First I want to thank those who have already given the Magician / Technician team congradulations on our 17th place finish this weekend.
Secondly this tournament was tough. I learned a lot about the power of positive thinking and how much a great atitude can add weight to your livewell. We had a terrific prefish on Friday, Perhaps the best one Russ and I have ever had at the open. We boated 5 fish that easily would have gone 17-18 pounds. We had several fish that we never swung on. We had a good pattern that carried over to several different spots on the lake and we managed to spot a couple of fish visually despite the wind that was at times even howling in the back of the dunes in the smallest of bays. With Friday over and feeling great about it I thought we had a really legitimate shot at winning the this thing.
Saturday morning we draw number 71. Not such a good draw but we did not let that effect our mojo from the day before. After just a few moments of fishing Russ spots a nice fish suspended in a bunch of brush with just his nose sticking out. A fish that most people would have gone right by and never seen. Russ had a bad angle so he trusted me to make it happen. I flipped my grub softly and accurately just a foot or so right in front of that fish. He darted out with dorsil fin straight out and I would have bet money he was going to smack the hell out of that bait. He followed the slow falling bait down but never touched it. Then a few moments after that I missed a fish that was way back in the middle of a group of brush. Someplace that I am not sure I would have gotten him out of had I even hooked it. So within the first half hour of fishing I had two reasons to be dissapointed. I chose to look at the positive fact that our fish were there and willing to show interest in what we were doing. It was easy to stay positive so early on.
Then things changed. We fished hard, very hard, for the next 5 hours with out so much as a bite. We did see a couple of crusing fish in that time. We knew they were there and we knew we were having a tough day. We made a choice to not let all the negatives get us down. It was cold at times, we were getting hung up often with the way we were pitching and flipping into the heaviest thickest cover we could find. No fish, no fish, no fish. We had reason to throw in the towel and say to hell with it at that point.
Then right after 3:00 Russell hammers a quality 3+ pounder. A few minutes later just a few feet away from there he gets a 4+. Then we see a couple more crusing fish. Our spirits never got way down and those two fish gave us fuel to keep doing what we were and it would work out OK. A bit later I miss a solid hit and tell Russ to throw in there that was a fish. He pitches in there and brings out another 4+ fish.
We weigh in feeling that we did OK and were still in touch with the top boats and had a chance if thier bite dried up. At a minimum we could be in the top ten or so.
Sunday morning it was bitter cold. We head out with good spirits and after a couple of hours we have nothing for our efforts. Then we spot a new beaver hut. We had not been fishing huts and the location did not fit the pattern that worked the last two days. We decided it was worth looking at and on my first pitch in front of it I get nailed by a fish that was easily 4+. It gets me down in the wood and comes off. Just a moment later Russell pulls out a 5. We go to the other side and I get a male nearly 3.
We kept at it with the short time we had left.
The thing is that we never quit and we never allowed frustration to take over. There were several times I stopped fishing and just sat down for 5 minutes or so. I collected my thoughts and told myself that our fish were there and we just needed to keep going. We were cheerleaders for one another at times reminding each other that things can happen fast and in a few short moments we could put 15 pounds in the boat. As long as there were 15 minutes to fish we were still in it.
So I guess all I wanted to expess is never give up. Find a way to keep your head into what you are doing. Don't beat yourself. Take that extra minute to just stop and reassure yourself that you are doing the right thing. Tell your partner not to get frustrated. Ask Russ I probably said that to him 30 times on Saturday. He said it to me as well. When your partner does tell you that don't get pissed at him. Stop, retie, take a breath and the next flip might put a good twist on things.
Lastly thanks Russell for making team tournaments a team deal. Sometimes one guy might not catch a fish. But maybe he made a bit of difference in the outlook of the other team member. I think that this open You and I did it more than once and it helped us to overcome a tough bite, tough weather, and some tough competition. We did not win but we could have done much much worse.
I wanted to share those thoughts with you all in hopes that it might make your next team tournament something better than it is shaping up to be at the time.
Congradulations go out to anyone that was on the water this last weekend anywhere in Washington and Oregon. If you did not quit and stuck it out you were a winner. It made no difference if you had any fish in the boat or not.
A special thanks to Ken Kernan and the Potholes Bass Club for making the Open such a fun and entertaining event no matter what the conditions are.
Good fishing to you all. (Hopefully in the bright warm sun next time)

Nice job you two  ....Mark, that was very well put and is a great reminder of keeping your mental fortitude in stressful times.

That is a great post.  I kept my head in the game at Silver, but I was just fishing too fast.  I also was feeling bad for my girlfriend, she had her hands in her pockets and wasn't fishing anymore   
Those are some beautiful fish you posted !

Well, unfortunately...have a fish-in at Lawrence that weekend so this week-end it will be........long as I'm fishin.......gud-nuf

Thanks Terry.........Magician + Techcnician = Guru's Now that is the kind of math I like.