|
Anglers Face Postspawn, Falling Water For Smith Lake Open
JASPER, Ala. — Dealing with changing weather and the postspawn are givens during spring tournaments, and those conditions will be in play at the Basspro.com Bassmaster Central Open coming up on Lewis Smith Lake in Alabama.
The tournament will be held April 25-27, with daily takeoffs at 6 a.m. CT from Smith Lake Dam Access, where the daily weigh-ins begin at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday the final weigh-in is at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Leeds, a suburb of Birmingham. A field of 190 boats will compete on the first two days with only the Top 12 pros and co-anglers advancing to the final round.
“There is a lot going on, from the rising and falling water, to the postspawn funk with the largemouth and some of the spotted bass,” explained David Kilgore, a longtime Opens pro and Bassmaster Classic qualifier from Jasper.
Kilgore said the north Alabama lake remained above full pool for three weeks, and then returned to near normal in recent days. Heavy rainfall going into Easter weekend raised the level again. The lake will be falling through practice until the tournament begins.
Falling water and sluggish postspawn bass. Tournament anglers cringe at the thought of having to deal with both challenges, and that is how Smith Lake is setting up.
Kilgore lives and works just minutes from the 21,000-acre lake, and he won the 2014 tournament on Smith and placed 10th in the 2017 Open. Based on the current conditions, Kilgore predicts a winning weight of 45 pounds. Catching 15 pounds each day will be a tall order. Daily limits of 11 pounds will be more common.
“Those same five-bass limits weighed 15 pounds before the spawn, and it will take going through a lot of fish to get above that 10- or 11-pound mark,” he said. “The fish are just really skinny right now after coming off the spawn.”
Choosing between largemouth and spotted bass is always a decision to be made here. The lake is loaded with spotted bass, and Kilgore sees those fish as the most reliable for the tournament.
“The largemouth will be hard to pattern in that high water, depending on where it is by the tournament, and you will have to run a lot of areas to fill out a decent limit,” Kilgore said. “They will be spread out and it’ll be a bonus if you can catch a decent largemouth.”
Not surprisingly, you can expect to find Kilgore offshore.
“The spots will be in their usual places and it can be easily won on them,” he said. “What it’ll come down to is finding a reliable concentration of spots that can hold up for three days of the tournament.”
Kilgore said the herring bite that makes the lake such a spotted bass powerhouse has not materialized yet.
“It normally begins in late April or early May but we have already had a really wet spring and with everything else you can’t count on it to be in play,” he said.
Local host is the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County.
2019 Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: Basspro.com
2019 Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2019 Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Talon
2019 Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Lowrance, T-H Marine, Carhartt
2019 Basspro.com Bassmaster Central Open at Smith Lake Host: Chamber of Commerce of Walker County
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport. With more than 510,000 members internationally, B.A.S.S. is not only home to the nation’s premier fishing tournament trails, but it also boasts the most expansive and comprehensive media network in the fishing industry. Its media include The Bassmasters on the ESPN networks, more than 130 hours of tournament programming on the Pursuit Channel, 250 hours of on-the-water streaming coverage on Bassmaster LIVE and 1 million monthly visitors to the flagship website on bass fishing – Bassmaster.com. B.A.S.S. also provides more than 4.4 million readers with the best in bass fishing coverage through Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times, and its radio and social media programs and events reach hundreds of thousands each month.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, culminating in the ultimate event on the biggest stage for competitive anglers, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods. The trail also includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, BassPro.com Bassmaster Open Series, B.A.S.S. Nation Series, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series, and the Bassmaster Team Championship.
-30-
Media Contact: Dave Precht, 205-313-0931, dprecht@bassmaster.com | Gettys Brannon, 864-490-7864, gettys@mcalistercommunications.com
|
