The story of Tahkenitch Lake and the ABA tournament on April 10th is a story of perseverance.Tahkenitch is a lake that is tough fishing even in good conditions but Bobby and I were going to fish it when the weather was really not conducive to catching fish anywhere.

It all started on April 2nd and 3rd, when we decided we would Pre-fish Tahkenitch despite the 30 degree weather and heavy rain predicted for the weekend. We took separate boats and Bobby took his friend Ian to join in the suffering. We figured we could really figure out this lake by separating it and each boat trying to find the best fishing in different parts of the lake. What we didn’t plan on was nobody getting a fish
on Friday! Bobby caught one fish on Saturday, but Ian still believes there are no fish in Tahkenitch Lake.

~Bobby caught one fish on Saturday, but Ian still believes there are no fish in Tahkenitch Lake.

Fortunately, none of us got pneumonia and that was about the best part of the cold and rainy weekend, except for the late night lasagna. Bobby and I must have drunk 10 gallons of AMP to find the energy to face this lake the next weekend for the ABA tournament. After a weekend of cold and casting with no fish, we were ready to swear the lake a no fish zone!

During the following week Bobby and I discussed the situation and realized that it would be a tough tournament for everyone involved and it would be good for us to face this tournament with perseverance. So, off we headed to Florence and Tahkenitch Lake.

Seventeen teams decided to face the cold weekend of fishing. Most of the competitors knew that they were in for a tough day. Lips were tight and nobody was talking about any patterns for catching fish and you could tell by the body language of the competitors that they wished they could all drive up the road a few miles to Ten Mile Lakes.

Bobby and I decided to search one of the only areas that we had not fished during practice to see if it was possible that some fish had moved up shallow in the Mallard Arm of Tahkenitch. We saw some good signs of bait fish in the area and worked the entire arm over for several hours. We fished the channel, shallow reeds, wood structure, and anything that could possibly hold a fish. Nothing bit our baits! The risk seemed to cost any chance of finishing well in this tournament but we kept our spirits up and decided to check out some spots I had done well on in past tournaments.

It became clear after another couple of hours of working every strategy we could in the best areas we knew that our best chance was to go for a reaction bite. A reaction bite is throwing certain baits like spinner baits and rattle traps that cause fish to bite quickly out of reaction rather than hunger. If you throw these baits and burn them quickly or apply sudden pauses in the action of the bait sometimes you can get that one bite you need. Man did we ever need one bite. Not just to stop the futility, but to score the much needed 100 points in the Angler of the Year race.

With one hour left in our tournament lives we stopped for a moment, reflected on the day, and guzzled down another AMP energy drink which always charges us up to re-focus our efforts. I told Bobby that this is what will separate us from the average guys. Most fishermen right now just want to quit and go home but we are going to go catch one fish and fish harder than anyone left in the tournament. Bobby told me he felt the
same way and he figured most everyone else was struggling too and that one good fish could make a big difference on the day’s tournament.

We decided to fish again an area where Bobby had caught a nice fish in practice. We worked this area over a couple of times but we kept our focus and our efforts geared for that one bite and then I heard one of the sweetest sounds a fishing partner can hear, FISH ON!
We both got close to Jesus as we begged God not to let this fish come off Bobby’s line. When I netted the fish, Bobby was grinning from ear to ear and we busted knuckles on what was the toughest fish we ever caught!

As we motored over to the weigh-in we noticed a lot of fishermen had already put their bass boats on their trailers which confirmed what we expected. The fishing was not only tough on Bobby and I, but everyone else. Out of the seventeen teams in the tournament only nine teams caught a fish.

Bobby’s one amazing fish weighed 3.15 pounds and to our shock gave us another top five finish. We gathered more than a 4th place finish. We gained wisdom, which is worth more than a plaque or cashing a check. We learned how to apply toughness to our fishing until the end and never give up and sometimes the Lord blesses you with ONE AMAZING FISH!

~By Jim Hill~