This was a busy trip with nearly 3,000 miles covered. The first stop I had to make was in Flippin, AR at the Ranger Boats factory where I picked up my new boat. The boat is the exact same boat I ran last year but is powered by the new Evinrude E-tec G2 engine which is totally new engine from top to bottom. After hanging around the Ranger factory for a day I had to make a stop in Nashville, TN where John from Evinrude got my engine set up and started for the first time. Once running I launched it in Old Hickory Lake there and WOW that thing flies. It is by far the most impressive outboard engine I have ever run and the more I have used the more impressed I have become.

Now that I have the boat ready to go it is off to Richmond, VA, and the James River for the first Northern division Rayovac series tournament. This is one of few places that I had never been so I was excited to go somewhere new. I had done some research prior to getting there and read about the Chickahominy River which is a tributary that feeds the James River. In my research it seemed as if a good many tournaments were won there so this seemed like a good place to start my practice. I quickly learned that it was nearly an hour run each way which is a big commitment when you are going to lose two hours of your fishing day running there and back but it was a risk I was willing to take especially after I spent a day practicing there. After my first day of practice, I decided that this is where I would fish the tournament and that is what I did.

The first day of the tournament was pretty nasty weather-wise it stormed pretty much all day but the fishing was still good as I ended the first day in sixth place. The bummer part of the deal was I had the bites to be leading the tournament but did not execute very well, but that is why they call it fishing and not catching. The next day was much nicer and the fishing was also pretty good I had just a little more weight than I did the first day but dropped a couple of spots to eighth place but the good thing is we made the top ten cut for the third day and the weights were extremely tight so I felt if I had a really good day I still had a chance to win.

Then as for day three, I made the run again to the Chickahominy River along with my roommate Dave Lefebre who made the cut also. The fishing did not go as well for me on the final day and looking back I really did nothing wrong I just did not get the bites, sometimes in tournaments, you get into a rotation of fishing areas and you miss the timing by just a little bit and you just don’t catch them. I needed the tournament in ninth place which is always a good finish.

I am now looking forward to Lake Champlain in upstate New York which is one of the country's best and most beautiful fisheries. Between now and then I have the ICAST show which is the industry fishing show where all the new products for the year are introduced so I will be super busy at the show working for sponsors. Hope everyone enjoys their summer and if you’re spending time on the water always be safe while boating and fishing.