Elite's on Kentucky Lake

[wishniwasfishn]

I just sat in the boat with several of these pros as a marshal and I will tell you what I saw and what their comments were. I post this because I know I was interested in how this all worked at one time and I am sure others are interested too.
Takahiro Omori had many spectator boats on day 2. He was fishing a found spot, and for a while. When he thought he had broken the school up on it he moved to his only other found spot. Found spots to these guys are spots where they can catch 20+ lb bags. Three pounders don't help them much. The other spot had another pro on it. Tak had not fished there since the 2nd day of practice and was really disappointed. I found out later that pro had fished that spot only on the first day and had 22 lbs off of it. So we went back to the first spot. One of the spectator boats had moved up on the spot and both guys had fish on when we arrived. At least 10 times on the day with him, we heard the GPS beep as people pulled up. Here was Tak's take on it 'The GPS'ing doesn't bother me as much as knowing they will be fishing spots I spent 14 hours a day during practice to find before my tournament is done. And I don't have any other spots found that can win this tournament.' As for their ability - Tak pulled out a very non-traditional ledge bait in the last hour and caught a 4 lber and a 7 lber to finish his 2nd 20 lb day. I was seriously impressed.
Cliff Pace had folks GPSing him too. He was really irritated with it. He didn't comment much or specifically though.
Keith Poche is a rookie I went with on day 3. He too found two spots and he spent the entire morning running and gunning other stuff to stay away from spectator boats because he thought his spots were afternoon bites and didn't want to show his hand. He made the final 12 cut.
I did hear stories of some pros doing unfair things to prep the tournament but I can't really comment on it because it was hearsay. I know what I saw. They don't like the idea of someone simply pulling up on a spot they spent a lot of time to find and ruining their tournament. I went with Terry Scroggins, Randy Howell, and Denny Brauer last year and remember the same kind of attitude.
I asked about the use of guides and many of them do it. But they do this many months in advance of a tournament usually. Sometimes even right after a tournament (for the next year). This helps point them in the right direction of why bass do what they do on that lake. For instance, the bass on Ky Lake and the bass on Clarks Hill have different tendancies because of different environments. When practice time comes, they do a lot of searching and are out long days. My buddy and I saw KVD out fishing a main lake ledge at 8pm Sunday night. And he was fishing hard. One of the reasons these guys are so good is how hard they work at it. Physically. It was over 100 degrees heat index Saturday and KVD busted his butt to win.
By the way - Takahiro Omori was a joy to watch. His attitude is awesome. His techniques are cool. And he really knows and takes care of his equipment. If you don't know his story, you should look it up. A great example of how a person who works hard enough in our land of opportunity can make it, without handouts. Good guy. And if you don't know who Keith Poche is, look him up. Genuine good guy who is going to be good.
Just my input. Also, been out with Dave too. You can not go wrong there. An investment that lasts a lifetime in fishing knowledge. Wish I had done that years ago.
Jason

Great stuff Jason, really glad you shared your experience with the Marshall Program, sounds like it is well worth the $100.00. I havent said anything yet, but to watch a pro catch a fish, mark the spot, wait for him to leave, and then start fishing it, knowing he is going to come back to that spot later is just as bad as robbing a man of his fishing equipment after you watch him load it in his truck, and walk into his room. Sorry, but if you have no more morals than that, you have bigger issues than not knowing how to find your own fish. If you want to mark the spot and come back after they finish the tournament, more power to you, but to pull up on it after he leaves it, knowing he will be coming back is unthinkable.

[HOGMONSTER]

People who can't find their own fish.

Lets look at this thing a little different. Lets say you go out and spend a lot of time, hard work and gas money to find some spots that you can catch a lot of fish off of and the next day when you go out, there is billy bob "can't find his own fish" taylor waiting at the dock to follow you out and catch your fish. How would that make you feel?

Once you get to your spot he gets on his cell phone and calls 10 of his closest pals to come down and fish this great spot that "he found". How does that make you feel???

Maybe if more people would live by the golden rule fishing and life in general would be a whole lot more rewarding... and I am not talking about the measuring board!

[Rudypoo4444]

This thread reminds me of a funny story that happened on Barkley one Saturday morning.

A buddy and I arrived at a pretty good bass spot one Friday night in LBL, that is right next to a boat ramp. I launched the boat, tied it off to a tree, and camped for the night on the shore, ready to fish in the morning.

Before daylight, we got into the boat and trolled over to the spot, and started catching bass after bass, just having a big time. MAN was it great. We see this dude in some hopped-up bass boat come flying into this cove we are in, and he isn't letting up. We were in the very back of the cove, next to the ramp, and this dude runs full-tilt to where we are, and lets off the throttle just before he reaches us.

He throws his trolling motor down, and begins beating the bank with a buzz bait not 30 yards from us. I look at my buddy, schrug my shoulders, and keep on fishing. We both hook nice bass within minutes, release them into the live well, and turn around and repeat the process a couple of times.

This guy is now throwing rods down, slamming compartment doors, and trying to tie on a different bait. This tool trolls all around us, and somehow never managed to catch a fish. We tried to talk to him, but he was so steamed, he would just act like he didn't hear us. He finally gave up, started his 250hp motor, and SCREAMED out of the cove. Funny thing is, he hit the old road bed with his lower unit on the way out. It made some god-aweful noise, but the guy never even flinched. He just kept that throttle pinned and away he went.

We ended up catching our limit pretty easy that day, and got a pretty funny story to boot!

