TNCBA Dock Talk #2: "A Griswold Family Vacation on Cherokee"

So at the moment I have this picture of the Griswold family vacation to Walley World in my mind for the current state of the bass in our area...

Bass are currently making their migration from the deep wintering holes (Chicago) up to their shallow spawning areas (Walley World). As these bass are making their trip to the shallows they run into several (breakdowns) and of course they have to stop at all the (landmarks) along the way.

Leaving Chicago:

Most bass spend the majority of their cold winter months in or near deep water where the bait has schooled for the winter. As the photo period (day) gets longer, bass begin to start thinking about a vacation to Walley World. The other factor that plays into this migration is water temperature. As the water temperatures creep into the mid to upper 50's (which it is as we speak), coupled with longer days, the big girls start pushing towards the shallows. Just like anybody does before a trip, these big girls like to pack, and pack on the pounds they do! Right now is probably the best time of the year to catch your personal best.

Breakdowns Along the Way:

Just like any Clark Griswold vacation, there are going to be breakdowns along the trip. The breakdowns that we are talking about here are cold fronts and weather systems. Even with all the joy and excitement that Clark has as he heads for Walley World, he can't foresee the breakdowns ahead. We have had a very mild winter, but if you compare it to the year we had last year, it still has not been as hot as last year. The other factor that we have to take into account this week is the fact that we had a very harsh cold front last. The mornings were extremely cold and the highs barley reached out of the 40's. This week we have hard much warmer days, but the nights and mornings have still been cool. Just like a breakdown on vacation, a cold front will slow these bass's trip down and cause them setbacks. Bass are cold blooded so they are very temperamental about temperature. A drop in water temperature will slow them down and an increase in water temperature can make them aggressive. Your shallow water areas (especially with rock) will warm up more quickly than your deep water areas and this is what attracts those bass to the shallows. They are seeking warm water to spawn and lay their eggs.

Stopping to See the Landmarks:

Now...come on guys...you can't drive across the country and pass up places like the Grand Canyon. You have to stop and see the sights! Landmarks for bass are what we call staging areas. You can't just drive all the way from Chicago to California in one day...it will kill you. The things you want to look for as staging areas: 

• Secondary Points
• Deeper Rock Piles (Deeper being relative...I'm talking 30-40' deep.)
• Deeper Brush Piles
• Ditches and Drains

Bass will use these locations as rest areas before they move into spawn. They may stay here a day or a week depending on the conditions and weather systems. The key is finding these pieces of cover and structure near spawning areas. My opinion for a place likeCherokee would be staging areas in 10-20' of water. Like I have said before...bass are like birds...they use the same contour lines and cover year after year, just as birds use the same migration routes their entire life.

Arriving at Wally World:

When the Griswold Family finally got to Wally World there was no stopping them from going in and riding the rides...and for the bass the same is true. When the bass get to the spawning areas they are going headstrong and they aren't staying long. The bucks will move in early and prepare the beds to try entice a big girl. Once the females move in and lay their eggs, they will hang around for a short time and then they will work their way back out along their migration route leaving the bed to the male for guarding. The spawn happens in waves with different bass moving up at different times, but the "big mamas" like to get in their early and have their pick of the seats on the roller coaster of love!

Gameplan:

Going into Cherokee tomorrow our bass are on the move and they are pushing into the staging areas around Cherokee Lake...

For me, I am going to work my way from in to out. I will start the day as shallow as possible sense we have had warm days and tonight will be a warm night. If I don't run into any fish shallow, I will begin to move out deeper to those staging areas...looking for stopping points like deeper rock and brush.

My comfort zone is with a crankbait, so I will be combing my areas with a squarebill crakbait, a 200 series bandit, and a 300 series bandit. I will simply switch up crankbaits as I move deeper. If I begin to locate a bass at a particular depth, I will slow down and focus on a depth range. Now it is important to keep in mind that as tomorrow warms up the bass can make a move to shallower water. Don't be afraid to check shallow again later in the day.

