Hoping for the ‘spot’ light
Largemouths lead but spots may steal the show
JASPER, Ala. – Say the words “Lewis Smith Lake” and the first thing that most anglers think of is spotted bass. After all, the lake’s biggest claim to fame is producing the state record spotted bass.
Oddly enough, however, with two days of the of Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop on Smith in the books, largemouths are dominating the top five.
In the lead is Glenn Browne, a largemouth purist from Florida. Behind him, Scott Canterbury of Odenville, Ala., has mostly caught largemouths. Local pro Greg Pugh of Cullman is in third with mostly largemouths that have been teased off beds. And rounding out the top 5, Darrell Robertson and Brandon Coulter have also mostly caught largemouths.
But don’t count Smith’s spotted bass out just yet. With weights starting at zero for the top 10 pros this morning and two more days of competition to go, spotted bass just might go the distance here. Also, keep in mind that day-one leader Terry Baksay had nearly 15 pounds of spotted bass the first day.
One thing that is likely to hinder the largemouth bite today is the amount of rain that fell in North Alabama yesterday and last night. Fresh mud pouring into the backwaters could change things, especially for the sight-fishermen.
“I just hope my best place is not ruined from the rain and wind,” said leader Glenn Browne this morning. “It’s just a matter of how much rain it takes to hurt it. I am optimistic, though, because the day I found the place, it had rained the night before and it didn’t seem to matter, so hopefully it will hold up.”
Pugh, too, is concerned about colored water. “
A lot of the places I’m fishing have muddy drains running into them, so that might be a problem,” Pugh said. “If so, I may have to drop back on some of my spotted bass places.”
Two top-10 pros looking to make a move today with spotted bass are Duracell pro Michael Bennett and Chevy pro Luke Clausen.
All along Bennett has hung his hat on spotted bass to win and the track may come his way today and tomorrow.
“I figured largemouths would take the spotlight for a day or two, but my goal was to come here and find enough fish for four days,” Bennett said. “A lot of the spawning largemouths have been caught off beds the last two days and that rain could keep more from moving on. All I’ve focused on since I got here is spotted bass.”
Bennett is catching a mixture of pre-spawn and spawning spotted bass. The main thing Bennett has going in his favor is a lot of confidence in what he’s doing. His western roots have him feeling right at home on Smith.
“The first day I had to rely on spawners, but yesterday my pre-spawn pattern started to come to life more, so I’m pretty excited about that. I feel at home here and I have the confidence to fish new water, keying in on just a pattern.”
Western-born Luke Clausen also liked the looks of the situation this morning.
“I’ve really got no committed plan,” Clausen said. “I’ll probably start close here this morning and then kind of feel my way up the lake. But I have decided to stick to more of a spotted bass pattern today. I don’t think I’m going to go up and fool with those largemouths.”
Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, located at 2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N. in Birmingham, beginning at 4 p.m. Prior to the weigh-in, FLW Outdoors will host a free Family Fun Zone and outdoor show at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, which starts at 12 p.m.
As always, the Fun Zone and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
Saturday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:30 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 53 degrees
Expected high temperature: 66 degrees
Water temperature: 65 degrees
Wind: N 5 to 10 mph
Day’s outlook: cloudy, rainy with partial clearing in the afternoon