Brian Snowden's Tournament Journal

www.missouriangling.com

What: Citgo Bassmaster Tour

When: February 2-6, 2004

Where: Smith Lake, AL

Finish: 38th

Winnings: $2,800.00

The first day of practice started with cloudy and windy conditions and the high
temperature reaching 48 degrees. The water temperature ranged from 45-48
degrees. Most of the water clarity was stained to clear. I started my practice area in
Ryan Creek working some steeper channel swings and points in the mid-section of the creek
arm. The channel swing produced three fish and one keeper Kentucky weighing three
pounds. I worked a Texas rigged, YUM Shakin’ Worm in green pumpkin. The bait was rigged with a 3/16 oz. Excalibur, TG Weight with an Excalibur, TX3 Point, 1/0 hook. I was
throwing the bait on a 7 foot, medium action, St. Croix Spinning Rod with 8 pound,
Silver Thread Line. I worked the bait slowly along the bottom, allowing the bait to fall
down the ledge rock. I continued to work my way up the river trying various tactics, which
included working a 5/16 Booyah Boo Bug in green pumpkin and a fire tiger Wiggle ‘O’
along rocky banks and points. Without much success I switched to a heavier 3/4 oz.
Boo Jig in green pumpkin. This bait produced another three pound keeper.

The second day of practice I journeyed to a different area of the lake called
Rock Creek. This area produced no keepers, but I was able to catch several fish on a 3/16
oz. Boo Bug. I worked the jig slowly along the bottom in 20-30 feet of water. Most of the
fish were relating to points next to the main river channel.

I decided to spend my final day of practice back in the Ryan Creek area. I
basically used the same type of techniques, but I did try to throw the crankbait more often.
The results on the crankbait were the same, no keeper bites. The Texas rigged worm and jig
produced one keeper and several smaller fish, so I decided for tournament day I
would spend my time in the mid-section of Ryan Creek working a jig and a worm slowly
along the bottom.

The first day of competition started out great! With the wind blowing 10-20 mph and a heavy downpour of rain, I managed to catch a 3.6 pound largemouth on a 3/4 oz.,
green pumpkin Boo Jig. I threw the jig on a 7 foot, medium heavy, St. Croix Casting
Rod using 14 pound, Silver Thread, Fluorocarbon Line. I continued to work steep, rocky
banks and points the rest of the day with a jig and worm. This pattern produced a dozen
fish, but all of the fish were under the 16 inch length limit. The second day I returned to
the same area and boated a nice keeper in the morning on the jig. I tried several banks with
the fire tiger Wiggle ‘O’ without any luck. So I went back to throwing the jig but was unable
to get any bites. Because of the heavy rains, I decided to move back toward the main
lake. This move paid off and produced another nice keeper right before weigh-in. I
finished the event with three keepers weighing eight pounds. This weight landed me in 38th
place.