Billy Marlin Santee Cooper

[JR19]

Hey Billy I was just reading through all the Ky rally post and I read where you were headed to Santee Cooper. How did things go for you? Fishing in a Bass Open has to be a good learning experience at least.

[bcbasser]

I saw him and his boat at Fenton on Saturday!!!

[tunderwood01]

Hard to miss.

[fishingmarlin]

The fish just moved off the beds so fishing was AWFUL!! I took 86th place out of 150 and 65 people had zero fish on both days.

First day I fished with Doug Luper in his wrapped 2007 puma bass cat!! Oh yeah I want one!!! We had a killer spot in a cove off the canal with a ton of baitfish and blow ups everywhere. Could not get a single bite even went down to senko wacky and shaky head worm

Second day I got Chris Novack on of the federation guys who fished the classic. He was just a really awesome guy and we had a blast. He had 11lbs the first day which put him in the top 20 but day 2 clouds and wind actually made things worse. We did watch Marty Stone run in and out of the area we where in for most of the day. I had a 4lber get off in the grass and later caught a 2.7lb spot. It was not enough to make the 7.4oz cut.

I am starting to get to know some of these guys who do this for a living so I am getting a lot of good tips. Most of all I am finding out they do the same things I do on the water. THere are times when sitting on a spot all day eventually works and times you blank.

Good things was I got out of there at 6:30 on friday afternoon and back to cadiz by 2:30am for a 2 hour power nap. Then met up with the guys at Ky lake for the rally and was able to get 8lbs and 4 fish. I did lose 3 good keepers so I am definitely seeing progress in my decision making skills. Even bad finishes in tournaments are helping me get better at fishing.

http://www.wirelesslanyards.com
MY first day pro was sponsored by them partially and its just an awesome concept!!! If you fall in or get thrown it will kill the engine. You don't have to worry about tying into your boat for every run.

[JR19]

Thanks for the update. I went to the BASS web site and saw where they had a William Marlin listed but I was not for sure if that was you. What made me think that it was not you is the fact that you made it to the Saturday rally.

I agree with you that all fishing trips can be a learning experience even if you don't catch what you hope too. I know they gave an award for the longest drive but you should have received something for leaving South Carolina that late in the afternoon and being on KY Lake the next morning at daybreak catching fish

[Passion 4 Bassin]

That is a LOT of driving in order to make the rally let alone have a good day on Kentucky with no rest! Billy your are you committed dude! Congrats on a 8 pound plus day by yourself!

[fishingmarlin]

Thanks I really appreciate the vote of confidence. I hope to eventually do tournament fishing more than just a weekend thing. Like anything else if you want to compete at the top level you have to work your butt off and make a lot of sacrifices. At this point in my life I really want to find out if I can do this for a living. Since the wife and I don't plan on having kids I have a huge opportunity to give it a try. The worst that could happen is I get better at fishing.

The wife has already given me the green light once she finishes nursing school and gets a good job to really commit to more tournaments.

PS the fishing was soo bad at Santee I would have done anything to get to any lake and actually catch some fish