Devon Esry Wins a Grinder in NSKA NWA Finale

After pre-fishing everywhere from Lost Bridge to Ventris in the weeks leading up to the tourney, I settled on the Ventris area come tourney day.  I was finding limits in all areas, but Ventris seemed to be producing more bites and was finally showing me a pattern.  I literally went into this with 9 or 10 rods tied up with plastics and jigs because the top water bite was non-existent during most outings.  I had one whopper plopper tied on just in case they were busting early.  Fortunately, I arrived at my starting spot about 6 am and the fish were up chasing bait. This gave me time to tie on a black buzz bait before lines in, which led to me catching most of my fish before the blazing sun got high.  Once the sun got over me, I headed to the muddy, wave beating edges of the main lake and started fishing a shaky head.  I pretty much fished it the rest of the day in various colors and sizes. Keeping myself calm and focused during the slow hours was the key.  It was definitely a grind all day!