Hardy Review

With opening day upon us it's time to gear it up for the catch and keep season but I had a few observations from the Hardy Dam tournament that I wanted to share. I learned quite a few things up there this year and I like to share info any time I run across it.

Tourney notes
-There were 26 participants at Hardy, the biggest club event since 2008
-Only 9 limits were recorded
-Only one four pound fish was recorded
-Matt Morgans win put him in the AOY lead by 1.33 lbs over Jim Rice

My observations
All of the top 5 finishers had at least two days of practice on Hardy which I believe was essential this year. There may have been a ton of beds but I know in my case it took a lot of looking and actually catching a few to see what was actually there. I have a hard time fishing on a bed, not knowing if there is actually a fish there. Talking to Matt Morgan he said that he would cast several times on beds without verifying whether the beds were active or not. This would avoid spooking the fish by coming too close which I believe was a problem with me.

Secondly, I believe you can use 50 pound braid and still catch bedding smallmouth. Matt used 10 pound fluorocarbon and I used 30 pound braid and I didn't see any negative effect on the fishing. I used a chartruese tube while Matt used bright pink and I believe the mood of the fish is actually more important than the color.

I had over 30 good beds marked for the tournament but I believe next year if we go back that I need to refine my pre-fishing. It is important to verify which fish are good ones and worthy of spending time on and which ones are not. The lake had beds everywhere which took a little of the pressure off some areas but you can waste a lot of time on a 1.5 pound fish when there's a 3+ just around the corner. In talking to some other club members I know there were fish that they could not get to bite only to go myself and catch the same fish on the first cast 30 minutes later. This has nothing to do with me being a great bed fisherman but more to do with the timing.

Case in point, I found a 3 pound fish in a cut late in the tournament day and my partner and I made about 15 casts apiece to it before I finally caught it. Matt Morgan came in a little later I found out afterwards and caught it on his second cast. I'm sure it was the same fish because it was in the same cut and we both commented on the overhanging tree that demanded pinpoint casts. Maybe that fish did like the pink better, who knows.

One last thing on Hardy were the accommodations. My group stayed at Oxbow park down towards the dam and it was awesome. It was cheaper than Brower Park without the hassle of paying $10 for each vehicle each day and I'll stay there again. Our cabin was up on a big hill which overlooked the lake and the owners were quite nice. Hope to go back next season.