Fishing with Brent Chapman in 2008 Falcon Reservoir Texas/Mexico

The recent Elite Series tournament at Lake Fork gave me an opportunity to reconsider and place in context the 2008 tournament at Falcon. It was one of several Bassmaster events and FLW tournaments that I fished as a co-angler, but likely the most memorable for a number of reasons:

On an individual level, it produced what was then my personal best bass, an 8-12 that chomped on a Carolina Rig on Day Three. It remains my personal best caught during competition.

More globally, it produced the biggest weight in B.A.S.S. history for a five-fish limit in a four-day tournament: 132 pounds 8 ounces for Paul Elias. It also resulted in what I suspect will be the greatest number of Century Belts in a single event: 12. That likely won’t be broken as long as B.A.S.S. continues to cut to 10 on Day Four. It took 25 pounds a day to make the cut after two days. And of course the stories – both good and bad – are legion. For example, Jared Lintner told me that he was skipping a frog back into thick trees and had to leave a 50 pound limit hung up. He simply couldn’t get back to them.

I practiced with the following pros:

James Niggemeyer
Marty Robinson
Jeff Kriet

I rode with the following pros during competition:

Brent Chapman
Yusuke Miyazaki
Marty Stone

As I’ve had occasion to reconsider that tournament which is now 16 years in the rear view mirror, I’ve realized that some of the many lessons that I learned that week, apply not just to tournament bass fishing, or bass fishing in general, but to fishing in general. Here are some of the ones that stand out to me:

Go When It’s Good – I’ve stressed this one before: When there’s a fishery on your list, or a species that you desire, and you hear that it’s popping, put everything down and get there ASAP. The year before the Falcon derby, my friend Bill and I fished as co-anglers at another great event on the California Delta. On Day Two, Bill was paired with eventual winner Aaron Martens and on Day Three he drew out with Greg Hackney. Hack mentioned that he’d heard Falcon was on the schedule for the following season and that it promised to be amazing. That was enough for us to do what we could to get in the draw and pull a few strings. The same rule applies whether it’s marlin or king salmon or smallmouths – when you hear it’s right from a reliable source, and particularly if the word isn’t out yet, get there as soon as you can.
You Can’t See Them All – One of the best lessons that I got during practice and then applied during the tournament came from Kriet. The lake was high and there was tons of flooded cover. With a seemingly unlimited number of holding spots, he told me that my pro partners would get first shot at the best visible targets, but they likely wouldn’t waste time looking for secondary places. On Day Three, I got off to a good start with that 8-12 while my partner, Marty Stone, was struggling. Once I had a limit mid-morning, I literally started casting at nothing – and managed to cull several more times. There were bushes and trees everywhere and bass in them that hadn’t been molested. Meanwhile, it gave Marty time to pick places apart without me pressuring him. As we’ve seen the rise of forward-facing sonar, we’ve learned that there are large numbers of fish in places we’d otherwise never look for them.
Know What You Need – During practice, Kriet had to make a phone call, so he sat me down on a point and told me to fish while he took care of business. There were so many 2- and 3-pounders there that I was getting bit every cast – I finally asked him if he wanted me to stop and he replied that if he needed those fish in the tournament he’d be in trouble. It’s easy to get sucked into a good bite anywhere, which sometimes prevents you from spending dwindling time chasing what you really need. Later, during the tournament, I caught a 14-incher that was bleeding. As I went to put it in the livewell, Marty Stone told me to throw it back. “If that fish dies, it’ll hurt you in the end. I guarantee you you’ll fill out your limit with something bigger.” Indeed, I did.
Don’t Neglect the Basics – I packed a ton of tackle for that tournament and then every fish I weighed in came on either a Texas Rigged Berkley 10” Power Worm or a Carolina Rigged Yamamoto Lizard. Obviously, you can’t predict it on the way in, but don’t neglect proven winners. They got that way for a reason. I would have been better off packing fewer oddball “what ifs” and more tungsten – the tackle stores in Zapata had a limited supply of tungsten weights and I lost a bunch of them. Whether you’re chasing tuna or trout, or anything else, make sure that you spend the majority of your time doing things that you know will work before you branch out.

I went back to Falcon three or four times after that tournament and had some good catches, but it was never quite as great as during that historic tournament. The lake went through some tough times, but catches seem to have rebounded. I’m ready to go back.