Dialing In Murray With Boyd
Hanging with the two-time TBF National Champion
Making his second Forrest Wood Cup appearance this week is Allen Boyd of Salem, Ind. While that is an impressive feat in itself, what’s more impressive is how he qualified. This past April, Boyd locked up his second win in the The Bass Federation National Championship on Table Rock Lake – becoming the first angler to ever win two of the prestigious championships – thus punching his ticket back to the Cup.
With that in mind, I decided to jump in the boat with Boyd to see how he tries to tackle a fickle Lake Murray.
We meet at the takeoff location on Dreher Island around 6 a.m. in the darkness. Boyd takes very little time readying the boat before dumping it in the water. As we idle out of the no-wake zone he fires up his electronics and gives me a brief rundown of his plan of attack for the day.
Boyd came to Murry for pre-practice for a few days to get to know the lake and how it lays out. He found some fish in that time and today wanted to check some of the same areas of the lake to see if there was still life in them.
“I’ve never been on a lake with blueback herring in it so I don’t really know much about them,” says Boyd. “I probably should try to check that bite out, but I just don’t really have confidence in it. That’s why I’ll probably just fish shallow all week.”
After a short run from the ramp, Boyd sets down and begins pulling a few rods out of the locker. If it weren’t for the clouds the sun would be poking above the horizon at this point, however, the clouds and breeze offer some relief from what could be a hot and humid start to the day.
Now that the sun has come out and Boyd has fished for quite some time with only a gar bite and possible bass blowup on his buzzbait to show for it (despite fishing some pretty juicy looking stuff) the time has come to run to a new pocket.
Boyd is very keen on paying attention to the shoreline as he makes a move. Anything from where laydowns are to where the bank grass gets thicker to the abundance or lack of docks catches his eye. He doesn’t stop to fish any of it, instead opting to stay on schedule, but he says he’ll keep certain areas in mind and fish them when the tournament starts.
Boyd keeps the buzzbait in his hand for this next stretch – and honestly might throw it all day long. He has a chunk of soft plastic on the hook of the buzzbait to deter any fish from getting hooked.
As he fishes down the bank we chat about the pressure of fishing the Forrest Wood Cup, if any. Boyd’s first TBF title came in 2011 which allowed him to compete in the Cup on Lake Ouachita. Being that this is his second time to the big show he has a feel for how things work.
“I’m not nervous about fishing at all,” says Boyd. “What I’m really nervous for is Thursday [when the banquet dinner is] and dressing up and all that. I love to fish, so that is fun. Getting dressed up isn’t something I like to do.”
Boyd keeps working some bank grass and docks before finally snatching the first catch of the day. It isn’t big, but it was feisty enough to hook itself through the plastic on the hook point.
Boyd digs out a new plastic for his buzzbait before burning down some more bank. As he nears the end of the pocket he finally tags a keeper fish. The bites are few and far between, but at least he is building some confidence in the area he found in pre-practice.
It is time to make a move again and also time for a little hydration. Boyd is admittedly bad about eating and drinking on the water. He has the cooler loaded with plenty of waters and Gatorades to try and stay on top of the hydration game this week.
Though Boyd has had plenty of success from the local to national level, he still rocks some old standbys in the reel department. He has several old Shimano Curados that keep on ticking and getting the job done. Heck, even his buzzbait rod is an old Daiwa he bought at Walmart years ago. Boyd keeps things simple and I dig that.
We check a few other areas that look prime, but no action. The cooler on his Ranger serves as somewhat of a frog graveyard for the time being. Soft-plastic frogs have been major players on Murray in the past and I’d guess that will be the case again this week.
It’s midmorning now and Boyd is still prospecting along the bank. As we rip along, Boyd points out a small cluster of bluegill beds. While he doesn’t catch anything off it, he still drops a waypoint. How could there not be a bass nearby?
Working back into a prime chunk of gator grass tucked along the bank Boyd gets a blowup on his frog. He is pretty sure it wasn’t a bass and throws back to confirm. After a violent strike, out comes a pickerel that is promptly sent back to the lake.
After another quick move Boyd begins telling me about the abundance of grinnel (or mudfish or dogfish or bowfin) in Murray. We talk about how they can be fun to fight and moments later one chases his Zoom Horny Toad out from the grass. Boyd pauses the frog and the dogfish explodes on it. As water flies everywhere, Boyd cracks a smile.
“You were telling me they were fun to catch so I thought I had to stick him,” Boyd chuckles.
It is now creeping up on the noon and the sun is starting to really heat up. I take that as my sign to end a fun day on the water with Boyd. Besides, he plans on venturing up the river to try and dial a bite in there so it makes sense for him to leave me back on Dreher Island.
“The river is where I am more comfortable,” says Boyd, who fishes a lot on the Ohio River back home. “I don’t like this clear water.”
As we wave goodbye, Boyd points the Ranger upriver and takes off. He’s already got one championship under his belt this season and he’s hoping to find the fish that could carry him to another one this week.