The fun thing about this time of year is that there is a lot of different ways to catch bass, and we will probably here a lot of different stories tomorrow.

Be safe out there and enjoy every minute of it!

See you on the water,

Cody Dison

TNCBA President

FLW Recap : "The Benefits of Getting Beat"

Bass fishing is a scientist's worst nightmare...

When scientist setup their experiment they always have to take into account the different variables. Throughout the experiment scientist only want to have one variable change each time they perform the experiment. This allow them to explain exactly how and why the outcome was effected. Bass fishing doesn't play by these rules!

As we look at the recap of getting my butt whooped at this past week's BFL on Norris, let's look at the parallels to our Christian walk.

..."Our biggest lessons are learned through our struggles, not our successes."

So, lets get back to the whole variable thing...the first day of practice began with air temps in the upper teens and winds blowing 15-25mph. I spent most of the day cleaning ice from my reel and guides. I put in at Anderson County Park and focused my search in the Cove Creek area on the Powell side of Norris. I caught a keeper largemouth early on a 300 series bandit and then the day slowed until about noon. The water temp was hovering around 48 degrees so I moved to some clear water and picked up a hair fly and went in search of smallies. I quickly picked up two keeper smallmouth and then began to build on that pattern. As the day progressed, I caught several more bass on the hair fly and finished out my limit around 3pm. My limit of bass went between 15-16 lbs., so I was feeling good about the start of the week. Now keep in mind those variables. Wednesday's conditions were low of 19 , high of 38, mostly sunny, and winds 15-25mph.

Day 2 of practice began with even colder temps! (which I didn't think was possible after Wednesday) The morning low was a balmy 12 degrees and calm winds. The fog that formed that morning created a film of ice on everything that lay exposed. For day 2 I moved my search the Brogan's area on the Clinch side in hopes of nailing down a largemouth pattern to be a backup to the smallmouth I had found the day before. (largemouth only have to be 14 inches and smallmouth have to be 18 inches on Norris) As the day progressed and slowly warmed I was able to catch some bass on a crankbait and the fly. The only issue was the fact that I was still in a mix of largemouth and smallmouth and not all the largemouth were not long enough to keep, so I headed even further up the river to find dirtier water. I found some great looking pockets with water coming in the backs, but I didn't find many fish. I finished day 2 of practice with three keepers for about 6 lbs.

...here is where my decision making began to fall apart...

On Friday, the final day of practice I was greeted with morning lows above freezing and I made a long run to the "Lost Sea" before day break. As the sun was coming up I caught a short smallmouth on a Keitech and a keeper smallmouth on the hair fly. With the smallmouth bite still looking solid I headed back up into the Clinch River to find some largemouth. (I should have gone back to Cove Creek and located some largemouth areas there) Towards the end of the day I finally found a few largemouth paralleling the bank with a red Shad Rap. Winds were steady around 10mph Friday with mostly overcast skies.

My game plan...

The game plan was to make the 50 minute run to Cove Creek in the morning and fish for Smallmouth and then come back up the Clinch to fish for Largemouth in the afternoon. The mistake I made was when I looked at my phone on Saturday morning and saw that there was going to be no wind until 11am, I didn't adjust my plan. (I needed wind and sun for the smallmouth bite.) So when I made the long run Saturday to Cove Creek there was absolutely no wind and the fog was so thick that you couldn't see from one side of the channel to the other. I caught two smallmouth in one area, but both were 17 3/4 inches. At 10:30am I panicked since there was still dense fog and no wind. I left and headed back up the Clinch River. Over the course of the remaining day, I caught four more bass on the shad rap, but none of them would keep. I ended the tournament with a zero and dug myself a whole in the point standings.

The variables were all changing throughout the week. We went from morning lows in the teens to a low on Saturday of 47 degrees. The high Wednesday was 37 and the high Saturday was 67. We went from high winds to no wind and then on Saturday we went from no wind in the AM to white capping swells in the PM.

