Tournament Blog

Wow…what a beautiful lake.  Are practice was cut short at this one due to the Elite Series pros were having their tournament the weekend before ours.  I want to thank my husband, Ricky Campbell, for this guide trip.  In the 3 short days we had to practice I had 2 or 3 patterns that I was very confident with.

The shad were spawning so the ledges were the place to be.  Well I caught several good fish in practice out there but after spending hours the first day looking for my 1st keeper on the main river ledges, I went to plan B.  I managed 2 fish that day for a total of 7.5lbs on my 2nd pattern and never looked back.

Day 2 I went back to the ledges and did manage a keeper, however, I did not waste as much time out there as Day 1 which paid off.  I had a limit which went 15.2lbs and moved me into 9th place.  On to Day 3.

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Day 3 I went back to the ledges on the river.  I caught 3 keepers on spinner baits in about 30 minutes…where were these guys earlier in the tournament?  Once again I went back to the same spot that had produced my keepers on Day 1 and 2.  I had a great limit that day that weighed 16 + lbs.  My partner Kim Martin also had some great keepers.  We had a blast that day, we caught some quality fish and were just having fun, but as luck would have it, when time to leave and go to weigh-in my big motor would not crank.  We where only about 10 minutes from weigh-in.  Well I panicked.  We tried to jump the battery off to no avail, we tried rewiring, etc. only to give up once we were disqualified.   

We were late which cancelled out weights from the 3rd day.  With 0lbs for day 3 I finished in 21st place.  Kicking myself all the way home, I prayed this would not keep me out of my final goal…to make the Classic.  A huge thank you to my partner Kim Martin…thanks for the memories!

Okay, suck it up and let’s go to Kentucky Lake, Stop 4 on the tour.

Lake Dardanelle was my next big challenge.  The year before we were there in the heat of the season.  After suffering the worst case of sun poisoning on my arms, I had bad vibes about this fishery.  However, it was spring time and not near the “heat factor” as in 2006.  Well as luck would have it, I managed some pretty good fish on day one and weighed in 14.3lbs. 



Day 2 was not so kind…with my day 1 spot not producing I was just looking for a keeper.  I carolina rigged a spot where I caught some small fish and managed a couple of keeper for 3.14lbs.  But I did manage to take the 25th spot and was on to fish Day 3.

Day 3 a totally different game plan.  With the weather threatening, I decided to stay as close as I could and fished some rip rap not too far from the tournament take off.  With a Buckeye Lure Spot Remover and a Zoom Trick worm, I had 4 fish that went 10.10lbs and gave me 19th place for the tournament.

Next stop – Lake Guntersville – I can’t wait for this one.

What can I say about Lake Amistad…it is an awesome fishery.  I was very excited about this one.  Having come in 2nd place the year before in the FWL TTT tournament as a co-angler, my hopes were high. 

I caught a lot of fish and made some great new friends.  I fished with 2 girls from Texas, Kim McGuffy on day one and Barbie Hagler on day 2.  I caught all of my fish on a Buckeye Lure’s spot remover with a Watermelon Red Zoom Trick worm, 12lb. Seaguar Fluorocarbon line on a GLoomis Shakey Head Rod with a Shimano XXXX reel.

Congratulations to my friend and traveling partner Juanita Robinson…she won and did it in grand style…way to go!

I finished in 15th place; very disappointing as I lost 2 fish in the 3 days of fishing that were 7+ pounds each.  However, this year I have set 2 goals for myself:

1. Finish in the top 25 every tournament in order to fish the 3rd and final day.
2. Make the Classic

1 down, 4 to go.  Next stop…Lake Dardanelle.