I will be fishing my first Tx in over 2 years this weekend with my 12 year old son. Very excited to get back in it. I got very addicted to it. 8.5 hours of competing. There is nothing like it in all of fishing IMO. That first keeper. Then the second. Man, I think the reason I am addicted is because you get to measure yourself against others. And a pattern and a keeper become 100 fold more significant in a Tx than just fishing for fun.

Prefished LOZ and found several areas holding quality females. They were still staging. I am almost positive the routes they took and the flats they will use for this Tx. My 12 year old is very excited and knowledgeable at such an early age. He makes me proud. This could be a good weekend

I'll be the first one to wish you great success to you and your boy this weekend.  Hope you guys slay'em. 

Congratulations on taking the son and getting him involved.

Now go kick some bass.

Good luck,

Jack

You all will do fine.  After the way you guys did on that little lake over by Columbia a couple of years ago, you'll probably win the thing.   

Good luck Needemp... and it's great that you're going with your son, very cool!

Thanks guys. He is excited. He sent me a text counting down the hours and minutes to the take-off. I was worried that he wasn'tgoing to be intersested in fishing too much, but he is. He is a good kid, even when he is a goof-ball 

Well?

C'mon, how did y'all do?

SE Kansas grass grower

I did ok. I had 4 keepers for 9 pounds 15 ounces. I had a short, fat fish that I could barely get to bump, but I didn't want to take the chance. Otherwise I would have had a limit. It took 28 pounds/10 fish to win. My son did not catch anything, but is eager to fish again. He had a rough day. That is the sum of it. I will post again in detail for those that are interested.

We headed to the lake Thursday evening. I already knew what the fish were doing and about what stage they were in from those that had been down there the weekend before till Tuesday.

We started fishing Friday morning at about 730. Immediately went to the areas that I figured they would be and I had a 13 pound limit in the first 2 hours. I would catch a few fish to check the quality and quantity and then leave the area alone. It was an all day bite. I ended with somewhere on the plus side of 18 pounds. Others reported the same success.

Saturday was a different story. It started out well. I had a 3 and a 2 pounder in the first 15 casts. I then caught a 2.5 about 45 minutes later. Then everything changed. The bite turned into a thump. They would hit it and when I would swing they were gone. I even had a few heavy bites that when I swung, they would be on for a second or two, then they would come unbuttoned.

It became very difficult finding the bigger females. I worked hard the last several hours, but the high pressure after the front turned my fish off or moved them. I only prefished for 2 days, 2 weeks ago and the day before the Tx. All the areas I had were shallow areas. I also discovered that most of my docks were either not fishable, or in a terrible location. I did end up with my final 2.5 and others that were chunky, but short, relating to the docks. But I didn't have the proper back up plan for deeper areas. I fished some, but they didn't produce. The final 2 hours were the bass just bumping my bait and not coming close to getting hooked.

I talked to others that said the same thing about the bass just bumping their lures. I also talked to one of the guys in the club that usually finishes high, and we both had the same pattern on Friday and the same struggles on Saturday. Bottom line, I didn't make the right choices and I didn't win. But I did finish 6th or 7th (I think) out of 54 individuals.

My son was not use to waking up that early and he was cold, so he didn't fish well. He also was trying to learn the jig and so he was at a disadvantage there. But he learned that you can have a bad day anytime. It is up to him to rebound from it and try next time. He really wants to give it a try again. I was proud of him.

Needemp -  Sounds like you had a great time!  I remember learning to fish a worm as a 12 year old.  Took me what seemed like forever.    Sounds like he's really hooked.  Great job, Dad.  I have 6 boys and so far none of them like fishing.  I'm not giving up though.  My tourney is this weekend.  Can you share what lures/colors were working for you?  PM me if you like..

Thanks,

Brian