...in hindsight, I should have paid attention to those variables more. I should have stayed up in the Clinch and fished for largemouth until the fog lifted and the wind picked up. Then made the long run to Cove Creek. Lesson Learned!!!

But now on the relationship to our Christian walk...

When things are going right for us in life and we are finding success, it is very easy for us to become comfortable with the status quo and we forget to examine ourselves and look at areas we need to improve. We like to focus on what we are doing right and the parts of our Christian life that are strong, but that does not lead to growth. God allows tests and tribulations into our lives that force us to struggle and show us that we cannot control all the "variables". When we realize our need for God and Jesus Christ as our savior, it is only then that we truly grow as individuals. So often we measure ourselves based on rank at the work place, how much we own, results at a bass fishing tournament, or etc.. If the measuring stick that you are using for your life is an earthly one, then YOU HAVE THE WRONG MEASURING STICK. Life is not about trophies on your mantel or the number of zeros on your paycheck. Our lives are meant to glorify a righteous and holy God, and that can only happen when you allow Christ to live through you and lead you into serving others. Please don't miss the big picture! Measure yourself against God's Word and His standards...nothing else. Take in His creation and be appreciative and thankful for every breath you take. The Bible tells us that "life is but a vapor", it s here one moment and gone the next. Allow God to use your life to minister and serve. Find the gifts and passions that God has given you and use those to glorify Him!

While this week didn't turn out the way that I wanted, I had the opportunity to experience God's creation everyday, spend a week with family and friends that are dear to me, and get to know a total stranger in the back of my boat. Those are the blessings of this week. I will learn from this struggle as a fisherman, but I am thankful for every second of this week as a Christian!

See you on the Water,

God Bless!

TNCBA_#1_Short

Beyond the Scales : "Starting Off on the Right Foot!"

Talk about starting off with a bang...Shaun and Wes lit a fuse at 7am Saturday morning and that bomb dropped when they put two 15 lbs. limits and a team weight of 17.5 lbs. on the scales in the TNCBA season opener at South Holston Lake. 17 out of 21 anglers brought fish to the scales and four individual bags over 12 lbs. were weighed, marking one of the most successful season openers in recent years.

Anglers were greeted with temperatures in the upper 30's as the boat ramp at Painter's Creek Boat Dock came to life. Guls were already on the move as they prepared for their early morning feed. It may have just been me, but everyone seemed more amped for this year's opener...I guess its easy to get pumped when you know it is going to be in the 60's in February.

Most anglers reported a much stronger bite in the morning hours until about 11am and then it slowed into the afternoon hours. The top teams reported catches on an array of different lures and techniques. The first place team of Shaun Renfro and Wes Meade reported that they caught all of their bass on a Damiki Rig. Renfro and Meade made their way up towards Virginia where they focused on points and islands. The key depth was 30'40' for the Damiki bite and Renfro and Meade wasted little time filling the livewell...they were both culling by 8am.

The second place team of Bob and Kelsey Harvey returned to a dependable wintering hole down the lake and threw a duck feather fly to catch their 15.5 lbs. limit. Both anglers were not able to find a limit, but they were able to put together a solid, five fish, team limit...this is a good time to talk about this new rule change on the team side of competition...Instead of simply combining the weight of both catches of a team, a team is only allowed to weigh their best five fish for their team weight. This is going to make the team competition at each event much more competitive. This was evident here at our first event where Renfro and Meade would have had a combined weight of 29 lbs. and a gap of over 12 lbs. between themselves and second place...but...since they could only weigh there best five fish, they had a weight of 17.5 lbs. and the gap from first to second was only two pounds. This rule change will allow teams that are struggling to catch five per angler, to just focus on catching five good fish and going after the team win.

