Competition:
Soles got off to a sluggish start on day 1 and it resulted in his lightest bag - by far - of the event. "It took me awhile to get into the rhythm of the day," he said. "There were a few jitters there and I was in one of the early flights, and I think I was a little bit overexcited. "I also didn't anticipate the heavy winds (in excess of 20 mph from the northeast) and they muddied up some of my primary areas. But I said a few prayers and the next thing I knew, the wind laid down." He got two 5-pound-class bites that day, but only one made it into his livewell. "The other one broke me off and I thought that was really going to cost me. Thankfully it didn't make a difference in the end." The wind was even stiffer on day 2, so he shifted his focus to some protected areas that he knew would contain relatively clean water. His first fish of the day was a 10-pound brute and he picked up another keeper before encountering a 3-hour dry spell. He ran to another locale and caught his third keeper, then got his fourth from yet another place a short while later. He eventually had to leave Kissimmee and head back to Toho with only those four in the box, but fortunately managed to fill out his limit with a 13-incher from near the launch ramp with 5 minutes to go. He moved up 24 places on the leaderboard, but knew he'd need even more weight on day 3 to have a shot at the win. "I had to have 20 pounds, at least, so I just decided to go out and do all I could and leave it all on the lake," he said. "I went to an area that I hadn't fished at all in the tournament because it was getting beaten up by the wind, but the wind let up on day 3." That place, which featured a lot of hydrilla, didn't produce. However, some nearby locales did. "I saw some other matted vegetation on the shore that looked really good. The first fish I got was a 9 and I caught them really good there. By 10 o'clock I had a really nice bag of fish." He tried to improve upon it throughout the remainder of the day while also aiding his co-angler, but was unsuccessful. "I would've liked to have had a little insurance, but I wasn't able to do that. I had a few on, but I lost them. "I thought I had a decent shot (at winning) just based on how low the weights had been. I figured I has as good a chance as anyone."
Winning Gear:
Pitching/punching gear: 7'11" heavy-action Halo XXX flipping rod, Lew's Speed Spool casting reel (7:1 ratio), 65-pound PowerPro braided line, 1 1/2-ounce Elite Tungsten weight (pegged by Jethro Baits bobber stop), 3/0 Cobra Heavy Cover Flippin' Hook, Gambler BB Cricket (emerald blue, black/blue flake or Bowen silver shadow).
Main factor: "Just slowing down. On day 2 I realized I was fishing too fast when (his co-angler) caught a 5-pounder and a 3 behind me. I had to really pick everything apart - pitch to a spot, and then pitch 10 inches to the right or left of that spot until I'd covered the whole area. I need to remember that when I think I'm going slow enough, I need to go even slower."
Performance edge: "The most useful tools I had were my Power-Poles. They allowed me to stop the boat and make those pitches without having the wind blow me all over the place. I couldn't imagine fishing in those conditions without them."
Toho Open Winning Pattern Bassfan 1/29/14 (John Johnson)