The last few Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments were old school, shallow bass fishing on muddy rivers where I had to grind for every bite. Just getting into some of the backwaters was challenging. I often had to nurse my boat over logs, stumps and other obstacles in skinny water.
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
The first of these events took place on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. I learned from my research that several tournaments had already been held at the ramp where we were taking off.
I fished around the ramp on Day 1 to see if any released fish were still hanging around. They were. I had only six bites, but my bag weighed 14 pounds, 3 ounces and landed me in 13th place.
I started at the ramp the next morning but couldn’t get a bite there. I locked up, which is a gamble because you risk not getting back through the lock in time to weigh in…