First need to thank the BnT crew for putting on a great show along with all the participants to make this happen. Also need to thank Zelenka and Steve for respecting my water and going elsewhere to fish when they knew I was fishing a particular canal.

Going into this event I had only fished a total of 4 days this entire year. It had also been 6 months since I had been on Clear Lake. I had to rely on the advice of others and the knowledge it has been really warm and that along with the cold spring should mean the fish should be hungry and on beds. I had heard the frog bite had started to pick up a little and the senko was also working (I haven’t caught a senko fish in about a year!). My game plan going into the tournament was to trust the frog would put me on better fish and the senko and flippin would help to fill my limits.

Day one started slow as I worked down the south canal in the keys. I caught one on a blade and missed one on a frog. Started meticulously worked down one of the long canals with coves and had a couple small blowups on the frog in open water. Heard from buddy he had already picked up 12 fish and wondered what was going wrong with me! Right after got one on a senko and things started to pickup from there. Each progressive cove I fished I started getting more and more fish. Highlight was obviously when I wasn’t paying attention and my big fish crashed on my frog. Set the hook and knew it was good but did not have a look at it. Boiled and realized I NEEDED this one! Slipped into the net and knew it was bigger than 6 and probably closer to 7 and was pleased to see it going 7lbs 9oz on my digital scale. Sweet, my third fish of the day and got the kicker I knew I would need.

For the rest of the day I just kept catching fish and kept doing a slow upgrade. Senko fish, flippin fish and frog fish kept coming. I did lose two fish around 4lbs flippin and then towards the later part of the day had a 6lber (missed my frog on the first pass but hooked on the second) hit a dock and came unbuttoned! Ouch! It wasn’t till I was headed in that a patch of the weeds that a 3lber crushed my frog as I was retrieving it to make another cast! Nice, wasn’t going to help but cool to actually watch it come out from under the weeds to get my frog! On the very next cast I had a fish just do a little “slurrrrp” set the hook and yes! One that was going to help me upgrade one of my 3s! Looked to be about 5lbs (which it ended up being). Had another slurp on the next cast but did not hook up. For the day ended up landing about 21 or 22 fish and had a high number come unbuttoned (over 10).

Nice to hear no one else with a 20+ limit at weigh in and thought I just needed to make sure I caught at least 15lbs day 2 to keep in the top 3 and maybe 18lbs to seal the deal.

Day 2 started off quicker with a relatively fast limit compared to the first day. Problem was only one was a 4lber and the rest were 2lbs or under…ouch! Saw Kevin and he thought he had over 15lbs and I was beginning to wonder what was going on. Missed on a couple fish that were 3-4 lbs and started getting frustrated and worried. Finally found some locked on bed fish and got one to go that was close to 3lbs. Whew, got rid of my little 1.5lber. Started talking to some kids on a dock and one mentioned there was a couple fish on the dock next to them. My first cast with the senko skipped under a couple beams and my rod loaded up. Sweet! About 2.5lbs and could cull the 2lber in the well. Thanked the kids and gave them a couple senkos I was throwing. Ended up talking to the kids (they got in their little paddle boat and started fishing behind me  ) through the rest of the time in the cove. Then lost a nice 3.5lber flipping deep into heavy brush as I could not get it out in time. Damn! On my way out skipped my senko under a dock in a little deeper water and got my last culling fish of the day. Must have been post spawner as it swallowed my senko and hook deep. Just had to cut the line as time was running short and didn’t want to hurt the fish. Ended up with a couple more blowups on a frog and thought I was somewhere in the 12-13 ½ lb range and kept hearing it had been a tougher day for most anglers. Knew the guys that were in 2nd and 3rd didn’t have the strongest days and at weigh in kept thinking someone was going to bust in a big 20+ sack and take my title!

Breathed a sigh of relief when the places were announced as I didn’t realize how close Linden was to me! Great job on being so consistent! Also contracts to all the other top finishers to keep things close and make for an exciting finish.

Great two days of fishing for me and hope to see you guys on the water again soon.

Todd
http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/toddiwamoto.htm

Congrats on the win Todd and great report!
I'm in the process of getting the full results and pics up right now, shouldn't be much longer.

MT

Thanks for the excellent report and congratulations on your win!

Buzzfish

You are more than welcome. Maybe someday you can return the favor and teach me how to catch fish. You did a good job both days. Super report.

LzyFsh

good job, looks like you were on the same bite as me. Congrats on the win Todd and good job for the other top fishers

Way to smoke 'em, dude (great report, too -- thanks for the nicely-detailed writeup)! Good to see you're back out there, kickin' ass once again !

- jeff

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Every day Congress convenes, we lose a little more of our LIBERTY!!!

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