8:04 a.m. Blaylock bags his first keeper largemouth of the day off the riprap; it weighs 1 pound, 2 ounces. âThat fish was pretty shallow. I only cranked the Bandit a couple of turns when he hit it.â
6 HOURS LEFT8:10 a.m. Blaylock tries a shad-pattern Smithwick Elite 8 jerkbait on the dam. âThese arenât ideal conditions for a jerkbait, but Iâm seeing so much stuff suspended, I need to try it awhile. Iâve caught plenty of fish in surprisingly muddy water on jerkbaits; you just need to adjust your color and retrieve for low-visibility conditions.â To prove his point, he catches a nonkeeper on his first cast with the minnow mimic. 8:17 a.m. Still jerkbaiting the dam. The wind has picked up out of the north; it feels like 20 degrees. âThat cold front wasnât due here until late afternoon, but itâs already blowing in. Iâd love to get on some good fish quickly because conditions are only going to get tougher.â 8:22 a.m. Blaylock tries a 1/2-ounce red craw Booyah One Knocker lipless crankbait on the dam. 8:26 a.m. Upon reaching the end of the dam, Blaylock casts the jerkbait and the One Knocker. 8:31 a.m. Blaylock runs to a nearby cove and pitches a homemade 1/2-ounce black and blue jig with a matching Yum trailer to a dock. âThere may not be any bass in here, but it sure feels good to get out of that cold wind!â 8:35 a.m. Blaylock has spotted a submerged brushpile with a wad of fish around it on his graph, and tries the jerkbait. No takers. 8:40 a.m. Blaylock drags a pink Yum finesse worm on a drop-shot rig around the brushpile. A fish nips the lure; Blaylock sets the hook and swings a tiny bass aboard. âThatâs probably the size fish Iâm seeing around that brushpile on my electronics.â 8:47 a.m. Blaylock moves off the brushpile and begins circling the cove with the spinnerbait and homemade jig. âIt gets shallow back here in a hurry. Iâll have better luck closer to deep water.â 8:54 a.m. He hits several docks near the coveâs mouth with the shaky head worm, jerkbait and drop shot.
5 HOURS LEFT9:10 a.m. Blaylock is back on the main lake, where heâs spent several minutes rummaging through his tackle stash. âBetter zip up your rain jacket because weâre running uplake. Hopefully, itâs not a lot muddier up there.â 9:21 a.m. After a bone-chilling run, Blaylock arrives at a secondary point in the middle of a cove, where he casts the One Knocker. âThe channel runs in close to here, and itâs not overly muddy.â