FLW Costa Havasu - Game Over Angling

I posted my tournament write-up for Hogue on GOA (click here.)  

The Havasu event was the toughest bite event I've ever been part of.  Couple things I didn't mention in the GOA article due to the larger audience Hogue's aiming for.

1.)  Jonas Pettit is my travel partner for the FLW Costas this year, and he figured out the bait and technique to catch those smallmouth.  Without his knowledge and generosity I wouldn't have weighed much.  Someday, he may post a video of his 17lb+ bag of smallmouth he lost on the first day of the event.  His ability to recover from brink of mental meltdown after the first lost fish is impressive...  but recovering after the 3rd and 4th lost fish is an act of extreme will power.  I would have put the boat on the trailer and drove strait home.

2.)  If you're fishing a drop shot all day long, you need a DSR.  I know that's a shameless plug for my rod company, but the one I loaned Jonas for day two was not returned, nor was the option given...  if you know what I mean.  (He kept the reel too.)

3.)  I owe Dave Kromm and Tanner Mort a huge thank you.  On the second day of practice, I was in a hurry to get on the water before dark (since fishing sucked so bad I couldn't wait to get back!!)  Being an impatient dipsh*t I shoved 1/2 an egg sandwich in my mouth and started doing the dishes.  Long story short, I wasn't able to breath shortly after.  Davey and Tanner saved my arse...  Enough said.  Thank you.  (Luckily they were able to help me, cause the next guy in line to free the blockage was Jonas.  If you guys know Jonas, you'd know I would had like 3 broken ribs and some type of body cast.) 

The last day of practice we found a bunch of fish moving up on the south end... big ones.  I started the first day on a 7lb largie we found.  While I was casting to it, I had all the graphs off and was being extremely stealth.  5 minutes into the process, and 4lb largie swims under my boat and takes up shop under my trolling motor head.  

These types of stories can go either way, right?  Catch that largie and I make the cut, and don't look back.  Well that fish ate my senko before it hit the bottom...  ran across the bay and jumped off.  At the time I knew it would have a drastic effect on my tournament, but to what extent I didn't know.  Reality is, I should have found a way to get one more bite on day one.  

Thanks again to all my buddies who sent encouragement.  Hopefully I can keep doing stupid things to make these articles worth reading!!!  

- j.boomer