock lake.  Apparently my timing was off, but truly, my best answer as to why is...I do not know.  Practice was good, I had a solid gameplan, result: Terrible!  I know I was doing the right things, by that I mean fishing a good solid pattern, I believe the area of the lake I stayed in just got over-pressured.  When I called an audible (started running new water), I never connected with a good school of fish.  How do I know I was on the right track, and that it was my timing?  My good friend and sometimes travel partner Chad Morgenthaler made the day three cut doing exactly what I did for the first two days, he just fished a different area of the lake.  Live and learn I guess.  I'm going to have to get a lot smarter in a hurry!
God Bless,
Duke

I'm here...

Made it into Table Rock last night, got up this morning and had a flat tire.  That's a great way to start practice.  So I'm sitting at the local Walmart getting my tire fixed.  Who needs an early morning bite anyway?  Lol.  Stay tuned, I'll eventually get out on the lake

PAA Tour Heads to Table Rock Lake

The second stop of the PAA Tour will take place next week at Table Rock Lake.  Currently the lake is eleven feet high (roughly).  Which, should make for a good shallow bite (I'm stoked about that).  If it doesn't, I'll be sure to check out a few deep places to keep em honest.  I'll be picking up a little care package of baits from my friends at Lunker Lure (http://www.lunkerlure.com/) on Friday.  I'll shoot some pics and try to load them prior to leaving.  Good Lluck and Good Fishing.
God Bless,
Duke

Passing it on...

I remember as a young boy, digging worms around the barn, putting them in an old coffee can with some dirt, all in an effort to go fishing.  Well, I dug a few worms the other day, not for me but for my four year old nephew, he went on his first fishing trip with me.  And wouldn't you know it...

He caught his first fish.  So maybe he's not ready for the FLW Tour  just yet, but it's a start.  I think we actually waded and threw rocks in the water more than we fished, but the end result was a fun couple of hours in the afternoon.  Fulfill your angler's legacy, I've got one so far for 2011.
God Bless,
Duke

Angler's Legacy...Have you heard of it?

If you haven't heard of Angler's Legacy, and you enjoy fishing, then you need to follow the link below.  Angler's Legacy is a great organization with an even better goal.  So take a minute, click on the link and by all means, take the pledge.  You'll see what I mean.
God Bless,
Duke


http://www.takemefishing.org/community/anglers-legacy/home

Busy weekend...

I covered a few miles this weekend, on Saturday I fished a small tournament at Lake of Egypt with a good friend of mine. Ryan Wachter.  We had a pretty good day, we managed to catch a limit that weighed 15.75lbs.  That ended up being good enough for second place.  Not too bad, considering neither one of us had any practice prior to the event.  Early in the morning, we were fortunate enough to figure out a few things about how the fish were located and how they were positioned in these locations.  This allowed us to move around a good bit and expand on what we had found.  All in all I think we boated 10 or twelve keepers throughout the day, most on a Spro Bronzeye frog,  which is definitely a lot of fun. 

After the Lake of Egypt tournament, I hopped in my truck and drove to Paris, TN to fish another derby with my good friend Mike Walker from Phoenix Boats.  I had not been on Kentucky Lake in about two months and Mike had spent one day prior to the tournament looking around.  At take-off we decided to spend a few hours shallow flipping flooded bushes.  Mike had caught several good fish the day he spent on the lake, so we thought a quick limit flipping would be the way to start.  Then we would  move out onto the secondary ledges and try to find a school of fish that might give up a big one for us.  There's a saying that goes something like this: "The best laid plans go to waste" that may not be a word for word quote, but you get the idea.  That describes our day perfectly.  We did manage to catch a limit flipping, but bites of any size (big fish) were non-existent, ay least for us.  We caught no less than three limits, but size was an issue.  We ended the day with a limit of 13.46 lbs.  It took a 21 lbs and change to win the event and I believe 13 something got a check, I don't think we did (Mike needed to get home so we left right after weigh-in).   I'm not 100% sure on the check weight, but I do think we just missed one.  Either way, it was a good day on the water, we caught an increduble number of fish.  That in itself is a blessing.

God Bless,
Duke

Shot a new video...

I recently shot a new video for Bass Factory (http://www.bassfactory.com/), I believe it turned out pretty well.  Te video can be viewed at my website http://www.dukejenkel.com/ or at Bass Factory (http://www.bassfactory.com/) it's posted on their home page.  Check it out, let me know what you think.
God Bless,
Duke

Home for a while...

I've got a few weeks off, actually about six weeks.  I'm not sure what thats going to be like, but I'm ready.  My next event is the PAA Tour event at Tale Rock Lake in mid-June, so other than jackpotting a few local derbies, I'm gonna kick back, relax do some fun fishing and do my best to light up my Big Green Egg on a daily basis.  I'm sure I'll have a post or two about what I'm up to, I'm sure there are going to be some food pictures involved, so check back often.
God Bless,
Duke

A few pictures from the road...

I've been fortunate enough to have some good friends around during the last few events who took the time to snap a few photos during weigh-in or while I've been on the water...Here are a few of 'em...I hope you enjoy them. 
God Bless,
Duke

BFL Win on Kentucky Lake March 26th

Day Two Take-Off Lake Lanier PAA Tour

Day Two Weigh-in Lake Lanier PAA Tour



Day One PAA All-Star Event...Hooked Up with a Big One!




Day One PAA All-Star Event ...The fight is on!



Got Her!

In the boat!   What a way to start day one!

Day Two PAA All-Star Event..Pluggin' Away

PAA All-Star Event Day Two Weigh-In



Talkting to Lurch during the Day Two Weigh-in



Don't cry over spilled milk!

The title phrase may say it all.  I had some excellent opportunities on day one to have a pretty big bag of fish.  I just failed to get them in the boat.  Don't get me wrong, it's not like I made some bad decisions, or made some major mistakes, I had some things happen that I hadn't experienced in quite a while.  On day one I had several big fish pull off of my crankbait after I had them hooked and out in open water.  No clue why this happened.  Brand new needle sharp hooks, I wasn't putting a lot of pressure on them, and just like that, gone!   In another instance of odd happenings, I hooked a pretty large fish on a senko, as the fish headed out to deep water I was unable to get her turned towards the boat, and again in open water around no obstructions, my line breaks.  That was pretty much how day one went, unfortunately I ended the day with three fish for 9.51 pounds, well short of what I should of had.  Day two was a total reversal, I had a limit by 7:35 am, and culled at 7:40.  I ended the day with a five fish limit weighing 11.18 lbs.  Not a real good weight, but had I executed better on day one, an 11lb limit would have given me enough weight to get paid, and be real close to making the cut.  Regardless, I feel blessed to have made the adjustments on day two to boat a limit.  The next event will be the PAA Tour on Table Rock Lake in Missouri, that should be a good one.
God Bless,
Duke