Don't be too discouraged. With a little luck it could all play out. We were close in this one and I've been close before like the year CV and I came in 4th in the WON TOC and had the bites to get it done.

This particular event was very hard because you get very little feedback from the bass at clear lake right now. When you're getting 1 to 5 bites a day, you just can't learn very much. But in a week of fishing, you are likely to hit one good day and average out with 3 to 7 bites on the other days.

With enough of those days you can formulate the baits and the patterns and the spots to do well. If we had hit one of the "good" days like many others I talked to reported having, we might have learned enough to do well.

Plus, I don't see any way clear lake could be tougher than it was this fall. There was so much bait in the water, I don't think that scenario will duplicate itself again for a good while. Between the 500 million silverside, 200 million baby bass, 400 million baby crappie, and who knows how many shad, there was just little incentive for a bass to eat something fake.