First of all congrats to all that made the Nationals and especially to the top 25 boaters and co�s that got to fish for the big $$$ on day 4.
I was pleased with the tournament and was able meet one of my goals of making the top 50. Lake Guntersville is absolutely beautiful if you ever get a chance to fish it, I highly recommended it.

With 3 days of official practice after a month + off limits, the lake looked a little overwhelming, 75 miles long and grass beds from end to end. It was a heck of a task to find the fish that would give you that �I have a chance to win it confidence�. 1st and 2nd day practice had great weather, mostly clear skies, 70 degrees and light winds, day 3 practice, clear, 20 mph SE winds & 60 degree temp.

With the start of the tournament the weather began to take a turn for the worse, and continued to do so each and ever day. Day one met us with cloudy skies and 15 mph winds out of the ESE. My 4 fish, 9+ lbs, came on a Bumper Stumper bait, as did my co�s single 3 lber. I had 2 more good hook ups 2.5 � 3 lbs and my co lost a nice 4 lber all jumped off a spinner bait. We caught maybe 20 more non-keepers all on spinnerbaits. After talking with several of the anglers it appeared that many of the better day one sacks came on top water (spook type baits), swimbaits (both hard and soft), & swimming jigs, spinnerbaits, flukes. The bite seemed to rely heavily on reaction strikes.

Day 2 opened with cloudy skies 5-10 mph North winds, changing to clear skies and 20 mph N winds. My 3 fish, 8+ lbs, came on 2 early Bumper Stumper spinnerbait fish and a late C-rig fish. My co finished the day with 3 spinnerbait fish for 7 lbs (from a borrowed Bumper Stumper). We both fished pretty clean on day two. I had a good solid keeper jump a spook off, but other than that, everything we got on, got in the boat. Again, many of the better sacks came on similar baits and patterns as day one, with maybe a little less emphasis on top water. With the clear skies I did hear a little more on the jig and C-rig bite. Not near as many fish or bites on day two as day one, at least out of my boat.

Day 3 was the worst of the weather, cloudy, sleet and rain, 20 mph N winds. But by far the best of the days for the �FishFreakOnline.com� boat. I was able to put a nice 15+ lb bag together catching at least 3 limits on my Bumper Stumper spinner bait and culling two fish a gold lipless crank. My day 3 partner also had a nice day, with a 3 bass, 10 lb+ limit, he was able to cull once, all on a borrowed Bumper Stumper. We probably caught 50+ fish on day 3. I did lose a nice fish that I really wanted badly, I hooked up with a solid 4.5 � 5 lb spotted bass, I sure wanted her in the boat bad, my biggest spot ever. After several jumps and 2-3 runs she finally pulled off, man she was pretty. Patterns and baits still similar to the first 2 days with the swimbait & swimjig seeming to lead the way.

I didn�t make the day 4 cut, but still hung in there for a check, so not all was lost. I stayed for the final day 4 weigh-in. Got to meet Miss Alabama, and Jeff Cook from the group Alabama (he did a little M.C.ing for the final weigh-in). For day 4, the weather was bright clear blue bird skies, and a 15 mph north wind. The catches ranged from zeros to 18 and 19 lb bags. Although fish were caught on lots of different baits and patterns, it appeared to me the primary areas to focus on were scattered grass clumps in about 4-6 feet of water, and when all was said and done, swimbaits, flukes, swim jigs (moving baits) fished around these scattered clumps seemed to payoff best. Throughout practice and during the tournament days the famous �Guntersville frog bite�, was almost non-existent not only for myself but for most of the other fisher folks I spoke with.

Great Report Kenny!

Congrats for making the Top 50 cut! Anytime you meet/exceed a set goal its a great feeling!

You deserved it!

I am extremely PROUD of you! Congratulations!!!! I love you!

Cool write-up and congrats on cashing!

Thanks for sharing your story Kenny!!! Sounds like you had a well-rounded fishing experience!!! Congrats on a very nice finish! Glad Lesli was there with you to share your experience (next year it will be husband/wife fishing).

See you next year!
Denise

Even though I didn't make a check, it was an awesome experience. Congrats to Scott and Chris for making the cut and Kenny for making a check. For those you who have not fish the Weekend series, you just don't know what your missing. We had people from over 40 states competing for 100k on the boater side and 50k on the co-angler side. What more can I say, except come join us!

Joe - thanks so much for all your support ... of Porter & I and BWS. You did an awesome job yourself finishing better than mid pack!!! It was a grueling feat to get to Nationals & every angler that made it should be proud!!!! Way to go Joe!

sure wish i had drawn you , my guys were a little hard to handle, 6 hours in one spot first day, no fish, 2nd day my guys trolling motor was acting up, he quit at noon and sat on the deck running the motor up and down a streach just a little north of the launch, third day, my guy was ok, just had no real idea where to go or what to do as he had blanked thurs. Congrats on you top 50, see you next season onnly Ill be a boater this year. The experience was awesome, run very professional, and as always porter did a great job no matter what he was doing. see you all next season

Kenny,good job at nationals. I fished with you at lake tawakoni. great write up I was looking forward to fishing nationals but came up short,looking forward to next season with east texas.

Thanks everyone, especially the BWS crew. Denise you and Porter rock! Great run series. Folks ya'll are missing a good time by not fishing with the BWS, both my wife and I have had a blast. Meet lots of new people and learn lots of new stuff, no matter what end of the boat you are fishing from.

I totally agree that Porter and Denise rock! You couldn't ask for better people! Can't wait for next season!

I'm so looking forward to Palestine!!! (Porter & I were just talking about Palestine earlier today).

PS: Porter will be hitting the roads of Texas promoting 2011 BWS season. Any suggestions on good places for him to hit up?

Denise,
Let me know if there is anything I can do to help out. There are a couple of tackle shows and seminars that may be a good way to get the word out at.

The Texas Fishing, Hunting and Outdoors Show is coming up on January 6 thru 9, 2011 at the Dallas Market Hall in Dallas. It is usually a pretty good show with people coming from all over.

Very nice report. Thanks for taking us along on your tournament. I usually load up on the Bumper Stumpers each year at the Arlington Convention Center. Great spinner baits and buzzbaits. Would it be out of line to ask the color of the borrowed bait? LOL Congrats on cashing a check.