I love to fish anywhere in Texas.  There are so many good choices here – it’s amazing.  But in the summer when temperatures hover from 95-105, taking a trip up north is pretty refreshing. We just fished the FLW Tour event at Lake Champlain, caught big small mouth and largemouth in amazing numbers.  Personally, I caught about 30 – 40 bass a day and weighed in between 16-18 pounds every day (5 bass limit). I finished 15^th in the tournament.  Lake Champlain is a beautiful and dynamic fishery with incredible large and small mouth bass fishing.  The only drawback is that it is a long way from Texas, but the incredible action was well worth the 30 hour drive.

When it comes right down to it, real, tangible opportunities to win bass fishing tournaments at any level are few and far between, no matter who you are and no matter what level you fish at.  But when you go into the final day with the lead, this is one of those chances.  Last week I fished the second FLW tour event on Lake Hartwell, SC doing what I may be the very best at, sight fishing.  It was set up perfectly for me, fish coming to the bank in waves.   I had a great first three days and started day four in first place with a total weight of 52-9 Mother nature dealt me a blow though on the last day, with heavy winds and cloud cover.  And those deep beds that I had fished the first three days of the tournament were no longer visible.  When I look back at it, I really think I fished a great tournament, even the last day.  I fished almost all totally new water and still had the third biggest stringer of the day, 14-6.  But in the end, John Cox, had saved his best for last and weighed in 16-2, giving him a well-deserved win.   The final tally?  I lost by 7 ounces.  So close!  I’ll get em’ next time!