Story by Hunter Baughman | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Different lake, same result. I know it’s starting to seem repetitive but after another tournament that’s where I sit. I don’t want it to seem like I’m whining because that’s not the case. When I started writing these articles, I told myself I would give you the truth — what life on the road is really like and what goes through an angler’s head along the way.
So here it goes….
These lackluster middle-of-the-pack finishes are driving me nuts. There are tons of folks that support me. They tell me things like “You’ll get them next time” and “You still beat half the field.” I appreciate those kind words more than I can ever express. And it thrills me that people care enough to follow along. The fact is these finishes aren’t good enough for me. I’m my own worst critic, and it’s toughest after a bad tournament.
Lake of the Ozarks was one of the most mentally trying tournaments I’ve fished in a while. Lots of fish were caught, but 15-inch keepers were scarce. I’ve never zeroed a day of an NPFL tournament but on days two and three of this event I thought it was coming. Thankfully I was able to cross the stage with fish every day. There were times throughout those two days that I questioned my ability to compete. I questioned why I would waste my time fishing at this level. So many thoughts run through your head when the day isn’t going how you want and you’re out there alone. Doubt kills confidence and confidence catches fish. It can be a never-ending vicious cycle.
Anglers go on runs where they are unstoppable for multiple events. Every decision they make is the right one. Then there are runs where anglers can’t do anything right. Every decision is a bad one. It’s a common occurrence in the fishing world. Sometimes its luck, good or bad. But most of the time it’s just confidence doing its thing.
Let’s take a look at how much of a rollercoaster ride it was last week.
My dad and I fished a championship at Bull Shoals the week previous to Lake of the Ozarks. Bull Shoals is in the same Ozark region. We won that two-day event. I knew what I wanted to do and did it. Two years ago, I won an MLF Toyota Series event in September on Truman Lake that feeds Lake of the Ozarks. I knew how I wanted to fish that event at Truman, and it worked out. I’ve also had high finishes in the fall during multi-day local events on Table Rock and Beaver — two more lakes in that Ozark region. I’m not listing these finishes to brag. I just want to explain why my confidence was high going into last week.
When practice started, I had a plan in mind. Brush was going to be my deal. On the first day of practice, I had six keeper bites, which was more than anyone I talked to. I dedicated the second day of practice to finding more brush with schools of fish on them. I had around 15 schools of fish found on brush when practice ended.
I share information with a couple guys throughout practice. From their information and from what I sampled throughout practice, I knew there was a consistent bite on the front corners of docks. Most of those bites seemed to be non-keepers with a random keeper scattered throughout. On the brush bite there were also lots of non-keepers, but the keeper ratio seemed to be a little higher. It was everyone’s expectation that five keepers a day would go a long way. I thought that was possible on the brush.
On Day 1 of the tournament, I started with a buzzbait for about an hour. I hadn’t done it much in practice but was aware it could produce a big bite at any time. Nothing.
Time to fish brush. First pile I get to I catch three keepers and about 10 short fish in 30 minutes. I feel pretty good about how the day is going. I bounce around some and pick up two more keepers around lunch off another pile.
I spent the last couple hours of the day throwing a big swimbait on docks, looking for a kicker. That bite never materialized, and I weighed in a limit for 11 pounds. That put me in 22nd place and about three pounds in front of the check cut. I didn’t set the world on fire, but I felt very confident about Day 2.
On Day 2, everything was different. Different wind direction and speed, cloud cover and picky fish. I spent the entire day on the brush. On about half my spots, the fish and shad were completely gone. At the other places, the fish would follow the bait but not commit. I changed things up and threw different baits, trying to keep an open mind. I caught a 2 1/2 pounder around lunch that ended up being my only keeper of the day. I slipped into the 40s in the standings and was pretty upset that I had blown a good start, but I was still well within range of a check, and I was optimistic that Day 3 would be better.
On Day 3, I ran my best stuff, and it was even worse. I couldn’t even catch a short fish! More of my places were void of life, and I was at a loss of what needed to be done. At about 11 o’clock, I packed my stuff and drove 30 miles to a new section of the lake I had never seen and committed to fishing docks the rest of the day. It took me about 30-45 minutes to figure where and how the fish were set up and what was the best bait for me to use.
I ended up swimming a Brazalo Custom Lures Finesse Swim Jig on the front corners of docks. Wind and shade seemed to help but weren’t completely necessary. Large condo docks had big schools on the ends of them, but they were all little fish. I finally caught two keepers and ended the day with 4 pounds. I caught more fish in those last four hours than I had in the previous two and a half days combined — about 40 non-keepers.
I finished the tournament in 57th place — less than five pounds out of the money. In most tournaments where we have limits every day, five pounds is a lot to make up. But in a tournament where I only weighed eight fish out of a possible 15, five pounds seems so close.
In the end, I was really bummed that I let a good start turn into a bad event. There are times that I want to give up, then I step back and realize I’m doing exactly what I have always wanted to do. I will continue to grind it out until we get this train back on the tracks. I need to continue to improve my abilities and decision-making and will work on that in the off time this winter. I’ve got a few weeks until our last event at Lake Murray, and I’m already studying and learning.
I’m going to take a week to get away and reset in the deer woods. Fishing will be the last thing on my mind. Hopefully that’s what I need to let the confidence build back up.
I’m looking forward to sharing the results of a short sabbatical with you next week!
Hunter Baughman – Angler Profile
