We had our first Flint Hills Bass Club tournament of the year on Big Hill. My partner Thomas and I pre-fished the evening before the tournament. I already had an idea of a couple of spots to fish, but it is always nice to try a couple of other spots to see if you could find a backup. We ran up the lake, and we fished pass the bridge. I was pitching texas-rig plastics around the tree, and was getting a couple of bites. I figured that they were bluegills. Thomas did catch one small bass on a buzzbait. We decided to run out to the main lake and try some points. I found some grass along the bank. I was swimming a jig and hooked up right away with a good bass. So, we both started throwing swimming jigs on any grass we could find on the main lake. Thomas was able to catch two good bass. I told him lets see if there are any bass on the dam. Right away we both started catching bass on the dam with plastics. I told him we should leave since we had a couple of things going for us. Thomas was not listening; he was having too much fun so we kept fishing. We caught a couple of good keepers. Finally it got too dark to fish anymore.
Tournament Day, I was relaxed and just needed to catch five keepers. I decided to start on the dam. After running to the dam, we both started throwing plastics. I asked Thomas to adjust the GoPro, and just as he touched it, a fish took his bait. Being off balance, he missed him. I felt bad; I told him to hang in there and we will make it up. We both were able to catch one keeper each off the dam. The day before the fish were very shallow. Today, I saw more fish out deep suspended on the graph not feeding. So, we decided to move to the grass. It would be a great decision. I was throwing a weightless stickbait up along the grass. I saw my line moving, and I set the hook. It jumped right away out of the water; it was a big fish. Thomas jumped to the front of the boat getting the net out of the locker. We were both excited with my second fish being over 19 inches. Great start! We both caught two more fish out of the area. Thomas was able to catch a good 17 inch fish on a swim jig around the grass. I was able to add one more small fish to my bag. Then the bites stopped, and after a hour I needed to go try something different. We decided to go up pass the bridge for a hour and see if we could catch another good fish. Thomas wasn’t happy with the decision; he really doesn’t want to be pitching plastics around trees. He really enjoys fishing finesse around riprap. I needed a change just for a little bit. Thomas hooked up with a fish right away, but it jumped off next to the boat. Then after 30 minute without a bite and boats were everywhere, I told him “Lets move.” Not sure where we were going, lets just go. We went driving down the lake looking for a spot to fish that didn’t have a boat on it. We noticed some wind blowing good on a bank with grass, and saw some fish moving around chasing bait. I picked up my soft plastic bait, and threw it right next to the grass close to the fish chasing bait. Right away, I felt a tick and slammed the hook. It jumped right away out of the water, and it was another big fish. I fought it next to the boat, taking my time. It jumped right next to the boat throwing the plastic bait up the line. Thomas thought it threw the hook, so he dug the net into the water hoping to catch the fish. I knew it 
was still hooked, and I was yelling at him “Don’t do that your hitting the line.” Then it rolled next to the boat, Thomas netted it. It was a 20 inch long bass. While I was trying to get the fish out of the net, Thomas had cast up to the same spot and hooked up right away with another fish over 17 inches. I was holding a big fish in one hand and netting Thomas’s bass in another. I would say every boat in the area heard us. We both had limits, and were pumped. I was able to creel one more fish just before we had to go in. I was able to take first place with 13.39lbs, big bass of the tournament and also won the team side with 2365 points. Great start to the season.