Kurt's Tourney Blog
Archive BASS Elite Series #1 - Sabine River, TX My off season as a professional angler is anything but ‘off’! What a busy time of cultivating relationships for the future and, most importantly, putting current relationships to work. This past offseason I had a change in my title sponsor… that is stressful. Now I am in the new place and one that feels great! I couldn’t be more proud working with Dixie Electric for the 2015 season and hopefully for years to come. Other changes in the offseason was a shift to working exclusively with BoatUS… gosh, honestly I love this organization. BoatUS is loyal to boaters all over the globe and they treat bass anglers with unique services that fit our lifestyles. The months of January and February were a whirlwind with cleaning up loose ends and all the preparation for the 2015 season. I was fishing my home lake Amistad for a week or so to get in tune for the first 2015 Elite Series Event at the Sabine River and I was excited to kick it off… here is what went down at Elite Event #1.  The last time I fished an event on the Sabine was my return to the Elite Series in 2013 and I got off to a good start by fishing close and cashing a check. I was looking to do the same in 2015 although I felt my tactics would have to change to provide me the opportunity to do well. The spring rains had the river high and most of the Sabine backwaters were muddy. I put in a practice day in Taylors Bayou. Taylors is about a 45-minute boat ride to the west and I had hopes I would spend my entire event in that area, but with only a few bites to show for a 12-hour day of fishing, I moved closer to the take-off area in Orange on day 2. That was the change that put me around the fish I would need to have a shot at doing well. I produced 15+ bites on practice day 2 utilizing several techniques, mostly flipping a Reins soft plastic in spawning canals and along cypress roots. I set the hook on very few and I liked the size I was seeing. Not all were keepers but several were over the 14-inch minimum length. On day 3 I attempted to expand on my location and didn’t have a very productive day. I found one more creek where I got 4-5 bites and 1 quality fish, but I felt it wasn’t close enough to the bayou where I could do my best work.
Event Day 1: 2 Bass / 3lbs 4oz – 87th place of 114 We had a solid 2-hour fog delay which I felt played into my hands since I was going to be fishing within 15 minutes of the launch. Many anglers were going to be making runs of an hour or more and would end up with much less fishing time. I was boat 65 at blast off and was hoping I could get into my little canal with some spawning fish and catch some quick that I knew were keeper size. I idle into the creek, its quiet, I am thinking I got this. I turn the corner and there is the master himself, Rick Clunn. Rick was heading to the same canal and was in front of me. I fished around for about 30 min leaving him plenty of room to see how he would approach the area. After watching him boat 3 keepers it was obvious I needed to move along to my secondary approach. I fished close by in other canals and caught several short fish. As the day went along the fish continued to be short… and short… and short. All total I caught 21 straight bass in a 6 hour period that were under the 14 inch size limit. It was killing me to not stretch one for a keeper. I didn’t get discouraged, still believing the next one might be a keeper. With about 20 min left in the day before I needed to run back to launch, fish #22 and #23 turned out to be legal size bass! I was going to the stage, but disappointed in the day’s results. I needed to adjust for Day 2 and try and turn a near disastrous Day 1 into a respectable showing. Event Day 2: 4 Bass / 8lbs 7oz – 51st place of 114 Day 2 began with a much longer fog delay… about 3.5 hours. I was not stressed. I was planning to go catch as many as I can in my bayou about 15 minutes from the launch site. My plan was to begin fishing the cypress trees in the creeks and then work it out from there. We take off and I begin at the same location where I caught my 2 keepers at the end of the day 1. I threw topwaters with no luck and then switch to a spinnerbait and it’s on! I am boating fish after fish. Although again, they are non-keeper after non-keeper. I continue trying to work through the non-keepers having faith the next bite will go in the live well. After 2.5 hours I decided it’s not going to happen. I had to make a move and it had to be completely different. I recall 2 bites in practice near the mouth of this creek on some grass lines and I figured I needed to go explore that, like right now! I begin flipping the grass and fairly quickly I boat another non-keeper. Then I circle back and boom… keeper #1! Wahoo! I am on the board. Now I buckle down and flip the grass with more confidence. Non-keepers show up here and there and within 45 minutes I get my 2nd keeper. Still about 2 hours left to fish. I am thinking ok, I am on to a new deal and nobody is pressuring this area of the creek. I fish and flip the grass lines and no bites. I circle back to some areas where I caught fish earlier in the day and catch more non-keepers. I decide to fish new water with similar grass to find more keepers. With less than 30 min to go in the fishing day I hit a small stretch and catch 2 more keeper bass! I feel I need one more keeper to fill my limit and move to Day 3. Fishing hard but leaving quickly not wanting to arrive to check-in late, it doesn’t happen, although honestly I am satisfied feeling surely I have moved up significantly in the standings. After watching the entire weigh-in wondering if I might have a chance to make the cut… as the last 10 anglers are to weigh-in I have a chance! I’m on pins and needles, and by a few ounces I sneak into check position and make the cut! What an awesome feeling! Event Day 3: 0 Bass / 53rd place of 114 We take out on time on Day 3 and we have a full 8 hours to fish. I am invigorated with the new pattern I developed on Day 2 and feel the sky is the limit. The problem is the sky fell down on me, literally. I fished in one of the most torrential rain storms in my life! I believe they decided the measurements were about 6 inches of rain in about a 6-hour period. Water I was fishing got very dirty and came up several feet. I caught some short bass and added a saltwater trio of redfish and one flounder. I was bummed and came back to the scales empty handed. I honestly have no clue why I was unable to generate a keeper bite after the confidence I had following Day 2. I guess I can chalk it up to being humbled by the Sabine… it has a way of doing that to many anglers. Event Total - 6 Bass / 11lbs 11oz / 53rd place of 114 A satisfactory beginning. I guess you could say I survived the Sabine. I am not looking back on any part of it right now, I am just striving to overcome my next obstacle, Lake Guntersville. Next blog… April 9-12, Elite Event #2, Lake Guntersville | 
