July 23, 2012
By Tim Carini
Well I'm sure glad today was just practice! It was tough for me today but I wasn't trying to catch fish, I was trying to catch the right size ones. After the last tournament at Old Hickory, it became clear I need to swing for the fence in each and every event, and that's what I did today. The emergent grass can really hold some good bass at Neely Henry and even though the water has been dropping, I was hopeful it would still be a viable pattern.
This morning started off good with two nice keepers on a frog but that was really the highlight of the day. To say it was HOT out on the lake today is an understatement. I'm sure I lost 5 pounds in water weight today, it was brutal! The best feature on the Stratos VLO is the large cooler, fit almost 20 Gatoraide bottles in there today, and the ice kept all day! Fishing for ten hours with air temperatures in the upper 90's is just not much fun. I came off the water at 4pm today and was shocked to see some of the older anglers like Guy Eaker still out on the lake.
Tomorrow I'll run down lake and fish some ledges with the rest of the crowd. It's really not what I wanted to do, I like ledge fishing, but I don't think that is what is going to win this tournament. I do have a trick up my sleeve for the final practice day. It's a gamble, but if it works out it may really work well (or I'll have a wasted day of fishing). Either way, I'm looking forward to getting back out there and still confident!
