Well you probably know this by now, unless its your first time to my blog, I will be fishing the Bassmaster Weekend Series National Championships next week on Clarks Hill Reservoir (a.k.a. J. Strom Thurmond).   I will be down there competing against 220 of my closest friend from all over the country for a chance at $100,000+ and more importantly a coveted berth in the 2008 Bassmasters Classic on Lake Hartwell in February.  My buddy Billy & I will be fishing Hartwell on Saturday as pre-practice as is on the same river system as official practice does not start until Sunday.

The past couple weeks I have been scouring the internet for info on Clarks Hill, studying the map I ordered, watching old Bassmasters shows that I had taped from the past two years on my DVR and also bought some new lures in preparation.

Here is the tackle that I have amassed in the last few weeks:
Sebile Flatt Shads
Strike Kind Red Eye Shads in Sexy Shad color
Aaron Martens Scrounger Heads
Vicious Fluorocarbon
Variety of Optimum Swimbaits
Acme Sidewinders & a few other spoons
Zappu Inchi Wacky Jig Heads
Jackall Flick Shake Worms
BassTrix Paddle Tail Tubes
Money Minnows
Silly Rabbits
Skinny Dippers
A single Pencil Popper
Bottle of Mend-It to repair my plastics
Sebile Magic Swimmers

Ofcourse this is in addition to the large inventory of baits that I already have.  In a perfect world, I would be able to key in on a strong bite with my go to Tru-Tungsten Jig.

My basic plan of attack is to spend most of the first day driving and looking at my electronics to understand what the baitfish are doing.  From there I hope to key in a particular type of structure (i.e. channel bends, main points, secondary points, flats, etc.), build confidence in a bait or three and then try to duplicate it all over the lake then run those areas during the tournament.  I think this tournament will be won by a strong pattern more so then any single honey hole.

If I can, I will try to enter some entries updating my practice and tournament days, but you may want to check my forum, as it will be easier to put quick updates on there.  I would say its got to be just about every tournament anglers dream to fish/win a Bassmasters Classic.  Next week, I get to take a shot at making it there!!