There’s nothing much to say about my performance out in Sacramento other than that I missed it. I’ll explain what I mean by that in a minute, but first I want to say a few words about Justin Lucas. His win was impressive. Congratulations go to him for a job well done.
I can’t say I know him well but he has been on Ike Live! a time or two, and I was impressed. For a relatively young pro he has lots of composure. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll mature into one of the great ones. He’s the kind of young angler that keeps the rest of us on our toes. Our industry needs that.
Ish Monroe deserves a mention, too. What a class act to stop and help Justin when he ran out of gas. It’s especially noteworthy considering Ish was among the leaders. Basically, he helped another angler beat him. Ish and I have been close for years. I’m proud of that.
So, anyway, I missed it. I didn’t realize how or why until I spent Sunday morning watching Bassmaster LIVE with my map in hand.
What happened is that I fished secondary areas. My plan was to target fish moving on and off the beds, or on them when I was able to find one. It looked good on paper, but during the tournament it didn’t work like I thought it would. Catching fish was not the problem. Catching the bigger fish was what held me back at the scales.
As soon as I started watching Bassmaster LIVE, though, I realized that almost all of the guys at the top were fishing the main drag. They were in the main river as well as the bigger and deeper backwater areas. Their fish were the winning fish.
There are several reasons I think my backwater plan didn’t work. It might have been that the water wasn’t stable enough, or maybe it was because there was a lot of pressure in my areas from local anglers. It could also have been that there are so many fish in the Delta the big ones move away from the traditional areas just to get a little peace and quiet.
Mistakes like that are especially frustrating because I pride myself on fishing the moment and always fishing in front of, not behind, the bass. It hurts to make a mistake when you know better. I should have seen it. But, that’s in the past.
There was a time when a mistake like that would have eaten away at me for months, but not anymore. One of the few things I like about getting older — and they are few — is that I can put things into perspective better than I once could.
Sacramento is a lesson learned. I’ll think about it for the rest of today [Monday] and then put it out of my mind. I have to get ready to prefish Lake Havasu tomorrow. There’s no way I’m going to let a tournament that’s over ruin one that hasn’t started yet.
Mike Iaconelli’s column appears weekly on Bassmaster.com. You can also find him on Facebook and Twitter or visit his website, mikeiaconelli.com.
