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The journey always starts with the late night drive to get to the ramp by sunrise for practice. So I leave the house about 11 and hit the road. Stop for gas in Baker since my beat tahoe gets like 10 mpg, and get rocking up the Baker grade. Man that hill sucks.... Get to town and gas the boat and truck again. get some stuff to eat for the day and get to Callville just as its starting to get light.
Get the boat ready and launch. The waters down like 120 feet (thats alot of water) so its a long walk from the parking lot to the water.
Get in the boat and the winds blowing like 15. Perfect. So I run the troughs of the little waves across the basin and start drifting down the bank with a swimbait. Probably 5th cast I get slammed by a 2 1/2 pound smallie. I thought I was at Havasu for a second. So I take the hook off the bait and maybe 100 yards away I get hit by another one. I had another one hit it at the boat and I decided to get out of there. So I ran up through the narrows just cruising along into the virgin basin and about a mile into it, my motor shuts down. So I sat there, afraid to turn the key, until finaly I fired it up again. It was idling rough so I headed into a cove to see what might be wrong. I pulled the cowling off the motor to check for a loose plug wire or low oil anything obvious but nothing. So I put it back together and started creeping back to the marina. It was about 7 in the morning so I knew I had all day, but I wanted to get back early to see if the techs would be there to look at it. I got it back on plane and 300 yards later it died again. After that, I just idled and fished my way back and got there around noon. By the time I got back there was a pretty good knock going on in the motor. Thats just its nice way of saying your screwed i guess. I put it on the trailer and went looking for the techs, but they dont get there till the 2nd day of practice. So I go meet up with my dad and friend Larry at the RV resort. I tell them what happens and Larry offers to lend me his boat. So I transfer all my gear into his and get it ready for the next day.
The 2nd day my dad said he would take my boat to the Mercury tech so I could get some practice. So Larry and I get on the water at about 6 and just head straight up to the middle point area. Fished some reefs and point for nothing and decided to switch to some flats to look for spawners. I ran across to some coves and as soon as I droped the trolling motor, I was staring at a 3 pound largmouth. I pretty much ran him over, grabbed a drop shot and threw it at him. He ate it instantly and swam aound for like 30 seconds before letting go. I do a lap through the cove and see 5 more good ones. So I jump into the next cove and do a lap around it I think there was 8 in that one and 2 were on beds. So I ran around looking for fish in the shallow cove but didnt find any more coves with fish like that. I went up to just below the islands by Echo Bay and started looking for smallmouth on the reefs. They were thick there 2 years ago but there was nothing there this time as far as spawnig fish. We fish and looked around alot going in and out of coves all day. Never really found much besides those 2 coves. We get back and thats when i get the news. Hes not sure whats wrong with the motor, but its not good and it cant be run. Most likely its the piston or a rod. Great!!! So now Im out a boat with no way to fix it........ Thank god Larry had his boat there!!!
The third day, I go out by myself and just start looking again. I find a cove with a bed fish and a good cruiser. And I see another 2 around a small island. Slent some time fishing points and outside stuff but couldnt find them. Had a short day that day for registration so I really didnt find much at all that day. Went to registration and the draw and got a middle of the pack #. But I knew I could at least catch a few if they were still there.
First day of the tournament I head strait to those coves. Theres nobody in the smaller one and one guy in the other one. Stoked. I shoot into the smaller one and start looking around. There was no need to fish beacause every one you would see, you could catch. But I didnt see anything. They were gone. Thats pretty much how Lake Mead works. Im about half way through and I hear the other boat fire up and leave. So I finish my lap and go into the other one. I go straight to the bed fish and its gone. Probably got caught. No worries, it was like 14 inchs. Then the south wind picked up. And it picked up quick to about 15 mph. I went across to a windy point where there were 2 swimming around 2 days before and tossed out a tube. Get bit and put a 3 pounder in the boat. Sick. So I make a couple more casts and decide to head back towards the other bed fish. so I pick up the swimbait in the wind. 2nd cast, 2 pound smallie. Never saw a smallie in practice in there. So I keep throwing it and get to the finger where the bed fish is and get nailed by a larmouth that was almost 4. I figured it was the bed fish but I when I went 10 feet into the finger, there she was. She didnt want to play at all. fished for about 45 minutes there and couldnt get a reaction at all so I went back around to a windy stretch of the bay and got another good one on the swimbait. 3 solid swimbait fish at Mead, wow things are changing there. I throw the swimbait around for a while longer for nothing and the wind let down to about half strenght. at about noon I decided to go back in to first cove and look around. A little ways in, I spot one cruising up way shallow in the bushes. It was moving pretty good so I threw way in front of it with a drop shot and started shaking. It spotted the bait and grabbed it. Perfect!!! I had a nice limit in the boat at 12 so I was stoked. I figured it was a good idea to bail out and look for more areas. I just picked up the swimbait and went fishin. My partner managed to pick up a couple small ones on the drop shot outside, but I didnt see any more or get anything but striper bit. We make it back to weigh in and I had a limit for 13-11. Easily my biggest bag on Mead. I was in 5th place going in to day 2, but had my worries about if there were fish left or not.