Ryan Pope and Lynn Feagins rounded out the top three and would be considered the junk fishermen of the top three. Pope and Feagins caught multiple fish on a Damiki Rig down the lake, but they had to move around and fill their limit out with a swimbait and an A-Rig. This is another example of a team that wasn't able to fill both of their limits, but Lynn Feagins caught a bass that was bigger than Pope's smallest bass and improved their best five team weight with his catch.

The remainder of the TNCBA field added to the assortment of baits that caught bass on Saturday. Teams outside the top three reported catches on Silverbuddies, Kietechs, and Crankbaits. It took 9.5 lbs. to make the top five on the team side of competition and Shaun Renfro's 15.5 lbs. was enough to win the individual competition. Wes Meade's 4.76 lbs. Smallmouth was just enough to edge out Shaun Renfro's 4.52 lbs. Smallmouth for big fish. While it is still early and we have multiple drops and scenarios to play out, the AOY battle looks like it will shape up to be one of the best in years. There will be several players at the table this year and any mistake could be detrimental to an angler's AOY hopes!

This was a great turn out for our first tournament of 2017 and I want to thank everyone who fished with us, especially our newcomers Loni Perkins, Andrew Perkins, Shaun Renfro, and Wes Meade!

TNCBA Dock Talk #1: "A Cold South Holston"

Man, I love the butterflies and the nerves before the first tournament of the year!

Enjoy this feeling...this is not one of those, "you can't win it today, but you sure can lose it," moments. We have drops built into our AOY championship...so go out there this Saturday and have some fun...the smallies are FAT!!!!!!

Now, lets be honest, everyone that has an internet connection is running out and buying more Damikis (even though they already have a boat full) now that the Bassmaster Elite Series just decimated Cherokee Lake with it...so here is the question...do you and your fishing partner stand inches apart on the front of a 20ft boat for eight strait hours, staring at sonar screen like it is the only source of warmth in the entire world.

After today my answer is a BIG FAT NOPE!

Yes, the Damiki will play a role Saturday, and yes, good fish will be caught on a Damiki Saturday. But! Please don't drive yourself crazy staring at those stupid yellow lines all day long. There are some really good fish on the bank.

Here's a game for Saturday...see if you can sneak up on some Damiki fisherman and blow your horn and scare the poop out of them.

Well enough of the non-sense, lets get down to business!

South Holston - 2.16.17

Water Conditions: 45 - 47 Degrees from Ob Knob to Spillway / Clear 3'-5'

Weather: Overcast and Windy / 27 degrees - 41 degrees / Post Front

Notes: I want to start out by saying that we only caught five fish all day long, but those fish were the right kinds of fish. Our five went just a little north of 13 lbs. We hit a little bit of everything today, but our bites came from 45 degree banks where you could find large formations of shale or river rock. We had some bass pop our Damikis in 20-30' of water but they would never take it. The two baits that caught our fish were a 2.8" Fat Impact Keitech Shad in Chartreuse/Electric Blue on a 1/8 oz. jig head and a 1/2 oz. Silver Buddy. We were slow rolling the Keitech and letting it fall to keep it close to the bottom. Bites were coming in about 15-20' of water. The Silver Buddy was being hopped along the bottom and being lifted hard enough to create a soft vibration. The bites were spread throughout the day and each bite came in a different location. The smallmouth that we caught were fat. The 15 incher that Fred is holding went 2.5 lbs. because of the belly on it.

Personal Thoughts:

When I drop the throttle on Saturday morning, I will have four rods on the deck of my boat. I will have two different colors of Damikis, a Keitech Swimbait, and a Silver Buddy. I will hit 2 or 3 Damiki areas in small intervals throughout the day and I will focus the majority of my time on 45 degree banks with the swimbait in my hand. As a backup, I will have an A-Rig and a Fly in the box. The weather should provide for good bite, especially in the afternoon as the rain pushes in to the area.

Remember, this is not the time of year that you are fishing to catch four or five limits. Take it one fish at a time!

See you on the water!

