Champion's Choice, Part 3

just a note: I plan on making at least one more post in this series on the Oneida Lake Elite Series event. Call this part 2 1/2 or 3, it will be brief, with more to come on the subject of day two of the tournament.

Day Two began with much better weather than day one--not completely overcast. That is, until you hit another part of the lake. (More on that later.) This is what things looked like at roughly 6 am. I was riding with Brent Chapman, 12th in the AOY points coming into the event. He weighed in about 12lbs of fish on day one, which was about average. (The day one leader, Randy Howell, brought in around 17.) Needless to say, Brent was anxious about having a good day--he would later say how he was worried about just making to the third day, never mind the postseason.

Our first spot was a top-water area. I saw he'd made some notes on his GPS about it being one of the better largemouth spots on the lake, though it also said something about crappie. (He switched views on the screen and later turned the unit off, something I noticed John Murray doing on day one--I think these guys are very secretive about giving up information.) He began twitching a Rebel Pop-R, and got a couple strikes though no fish. This was, far and away, the most picturesque moment of the tournament for me. The sun rose just as we arrived, and I don't think I could have frowned if someone had paid me.

After about 45 minutes of scouring the spot, he said, "Ready to go on a boat ride?" As clear as things were, they got foggy. And eerie. And quiet.