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| FishTails |
Fleshman Earns Top Spot on W.V. Team at Eastern Regionals
[October 2, 2002] - By Chris Lawrence
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| Robby Fleshman (r) accepts congratulations from WVBF President John
Burdette. |
(Hartford, CT) -- It takes ultimate confidence to give up two hours of tournament fishing time to reach a certain
spot. However, West Virginia Bass Federation state team member Robby Fleshman was that sure a spot on the Connecticut
River would produce for him in the B.A.S.S. Federation's Eastern Regional in September.
"Every time we stopped on that spot in practice we would catch some keeper smallmouth." Recalled Fleshman
after three days on the water. "I had a lot of faith after that it was worth going to."
Fleshman describes the 100-yard stretch of water as a bank that had a lot of grass and really didn't stand out.
He managed to use spinnerbaits and topwater in practice to locate some quality keepers there with consistency.
The only drawback was the spot was 35-miles downriver from the tournament launch point.
"You lost two hours of fishing time getting down there." Said Fleshman. "You had four no-wake zones,
one of them was about a 15 to 20 minute idle. There was also a 45-mile an hour speed limit in some places."
Fleshman took the chance on the spot but learned early that the way he slayed them in practice wouldn't hold up
for the three days of the tournament.
"I don't know where they went. One day they were there, the next day they pulled out." says Fleshman
of the smallmouth bite he'd located. "My partners and I wound up catching 16 keeper fish on the spot. I caught
nine keepers there and all but one were largemouth."
Fleshman worked a spinnerbait, a buzzbait, and a Spitn'-Image along the weed bed and went through a stressful first
day knowing his gamble was about to haunt him. He managed only a small stringer. The weight kept him in the upper
half of the field, but it wasn't until the second day that Fleshman realized he had a chance to make the National
Championship.
"The second day I culled one on that spot and that's when I figured I had a chance, but I didn't know because
Mike (Goff) had been awfully tough that first day."
WVBF Angler Mike Goff had an incredible 9lbs-7oz to stand fourth after the day one. However, fishing as a non-boater,
Goff struggled to keep up having to instead travel to partners' waters first. He eventually slipped to second on
the state team with a final weight of 12lbs-10oz.
Fleshman's second day stringer gave him the team lead, but it takes three solid days to win divisional tournaments
and a shot at winning was out of the question. Fleshman was sharing information with fellow team members--and getting
some advice in return.
"They were all fishing back up river closer to the ramp." recalled Fleshman, "They were mostly using
Senkos and topwater, but I decided to give my spot one more shot."
He was a little worried when the final day's creel included only two fish--but a kicker over three-pounds was enough
to give him a three-day total weight of 13lbs-11oz. and secure his spot as West Virginia's representative to the
B.A.S.S. Federation National Championship next spring in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
"I've never been there!" laughed Fleshman. "I saw it on a road map, it looked like Lake Tuscaloosa
was right beside it and there was a river. That's about all I know."
Obviously some homework is in order for the Kanawha County dockworker in the next six to eight months, but given
his abilities to locate fish in West Virginia he should do well.
"I'll have to go down there and check it out. It ought to be fun anyway."
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| The WV State team. |
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