"A Year in Review : TNCBA 2016"

"TNCBA Reflection : The could of's ,should of's, and would of's of 2016"

     We have all heard the cliche, "hindsight is 20/20," but with that being true, hindsight being 20/20 is only useful if we reflect with the intent of improving or making changes. Every single angler experiences some sort of high and low over the course of the tournament season. During this time while the weather is bad and most of us will take a couple of months off the water, it is important to reflect and prepare for the next season.

     I spend a lot of my downtime reading Bassmaster articles, and between those articles and time on the water there was one very common thread...decisions, decisions, decisions. Yes, prepping your tackle, understanding different techniques, and time on the water are all important parts of the puzzle, but everything points to your decision making ability as being the make or break factor over the course of a tournament and AOY season.

     There were three different occasions this year where my decision making saved my season. The first came on Cherokee at our second tournament of the year...we had a front rolling through and after the clouds and rain passed there were blue bird skies. We had been on a tight-line fly bite in practice and I caught one keeper that morning, but as soon as the clouds left, the bite shutdown. We went until noon before getting another bite. We pulled into a small cut just off the main lake and saw shad that had been pulled up by the sun starting to flip. At that point I changed the game plan and picked up an A-Rig...from that point it was lights out and I was able to finish out my limit in the last hour. That decision of changing depth and baits boosted me from what would have been tenth place finish at best, to a top five.

     The next instance came during the out of town tournament on Chickamauga. We had been practicing for three days and the bite was getting tougher as the week wore on...the shallow bite was dying and the deep bite hadn't materialized. We decided to start the tournament on a shell bed down by the nuclear plant where we had caught our best quality in practice...by 12pm I only had two keepers in the boat for about 7 lbs. Instead of staying down lake and trying to grind out a few more keepers we made a move up the river past Dayton and stopped on a main lake point where we had caught keepers, but no quality. Within ten minutes, I caught a 5.5 lbs. and a 4 lbs. largemouth on back-to-back casts. That move and those two fish were what boosted me to the win.

     The third occurrence came during our final night tournament on Watauga. The night started off extremely slow up shallow and when we made a move to some deeper channel swings, we began to get bit...but that wasn't the saving decision. I caught one keeper and a couple slicks on the tail end of two separate channel swings and at that moment, instead of doing what we would normally do and running new water to find similar places, we began to rotate those two channel swings and give them time to rest. I caught my second keeper with an hour left and I caught my final keeper on my final cast of the night.

     Now, those are certainly moments that I would consider the high's of my 2016 season and while those moments were a blast, they are not the moments I will learn from the most. The most gains are made from looking at our failures and our mistakes. The main thing to adjust and key in on is your decision making ability this off-season. Look back at 2016 and think about decisions you made and how they affected your outcome in the tournament or even the season. "Did I stay too long? Should I have slowed down? Did I fish deep enough or shallow enough?" These are all instances that we ponder throughout a day and sometimes don't get answer to until we get back to weigh-in. These on the water decisions add up quickly over the course of a season. So while you have some downtime this winter look back on your fishing season and don't worry about the tackle or techniques...focus on the decisions you made and figure out ways to improve your decision making on and off the water. Every decision counts!

*Now lets talk about the important stuff that we should be reflecting on...not the missed opportunities for fishing, but the missed opportunities for being a witness. As 2016 comes to a close it is more important to think about how we can improve our Christian walk and grow closer to God. Everyday God gives us opportunities to be a witness and share the gospel, and no we are not going to be perfect, but I am sure we could think back to those moments that we went out of our way so that we wouldn't have to talk to someone about Christ and make ourselves feel uncomfortable.

Those are the moments when we really need to re-think our decision making process. God gives us those opportunities to not only glorify Him, but those moments are also meant to be a blessing to us. I know it is uncomfortable and sometimes we don't know what to say, but someone's eternity is hanging in the balance and we need to make sure that our decision making is God centered, so that we don't miss out on those opportunities!

