Entry 249-4

My Greatest Day of Fishing, and I Didn’t Even Win with Mark Davis

Part 4: Day 4 of the Tournament

Question: Mark, tell me about day four of the tournament.

Davis: We had no wind. The day was bright, the sky was high, and we had hot weather. This was a gorgeous day in south Texas. The fishing started out slow, but continued to get better as the day progressed. I caught about 75 bass on the third day of the tournament, and my biggest five fish weighed 33 pounds. I didn’t have any huge fish, but I had several 7 and 8 pounders.

Question: How did you work the Ocho on the back of a Carolina rig?

Davis: I wasn’t doing anything special with it. I just fished it really slowly on the bottom. As the day progressed, the bass got a little bit finicky. I had to switch tactics and use other soft-plastic baits besides the Ocho. In this tournament, I learned that the bass would bite an 8-inch plastic lizard in the watermelon color.

Question: Why did the bass start preferring little baits after they’d been eating a lot of big baits?

Davis: Because the sun was so bright, the bass wanted a bait a little-more subtle. The lizard is slightly more subtle, and it’s a good lure to fish on a Carolina rig. The fish may have also been tired of seeing that big bait and preferred something else. But the major factor was the bright sun, which caused me to have to downsize my bait.

Question: What rod, reel and line combination did you use?

Davis: I fished 20-pound-test Stren fluorocarbon line on a 7-1/2-foot All-Star rod with a Pflueger Patriarch Baitcasting Reel on the back end of the rod, making very long casts.

Question: What was significant about making the long casts?

Davis: By making longer casts, I could cover more water quicker. With the hook-setting ability of the 7-1/2-foot rod and the power in that fluorocarbon line, I wasn’t concerned about giving up hook-setting power, even though I made long casts.

Question: Did you have any big bites on the fourth day, Mark?

Davis: I didn’t have any bites from bass that weighed more than 10 pounds, but I had several fish in the 7- to 8-pound range bite my lure. I weighed in 33 pounds and a few ounces, like I did on day two. I had enough weight to move up to second place in the tournament before the last day.

Aaron Martens was the only competitor ahead of me, and he was in the lead during the entire tournament. Martens had a 12-pound lead on day two, and on day three, I closed the gap from 12 to 5 pounds. So, I had a good chance of winning the tournament, if I could have another 30-pound plus day of catching bass. I had it in my mind that I would win this event.

But none of us saw Paul Elias coming. Elias was in fifth place with a total of about 95 or 96 pounds. I was in second place with 102 pounds. So, I was aware of Elias and the other competitors behind me, because I knew that on the final day, someone could catch a 40- or a 50-pound string of bass and take the tournament as easily as I could.

Too, you have to remember that 5 pounds or even 10 pounds isn’t a safe cushion when you’re fishing a tournament on a place like Falcon Lake. On most lakes we fish, there’s pretty much an understood limit. For instance, you know that on most lakes, an angler probably will catch more than 15 pounds in a day, and on another lake, you’re fairly confident no competitor will catch more than 20 pounds in a day. But on Lake Falcon, a competitor can realistically catch five, 10-pound bass in one day.

So, when I say the lake has no limits, you can’t think you’re secure, regardless of how many pounds you have on any day of the tournament. I knew that in a tournament like this, I couldn’t count-out any of the top-10 competitors. I didn’t have anybody beat. However, if I could stay consistent and catch 33 or 34 pounds of bass in a day, I thought I should be able to win this tournament.

Next: Final Day of the Tournament

Contents:

• Part 1: Falcon Lake — The Best There Ever Was
• Part 2: Day 1 of the Tournament
• Part 3: Day 2 and 3 of the Tournament
• Part 4: Day 4 of the Tournament
• Part 5: Final Day of the Tournament