Day 2 I have an early out. I jam to the bigger cove which is more like a bay and start looking around but theres nothing up yet. But there was a little breeze so I went across to where I got it started the day before and got it started again. This time on a drop shot. Another 3 pounder. I figured maybe it could just be a copy of the day before so I grabbed the swimbait and headed to the bed fish. This time, no bites on the swimbait. It was windy, but from a totally different direction. But, it made it so I could see the bed fish better. After an intense staring contest between me and that stubborn bass, I made it grab a panic minnow on a drop shot. In the boat for # 2 and its a solid 3 1/2 pounds. Sweet. Then it kinda went downhill for a while. I kept going around the 2 coves and didnt see a fish. I remembered the little cove that had 2 in it so I ran a couple miles over to it. As Im coming in I can see a boat working its way towards the bed fish so I go in to the next cove in frustration to look around in there. Im in there for 2 minutes and the other boat takes off. I tell my partner, I dont think they got to the fish that quick so we went in there. Sure enough, the bed fish is there, and its alot bigger then I thought it was in practice. I got it and it was a good 3. It was windy in there in practise so it looked small, but im not complaining. Then I go back to the back where the cruiser was and it was there again, but way spooky. I couldnt get it to bite a thing and it took off after a short time. I jumped in and out of the next 4 coves and my partner got 1 on the drop shot. I only saw one more fish and it was tiny so I went to check on the cruiser in the first cove. I tied on a Senko and slowly crept back in there. Didnt see the fish till it saw me and started moving but I threw the senko up in some grass a ways up in front of the fish. When the fish swam by, Ipoped it out and it grabbed the bait. Man, whaen aproached right, these fish can be stupid. I had 4 good ones in the boat but it was getting late. I had an early check in and had to leave at like 230 to make it back in time. I made the run back to the first 2 coves and went in the smaller one. There was one waiting for me.... Sitting around a grass patch just waiting for my drop shot. But I had to feed it like 5 different bait til bit, but who cares, I had another great bag. I got that fish at 220 so I just buzzed around looking to see if there were any left but didnt see anything. We make it back in time to make a couple casts in Callville and I catch a small keeper on a tube. Hit the weigh in and I weigh 13-9 and Im in the lead. What a trip. . Justin Kerr came a while after me and took me out so I was 2nd going in to the 3rd day.
Day 3 I had to be realistic, i knew I pretty much caught everything I had seen in those bays but I went to them first thing. This time, the wind is blowing a good 20 mph. And straight in to the coves. Theres 3 to 4 foot rollers in and breaking an almost rideable wave on my favorite point. I try to survive over there for as long as I could but there was nothing happening so I knew I had to basically go pre-fishing again. Its never a good thing to have o do that in 3 foot waves and 20 mph winds on Mead. I ended up beating me and my partner to death and running around like a mad man trying to find cruising fish but the only ones I saw were beat by so many other guys that they would bail if you even moved your arm. That day I had the last flight. The longest day to fish. A golden opportunity to make the cut. And I never got a bite all day. I was even throwing a drop shot outside while I looked the whole time and nothing. Oh well, I gave it my best. So we check in and I make the walk of shame with everyone asking me where my fish are. I am hearing the weights and the places and I start thinking, I might still get a check. I ended up getting super lucky and finishing 31st place and getting a check. They paid 33 spots and I slid in by 3 ounces. I was very bummed on not catching anything, but at least I got a check on 2 days weight. After getting my check, I had to go back to where my boat was and transfer all the gear back. I do a detailed Quagga inspection :) and hook it up and hit the road for home. I was supposed to go straight to the Delta but I had to go home to drop my boat off and my dad would let me take his to the Delta. I get home very early Saturday morning and hit the bed. I wake up around noon, beat down from the whole rollercoaster ride and start the breakdown rutine of unpacking and all that good stuff. Except this time, I was turning right around and headed 7 hours north to the Delta.........
Hope you enjoyed the journey. It was an up and down battle for me but I came out with a few more bucks then I went in with so its all good!!!
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