"TNCBA Dock Talk - Boone to Decide 6th and the AOY Champion"

80...83...83...81...60...BOOOM...59 degrees that is! Can anybody say cold front?

There is not going to be any wondering where Fall is come tournament time Saturday.

There is a lot on the line Saturday...probationary TOY...sixth place in the AOY...and the AOY Championship. We have a close race for the final spot in the the top six...there are three anglers fighting for sixth. Wiley Gobble and Keith Dison are tied at 578 pts and David Crockett is just three points back at 575 pts. Both Gobble and Dison have used all of their drops...so they are fishing straight up against each other. Crockett has an 89 pts. to fall back on and even though it is not a very high score, it could be the difference maker in a potentially tough tournament that could see some zeros. Dison holds a slim three pound lead in the weight tie-breaker that could come into play Saturday.

The other battle that will be taking place on the water Saturday, is the 2016 AOY Championship battle. Cody Dison currently sits in first with a two point lead over Ryan Pope. Cody jumped into the lead with a win and two bonus points on Watauga, while Ryan faultered. Cody sits with 602 pts. and he has a fall back score of 97 pts. so the lowest point total possible for Cody is 699 pts. Essentially this means that Ryan must finish at least second to score 99 pts. and tie Cody, but wait...Dison has a 20 lbs. lead in the total weight tie breaker, so a tie will not do Ryan any good. So Ryan needs to WIN...and grabbing some bonus points wouldn't hurt. Need less to say, Saturday is going to be a nail bitter and every ounce is going to count! May the best angler win!

The last points battle to discuss is the TNCBA TOY which is on a probational period for this year. The top three teams are separated by four points and with at least ten teams competing the competition is wide open. Teams receive points based on their finishing position. One point for first, two points for second, and so on. The lowest score wins. Dison and Dison sit in first with 24 pts., followed by Harvey and Harvey with 26 pts., and Pope and Gobble with 28 pts.

Alright...enough about the points...lets talk about the actual fishing.

Water Temperature right now...70-72 degrees

Water Clarity right now...stained down towards Picken's Bridge and clearing towards dam.

Current Conditions...bait is stacking up in the back third of pockets and creeks. Bass are moving but they are not concentrated yet. We are still in the Fall funk. This cold snap should energize them and snap them to attention and remind them that Winter is coming.

Good Luck to all fishing Saturday!!!

Beyond the Scales - "Wondering on Watauga"

The TNCBA fished their ninth tournament of the year this past Saturday and while the fishing was slow, the quality of fish being caught was impressive. So lets look at how the night broke down for some of the anglers...

The tournament began at 7:30pm with about thirty minutes of daylight remaining. Kelsey Harvey was able to capitalize on the twilight bite and pick the Harvey's lone keeper on a green pumpkin finesse worm before dark...

Ryan Pope and Wiley Gobble had located some quality Spotted Bass during practice earlier in the week, but the timing was off during the tournament with the bass having already fed a little earlier in the day. Wiley was able earn the team 3rd place with his two keepers for 8.41 lbs. Wiley also took home big fish honors with a nice 5.49 lbs. Smallmouth. Gobble and Pope caught their fish on a magnum shaky head worm...

View fullsize

Wiley Gobble - 5.49 SM

Looking at some of the other fish caught, Robert Chatman and Jeff Banks finished third in the team competition with three fish for 8.59 lbs. which was anchored by Jeff's 3.92 lbs. Smallmouth. David Crockett also brought a nice Smallie to the scales a 3.73 lbs. All in all 6 of the 13 fish weighed eclipsed the three pound mark and three of those six eclipsed the four pound mark. It was a good night for big fish!

Cody Dison and Keith Dison took home the victory with six fish for a combined weight of 17.84 lbs. The Dison's began the tournament in a small creek not far from take-off, but quickly found the water unproductive after fishing the area with topwaters and spinnerbaits. They then moved out, following the creek channel, hitting swing banks as they made their way towards the main lake.

