PAA Prefish....

I don't know where to start. I was really excited when Elite Series pro Russ Lane invited me to ride along with him and fish during the three day official practice period for the PAA event on Old Hickory. We talked Sunday night and agreed to meet Monday at Sauders Ferry Ramp on the lower end of the lake around 7:00 am. We were starting late because the tournament would not be taking off until around that time. Monday: Russ pulled out of the ramp area and immediately started idling around on some deeper ledges just studying the sonar. He told me his two main goals during practice are to eliminate water / patterns and to locate four or five potential winning schools of fish in a manageable area. We left the deep water area and headed into a major creek to try the bank grass deal. We moved around for a couple of hours, but we only had one bite in the grass. From here, he moved out to some secondary points in the creek that had a hard bottom and relatively deep water nearby. Russ managed to catch a 3 1/2 lb fish in the middle of a cove on the crankbait, and I also caught a keeper here. He'd seen all he needed to, so we continued to run that pattern for a while. When we got out to the mouth of the creek, Russ caught the big fish pictured here on the crankbait. Next, we moved out to the main lake and concentrate on roadbeds on long flats. We found two more good schools of fish and hooked several more keepers during the day. Russ could have probably culled to around 15 lbs that day, so he was fairly confident he was on to something. We stayed out until around 6 pm. The biggest lesson I learned on day one was how much the pros rely on their electronics to find productive areas. Also, it was obvious that he was looking for more subtle feeding places that would not recieve a ton of fishing pressure during the week. He stressed that he needed to fisn places that would hold up over three days and that the more obvious places would not last. Tuesday: We met at Station Camp Creek, and Russ planned to practice in Spencer and then run upriver to check Spring and Barton's Creeks. We struggled to find anything shallow in the morning, but we did find one promising area near the mouth of Spencer that would be free from much fishing pressure during the week. The common theme for the productive areas that we found was that they all had a hard bottom, and the magic depth seemed to be 8-15 ft. After we hit Spencer creek hard, we made the long run upriver. We fished the backs of Bartons and Spring Creeks, and we found a decent bite on a squarebill and flipping a creature right on the bank. We probably caught 10 keepers up there, but we never hooked a good fish. Russ knew that he could run up there and scratch out a limit if he needed to, but those fish would not win the event. From this point on, he would concentrate on finding those good offshore schools with the crankbait. We found one decent school of fish just down from the powerlines near the mouth of Spencer, and we left the lake around 5 pm. Wed: We met back at Saunders Ferry, and his plan was to work the offshore ledges near the ramp and try to find three or four more areas within a 3-4 mile stretch of river so that he could manage them during the event. We started a bit earlier on Wed since it would be a short day due to the meeting in the afternoon. We hit some marina slips for a little while, but we only had one bite here. Next, we moved out to the main lake and started covering water with a spook and trap. Russ landed two solid keepers on the spook, and I nailed a 3+ lb fish down near Lock 3 on the trap. After the early morning feed died down, we moved out wide and started checking for schools on the main lake. We fished all the way from the ramp to the dam and back. We located four or five decent schools along the way, including three or four bass in the 3-4 lb class. We headed in around 2:30 so he would have time to organize his boat and tackle and we could make it to the meeting at Bass Pro Shops on time. I can't tell you how awesome it was to spend three days getting inside a touring pro's head and watching him break down the lake. I learned a ton, and I would love to try it again sometime. Russ ended up fisnishing 16th with around 21 1/2 pounds in two days. He caught fish in most of the areas where we found them, but the big ones just never showed up. I ended up finishing 16th on the co-angler side. I fished with two great guys- David Hendrick from NC and Elite pro Greg "The Rooster" Vinson from AL. Greg ended up in 19th I think, and David was around 30th. It was a great week, and I have a real appreciation for how much work these pros put into their job. Until next time, tight lines!