Just finished up the Lake Norman FLW Tour event. That’s three down and three to go. I sit in 12th place in the AOY standings, which is my number one goal this season. I’m so thankful not to have blown it already. I was in 115th after the first day and Norman is the worst place to have to make a come back, so I was pretty worried. But I decided to gamble and get my jigs out and go shallow, even though I couldn’t get a bite on a jig in three days of practice. Well, to make a long story short, it all worked out well although it could have been so much better.

On the last day I lost a 4 pound class fish on a jump and then about a half hour later (15 minutes before I had to leave for check in) I broke off a 5-6 pounder. It will take forever to forget about that. I keep replaying it in my mind and I can’t sleep at night. There was obviously a bad spot in my line because I was shocked when the line broke. It should not have happened, I can get over losing the other big one because that stuff happens, but that giant should have gone across the stage with me and I’m extremely sick about it. I drew Dewayne, the owner of PJ’s Jigs on that day, who was a great guy to spend a day on the water with. He was a good counselor too…thankfully, I needed that. Should have 20 pounds, had to settle for 13.3.

I finished 12^th at Table Rock, which was our first tournament. The next event is on Fort Loudoun and Tellico Lakes. I really like fishing there, its got big smallmouth in it. The size limit on them is 18 inches, isn’t that nuts? Anyway I’m looking forward to that one. I finished 2^nd to Mark Davis a couple years ago and had the bites to do well the last time we were there. I think Lackie really likes that place too…I can’t remember how he faired in the actual tournaments, but he sure likes to show off during practice, lol. It will be fun for sure!

On the sponsor front there have been some exciting things taking place. We have finally decided on the new Kinami Bug. I saw the latest prototype this past week from Derek Yamamoto and I like it a lot. Basically, we lengthened the body, made it round like a senko, and added some texture to it. Subtle changes but it really improved the all around versatility of the bait. Now you can use a bigger hook if you want to, but still be able to cut it down to look more like it’s old self. I caught a key, much needed fish on Norman the last day with one, so it’s off to a good start already. It will be available this summer sometime and will be called the “D” Bug.

I haven’t heard much about my little Rapala Lefeb-Wii lately, other than things are moving forward and the game will be out soon. Can’t wait to play it. One other quick note on Rapala/ Storm…they have a new bait that I first saw a couple years ago at Falcon Lake, TX during a Rapala photo shoot, but up until lately I never actually tried. It’s called a Storm WildEye Pro Paddle Tail swimbait. If you see them anywhere, make sure you give them a fair try. They have the absolute perfect rigging system and the swimming action blows most of the others out of the water. I’m getting ready to order a ton of them after buying a pack at a local Gander Mountain at Lake Norman. The 4 ½ inch Olive Pearl is super nice, and they come in a 3 ½ inch version too.

I recently switched from Garmin to Lowrance GPSs. I’ve been with Garmin since I started fishing professionally back in 2003. I liked and believed in the products for sure, but over the last couple years they have begun to focus most of their attention on auto units, and who could blame them. They lost their FLW sponsorship a couple years ago and cut most of their pro staff, since then I feel the fishing units have suffered significantly. I felt it was time to move forward and support and promote a company that gives back to our industry. I put and HDS 10 on my dash and an HDS 8 on the front deck. Both have Structure Scan and Sirius weather which I’m still getting used to, but so far I love it. When Wendlandt switched a couple years ago from Garmin he told me the maps were way better too, he was right. I couldn’t be happier to be part of the Lowrance family and look forward to a long future.

Thanks to all of you following me on Twitter and Face Book and offering all the encouraging words. You guys really keep me going and I appreciate everything. I’ll try to continue to keep updating daily throughout the remainder of the season.

Good Fishing,

Dave