The Dison's then moved about a mile or so up the lake after dark and focused their attention on main lake, channel swing points and banks. The bait of choice was a small brown and orange jig with a small green pumpkin chunk trailer. All of their keepers came within 75 yards of the swing points. Early in the night the bites were coming in the 5-10' range, but as the night wore on the fish moved deeper as bites came in the 10-15' range. The Dison's final keeper was boated at 3:05am.

***My Personal Opinion***

Dad and I rotated three walls throughout the night...and only two were productive. Wewould catch one or two fish on one wall and then move on to the next, we never turned around and went right back down the same wall. It is very important to rotate areas where you know there are fish, and not keep running new water all night. These fish move up and down a couple times during the night, so as you keep rotating your walls you will finally connect. The technique that was getting us bit Friday night was a very slow, lift and drop...then we would let the bait soak before ever moving it again.

Thanks to all who came out and fished with us!!!!

"Breaking Down the AOY Battle"

2016 has not been the war of attrition that the TNCBA saw in 2015 when every angler zeroed on multiple occasions, and it has left us with an AOY race that could take many different routes to the championship...so lets take a look at some of the scenarios that could play out over the course of our final two events:

*All scenarios are not factoring in bonus points for Big Fish in the last two tournaments.

Scenario #1 (90%): Ryan Pope stays red hot and is your 2016 TNCBA Angler of the Year!
     702 is Pope's magic number. If Pope is able to amass 702 AOY points then he cannot be beaten...even if Bob Harvey wins the last two tournaments. Achieving that magic number of 702 will not be a simple task as Ryan will need an average finish of third place to ensure a championship. 

     Pope does have a little room to gamble with the three drops in place. Pope has only one zero on the year so he still has a couple of decent finishes to fall back on...if Pope were to have a catastrophic tournament he would pick up a 94. If this were to happen at our next tournament, it would put Pope in a vulnerable position. A 94 equates to a 7th place finish and means that Pope would have to win the last tournament on Boone to ensure victory. Pope's current hot streak will need to continue if he wants to walk away with this championship!

Scenario #2 (50%): Bob Harvey leans on his magical start and sneaks back in for the win!

     Bob Harvey lit it up at the beginning of the season, taking back-to-back wins and earning some critical bonus points. As that start cooled Harvey used up his drops in the next three consecutive tournaments. Harvey's max points (leaving out Big Fish bonus) is 701 points if he were to win the final two tournaments.

     Similar to Pope's situation, if Harvey were to have a bad tournament in the next event he would take on a 94. Harvey has to make up six points on pope over the next two events, so this is the point where your competitors become your friends. The more people that can finish between Harvey and Pope the better. With Pope having a 94 to fall back on...anything less than top three's to finish out the year will leave Bob going home without the trophy.

Scenario #3 (25%): Cody Dison rides the consistency train to victory!

     Dison has not blown the competition away with wins like the other two anglers, but he has found himself in third place by being consistent. Cody's max points for the year is 700 if he were to win the last two events. Cody has only picked up one win and two bonus point over the course of the year, but he currently leads the weight tie-breaker with 56.59 lbs. for the year.

     The one positive that Dison has is his fall back score. If all three anglers were to zero, Dison would gain three points on Harvey and Pope because his fall back score is a 97 to the other's 94. Cody is looking at a "Go Big, or Go Home," scenario...his fall back scores are good enough that in the last two tournaments he can shoot for the win or nothing. If Dison were to zero the last two tournaments, the worst score that he would have to pick up would be a 96. Harvey is only one point ahead of Dison so that is a reasonable gap to overcome fishing straight-up, but Cody will need Pope to falter twice to overcome that five point gap.

These last two tournaments are critical and present the anglers with polar opposites. The September event will be held in the darkness on Watauga Lake...the next and final event will take place during the day on Boone Lake. We will revisit these scenarios after the next tournament...