[VMAXX]

I'll just throw this out and shut up, I saw Vandam on at least 3 different spots Sat. during the finals, that said NONE of them were magical spots he had spent hours searching for with electronics,side imaging etc.... They were all spots or ledges that were commuinty holes pretty basic stuff that stands out like a sore thumb on a topo as were alot of other wrapped boats I saw last week,really makes me wonder when thet say I went to my best spot and somebody was sitting on it blah blah blah .....well yeah they do every weekend.
And as far as the poster(cant remember who) who said he doubts boats actually come that close to whoever(fishing non pro) while on the water I take it you dont fish Ky lake very much because they will idle within 10 yards of you while fishing a ledge,I've had it happen numerous times and it's gotten alot worse in the last 2 years.

[Dave Stewart]

Thanks for the kind words Spider. Sounds like you had a great time at the tournament and was very observant as a Marshall during the tournament.

[Spider04]

Kind words earned Dave. You have helped my fishing tremendously.
I had a great time. Prior to the registration for the tournament a buddy and I caught some nice smallmouth night fishing Sunday and Monday nights over on the LBL side where you pointed me to. I haven't ever fished Dale Hollow, so I don't know about the comparison, but catching 15-20" smallmouth on spinnerbaits in the dark of night is seriously cool. They were knocking 3-4' of slack in my line on some hits.
Me likey!!
Jason

[fireman21]

I wasn't there, but do you think a guy from Michigan just found those fish. Give me a break. It's called getting info from the locals, down loading an SD card with waypoints on it, or going out with one of the guides. They might have 50 waypoints to go through and when they find a hot spot they get off of it and save it for the tournament. I don't condone those guys doing what they did, If you keep 100yds away like the rules state, GPS all you want because your boat not anywhere close to KVD's spot. If you ledge fish boat position is critical

[Col Forbin]

I wasn't there, but do you think a guy from Michigan just found those fish. Give me a break. It's called getting info from the locals, down loading an SD card with waypoints on it, or going out with one of the guides. They might have 50 waypoints to go through and when they find a hot spot they get off of it and save it for the tournament. I don't condone those guys doing what they did, If you keep 100yds away like the rules state, GPS all you want because your boat not anywhere close to KVD's spot. If you ledge fish boat position is critical

I am sure they get some info, but no more than the rest of us. Ky lake and Barkley is not loaded with "secret" spots. When fishing structure like ledges, they really stand out on a map. There are some ledges that can produce way more than others, but turn off and on, on any given day. Yes, there are a few lesser known spots here, but I doubt any local down here is coming off that info, even it is to KVD. I will bet anything that anyone down here that puts in the time to find or develop a spot that nobody knows about is not just fishing for fun. But pretty much every ledge on this lake is in some way or another a "community hole."

[smashdn]

Great stuff Jason, really glad you shared your experience with the Marshall Program, sounds like it is well worth the $100.00. I havent said anything yet, but to watch a pro catch a fish, mark the spot, wait for him to leave, and then start fishing it, knowing he is going to come back to that spot later is just as bad as robbing a man of his fishing equipment after you watch him load it in his truck, and walk into his room. Sorry, but if you have no more morals than that, you have bigger issues than not knowing how to find your own fish. If you want to mark the spot and come back after they finish the tournament, more power to you, but to pull up on it after he leaves it, knowing he will be coming back is unthinkable.

How is that any different than going down a bank 150 yards behind someone?

[wishniwasfishn]

because they are on a specific spot, that is holding a school of fish that will probaly stay in that area the whole time they are there, and they spent 3 days finding them, and more than likely will spend every day fishing that exact area, and everyone knows that. Following him down the bank is totally different, in my opinion.

[tomo]

I am sure they get some info, but no more than the rest of us. Ky lake and Barkley is not loaded with "secret" spots. When fishing structure like ledges, they really stand out on a map. There are some ledges that can produce way more than others, but turn off and on, on any given day. Yes, there are a few lesser known spots here, but I doubt any local down here is coming off that info, even it is to KVD. I will bet anything that anyone down here that puts in the time to find or develop a spot that nobody knows about is not just fishing for fun. But pretty much every ledge on this lake is in some way or another a "community hole."

Tim Horton came in on a ledge I was fishing thursday and asked me to fish it. I let him and got back on it when he left 10 min later. Then Mike Mc Cellan pulls up and spends 30 min dancing around me. This ledge is not conspicious on any topo. They got it from someone. Jason Quinn fished a ledge inside a major creek arm Friday and Saturday. I've never seen a pro on this ledge before. I don't think he found it on his own. I fished it everyday the whole week and never saw him during his practice days. These guys are fishing 40 miles from there takeoff. They don't physically have the time to locate these productive spots. I guarantee they are getting GPS coordinates. They drive right up to a 20' wide spot in the middle of the lake!!!

[Tim_T]

Tim Horton came in on a ledge I was fishing thursday and asked me to fish it. I let him and got back on it when he left 10 min later. Then Mike Mc Cellan pulls up and spends 30 min dancing around me. This ledge is not conspicious on any topo. They got it from someone. Jason Quinn fished a ledge inside a major creek arm Friday and Saturday. I've never seen a pro on this ledge before. I don't think he found it on his own. I fished it everyday the whole week and never saw him during his practice days. These guys are fishing 40 miles from there takeoff. They don't physically have the time to locate these productive spots. I guarantee they are getting GPS coordinates. They drive right up to a 20' wide spot in the middle of the lake!!!

Why do they not pysically have the time to find them? Forget a topo, with a Navionics chip and a little time a lot of people could find them. Most of them spend at least a week there before the lake goes off limits and then get three days of practice prior to the tourney. Add to that they have been fishing this lake for years. Another reason you might not have saw Quinn during practice is because they tend to make a courtesy call on their best spots and that is it. Then they try and find other areas that are similar and check them out.

BTW, for all of those concerned, you will not have to worry about the Elite Series taking your spots next year, they will not be there.