2004 CITGO BASSMASTER OPEN ON THE HUDSON. (8-12-04) The Hudson River! Where do I begin? Just two weeks ago I attended the Bassmaster Classic in Charlotte, NC and watched the first Japanese angler, Takahiro Omori, win the title. If you've never been to the Classic and enjoy tournament fishing, it's a must. I left North Carolina motivated and pumped up to tournament fish more than ever before. My next event was the ESPN Bassmaster Northern Open on the tidal Hudson River. This is where two years earlier I blew my 25th place overall standing and was determined not to let the river defeat me again. During the practice days August 9th-11th, I searched every nook and cranny of the Hudson so that I could figure out what pattern might hold up during the tournament. This was quite difficult considering the weather was quickly changing due to approaching Hurricane Charley. Each practice day, I began my day at 4:30 am to crisp 50 degree temps as I launched my Skeeter ZX225 powered by my Yamaha 225HP HPDI motor. Thankfully, I was well equipped with "Cold Weather Gear" from Under Armour's new Outdoor line of clothing for my 20 mile runs south on the river. My fishing partner Skeeter, a 30 pound beagle, shivered on those runs. Hopefully Under Armour will make something for dogs soon. Hehe. A bed of water chestnuts, a type of aquatic vegetation on the Hudson that bass love to feed in during the summer months, was my destination about 20 miles south of Catskill, NY. There I found numerous big fish that were the size needed to win the event. Water chestnuts were mistakenly introduced into the United States from Asia in the early 1900's and act as a canopy providing cover for bass. They act as a filter to clean the muddy water and offer shade to many different sources of food such as small shrimp, crabs, crawfish, and baitfish. Additionally, I made a milk-run of likely areas where I had caught fish separate from the water chestnut pattern as back-up. I found small coves, suck holes, rock walls... and sure was eager for the tournament as I averaged around 12-14 lbs a day during practice. Each day of the tournament, ESPN randomly draws an amateur partner for the professionals. These fishermen and women come from all walks of life. So far I have fished with men and women, professors, coal miners, millionaire investors, high ranking military officials, news anchors, and a future very successful female attorney in Florida (OK the last two are my sisters but they still love to fish). My amateur partner the first day of the tournament was a Physics professor. The first day was intense. The forecast called for rain and thunderstorms and it was quite nerve racking holding a graphite rod in the air all day during a lightning storm. After waiting my turn in the drizzle as boat #112, I blasted off and headed south at 77 mph to my first destination. Those small rain droplets turned into needles at 40 mph and daggers at 77 mph as I screamed down the river. All day it rained the type of rain Forest Gump would have described as "Big old Bullet Rain." With minutes to go, I caught my fifth fish (a limit for the day) and raced back to the weigh-in barely making it in time without being penalized. My weight for the day only weighed 7.7 lbs for five fish. Really disappointed, I headed back to the hotel to prepare for day two. To my surprise I had placed 34th after the first day. I knew the fish were there and I just needed to figure them out. Fishing was even more difficult for the remainder of the tournament as I weighed in only three fish on both day two and three. I never felt as though I really figured out what they wanted. All of the bass I caught came from the water chestnut bed 20 miles south from the launch. I used a Texas rigged straight tail worm and made over 3000 flips a day to holes in the water chestnuts. Wow! The tournament was indeed challenging by having to keep my concentration and stay attentive on each flip. The fish were all in the thickest part of the water chestnuts and would barely even move after taking the plastic worm. One key to catching fish was my new MotorGuide 109lb thrust Digital Trolling motor which enabled me to maneuver in and amongst the water chestnuts. It gave me the power to cut through the chestnuts yet keep quiet and catch those finicky bass. After qualifying for the third day (which was a feat in itself), I finished the tournament in 38th place. This left me in the 41st spot in overall points for the Northern Division. This still leaves hope that I may qualify for the Bassmaster Tour that starts in January 2005. The last tournament of the Northern division is on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia in October. I'm also still waiting to hear if I've made it into the the first Southern Open on Lake Eufala in September. Please follow my next few events on www.espnoutdoors.com or www.bassmaster.com and wish me luck. I'd like to thank my sponsors in Team Skeeter and Team Yamaha, Under Armour, Motorguide trolling motors, Silver Buddy Lures, Team Charlesworth, and Sonny's Marine in Florida. I'd also like to thank my dad for taking the time to prefish with me over July 4th weekend. By the way I just heard that my new home in Florida has not been damaged from Charley. Thank God!