Combs Looks to Stay in Angler of the Year Hunt
OutdoorHub 05.02.12
When Bassmaster Elite Series angler Keith Combs first saw the 2012 Elite Series Schedule last Fall he highlighted the Douglas Lake event. He didn’t highlight it because it was an event that he was looking forward to, instead it was the event he thought would be the toughest for his style of fishing.
“This event made me nervous from the minute I saw it on the schedule. Now that I am here, I am still nervous about it. I am catching fish, I just don’t think I am catching the right size fish,” stated Combs.
Combs listed a couple of reasons he is nervous about this event, “I can’t read the water in Tennessee like I can in Florida, Texas and Alabama. There is just something about Tennessee water that I am not comfortable with. I have had some good events in Tennessee, but I have bombed a few as well. I just don’t know how it’s going to go. Also, there isn’t a lot of history with this lake in particular. Last year BASS had an Open event here, but it was in June. May and June are very different, so you cant get much out of that event. Prior to last year I think the lasttime Bass was here was about ten years ago.”
With his current position in the 2012 Angler of the Year race, fifth overall, even more pressure is on Combs to have a goodevent. Given his reservations on this event Combs maintains his excitement to continue his momentum. “I’ve had a solid start to the season, I just need to get through this event without slipping in the AOY standings. With Toledo Bend next and then the northern lakes coming, I am excited to have ashot at one of the biggest titles in our sport. The northern lakes may be a little different than Florida, Texas andAlabama lakes, but they still have a lot of grass in them and I like fishing grass.”
With the new points system Combs knows one bad event can destroy the chances for an Angler of the Year title. “You just can’t have a bad event with the new system. Sure you can have a bad event or a few mediocre events and still make the Classic, but one bad event and you could be completely out of the AOY race. I’ve been focused all week to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
As for how Combs is looking to catch them this week, he chuckled as he explained “I’d like to give you an idea of how I am catching them right now, but truth is I am catching them so many different ways I can’t list them all. I have about eight to twelve Power Tackle rods on the deck rigged with baits to cover everything from one to thirty feet of depth. The crazy thing is I am catching them in every depth. I just need to dial in the bigger bites to have a shot at this event.”
