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Cool event that happened last weekend on Douglas Lake, TN. 82 teams for a tough event where 10 lbs a day was good. Jamey and Tommy came out on top with 33-01 in 3 days, and 2nd was less than 1 lb behind.
Here's 5 with Jamey on how they got the W. I threw a couple military terms in there to sound cool...lol not! And like all NPFL tourneys, it was no-FFS tourney, even in practice.
1. Did you do any recon? 😁
> "[Laughs] Yes. We had a 3-day official practice so I got out there, and I have history on Douglas fishing the Opens...3 days of official practice to solidify what I thought was going on.
> "...2 patterns. I thought they would be deep still, offshore fish, and they were. But they were also super-pressured. Once the fish are done spawning and move offshore, they get hammered on all summer, so fall offshore is real tough.
> "...I found fish in Muddy Creek in 20'+ of water, but in 2 days straight fishing for 'em I caught 2. I could not get them to fire.
> "The shallow pattern is something I figured out there years ago. I don't know why but when that lake is falling out, you'll still have a few residual fish that sit in the mud in the backs of these little creeks and ditches.... I take that popper, throw it on the bank, bring it in, 2-3 pops and one just devours it....
> "I ended up figuring out those deeper fish weren't worth the time and effort, so I went to upper lake...and looked for offshore fish that were now only in like 14-15' of water. I could get those fish to react and eat. It was still tough but...once you fired them up, you could catch 5 or 6 out of the school."
2. How did you catch 'em each day?
> "Day 1 we started shallow with that Strike King KVD Slash [popper], the full-size one, shallow in the back of those pockets. Then when the sun got up, we went to the upper section and cranked with a 6XD in chart/blue back and chart/green back – it didn't seem to matter.
> "For the shallow deal it really helped in those pockets if wood was back there, and the deep stuff was just gravel, little ditches...little pockets...a little bit of a drop...and they'd be set up on that.
> "Day 2 we ran straight to those [deep] fish. Once you catch them out of the backs of those pockets, it didn't feel like they reloaded at all. We mixed in going shallow in some of the creeks [up lake]...mixing in some docks.... We started doing the cranking thing a little bit earlier.
> "Day 2 we needed a kicker – we were in 6th place [after] day 1 – and that's when I broke out that [Strike King] 8.0. I'm a huge fan – I love that 8.0 crankbait. I've caught giants on that thing. I won a veteran tournament in FL on that and no one believed me because no one deep-cranks in FL.
> "I ran the 8.0 through those schools and did catch our big fish.
> "These fish are so pressured, you fire them up but then they just get smart. I used [Humminbird] MEGA 360 and that...played a key role in getting set up on the fish and watching them react when we pulled 1-2 out of the school. One they spread out...they just wouldn't eat. The aggression wasn't there.
> "Day 3 we went straight to our primary deal...and just started cranking. The shallow fish...it seemed like we were culling those out each day.
> "The first 2 spots...they weren't set up right. The 3rd place...it was lights out. It was chaos.
> "Because [of a slot limit] you could only have 2 fish over 16 and 3 under 16. So we were trying to get the fattest 15.5" we could...we had to measure everything. Culling was a nightmare in this event. I really feel like that was key for us – our strategy for culling and how we managed our fish, and not making a mistake.
> "Douglas is in a phase right now where there's lots of numbers, but lots of small fish. A 5-lber is a rarity [so] 3-4 lb fish were good overs to have.
> "We did mix in some jig-fishing on day 3 which helped us. Tommy caught some good ones...I ended up catching our kicker for the day off that jig."
3. Was any CQB involved? 😁
> "[Laughs] No I think everybody kept their distance once they saw the multicam wrap...nobody wanted any part of this [laughs]."
[For us non-mil folks, Jamey said that that multicam is a known SF/bada** camo pattern.]
Bonus Q: What was the best thing about this event?
> "The camaraderie. ...when you're in the military, you're with your brothers. The guys to your left and right are the guys you're going into battle with. When you get out, you don't have that anymore.
> "That's where guys struggle. They don't feel important anymore and they don't have that tight-knit brotherhood.
> "So this event brought everybody together from every service for one common goal – to go out and have fun and fish, something that we're all passionate about. And some guys have turned to fishing as their therapy.
> "It was all about camaraderie. We had a great dinner at Bass Pro Shops that was catered – just everybody hanging out, talking, having a good time. The camaraderie was amazing and...it was therapeutic for everybody to be amongst their brothers again...."
[Thank you to all you military folks and bless you. 🇺🇸 💪💪]
Winning baits
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