My practice started off strong this week. I have spent some time on Smith in the past and was confident I could catch them shallow, so I spent 90 percent of my three-day official practice doing other things. Day one of practice, I caught about 18 pounds of largemouths on a jerkbait around docks in the back of clear water creeks. Over the next few days, I felt like it became harder and harder to get a bite, although the quality was still there. I mixed in an Alabama rig and drop-shot to get a few bites, but it was pretty apparent that by the end of practice that I was going to do my thing shallow and stick with my flipping stick.

I fished the entire event with one rod – a 7’6″ heavy-action Halo flipping stick spooled with 20# Gamma Edge fluorocarbon. I flipped my signature series 4×4 jig in golden craw with a green pumpkin Zoom Big Salty Chunk. I targeted anything I could find in 1 to 5 feet of stained water.

On day one, I had about 20-keeper bites (all large mouth) including a 4-pounder. Day two was much tougher with only seven-keeper bites and no good ones. I finished the event with 19-12, in 46th place, and am thankful to get $10,000 along with some valuable points.

I am disappointed in my practice decision to find other patterns. I hate to put all of my eggs in one basket, but I know Smith does not handle fishing pressure well over a four-day event. I had two good shallow areas – one up Ryan’s Creek and the other in Rock Creek and felt like I needed more. Next time, I would not fish the same stretch twice and run new water every day.

My hats off to Andy Morgan, Tommy Biffle, Brandon McMillan and Jason Christie for the flipping beat down that I got this week. I hope one of them pulls it out in the end, but Brent Ehrler is going to be a tough one to catch.

It was awesome to fish an event so close to home and I will be there on Monday. I am planning a trip to Eufaula and Chickamauga to do a lot of idling with my Lowrance units to prepare for the upcoming events. Beaver Lake is next and hopefully it will be kind to the Honey Badger one more time!

-RT