Day of Practice: Bolivar on Pickwick

A day on Pickwick Lake with Gain Rookie of the Year Gabe Bolivar

The weather was terrible for fishing on one of the South’s most well-known impoundments – 30 degrees, a 20-mph northwest wind and clear skies. Yet Gabe Bolivar, along with all the other pros fishing the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Pickwick Lake event, was on the water practicing. The day was Feb. 26.

It was three days before the event and the rookie from the West had only visited the lake once for the 2005 Stren Series Championship, where he finished second. Bolivar fished the Tenn-Tom Waterway between Pickwick and Bay Springs Lake during the Stren Series event, and that is where he started his practice for the tour event.

On Friday and Saturday, he fished the canal again, throwing shallow-running crankbaits along the riprap, just like he had done four months earlier. Although the season was different and the fish were thinking about different things in late February as compared to November, the water temps were very similar – low to high 50s.

Bolivar had done well in practice in the canal a few days before, catching 12 to 14 pounds – enough to do very well in a tough event. But he felt he needed to try more areas and find a backup plan in case the canal didn’t produce during the tournament.

I met him at 7 a.m. in Iuka, Miss., that cold morning, and we went to Bay Springs Lake. Bay Springs is a small lake on the Tenn-Tom Waterway, about an hour and a half’s run from the launch site in Florence, Ala. Reports claimed spotted-bass limits around the 20-pound mark had been caught from Bay Springs the day before in a local tournament.

“I have to check this place out, even if it is a really long run, because if they really caught 20 pounds in here, I’d be foolish not to fish here,” Bolivar said.

Bolivar, along with practice partner, Brent Ehrler, another successful pro from the West, both launched from Crows Neck Access Area at the upper end of Bay Springs.

“I would like to go straight to the marina where that local tournament supposedly weighed in yesterday and see if we can catch any release fish,” Bolivar said.

Before we ran to the marina at the other end of the small lake, Bolivar stopped just down from Crows Neck ramp and threw a crankbait on a chunk-rock bank that quickly fell off into 6 feet of water. The water was very stained, partly due to wave action caused by stiff winds.

“I just want to hit a lot of different things today and see if I can get on a pattern of any kind,” Bolivar said. “A lot of times, this stained water will hold fish because it warms up faster.”

After about 20 minutes on the chunk rock with no hits, we ran down the lake to the small marina, which sits in a cove on one of the lake’s major arms. The water was clear and cold – low 50s. Other pros were also in there – Ray Scheide and Bobby Curtis, with a few others close by. Curtis didn’t stay long, but Scheide did.

We didn’t see anyone else catch a fish.

Bolivar pulled out a small shad-colored Storm swimbait and cast it in between boat slips. He also pulled out a chartreuse spinnerbait and finesse worm. The swimbait and worm didn’t produce anything, but the spinnerbait, cast along pea-gravel points inside the marina, did produce a keeper spotted bass within a few minutes. He fished in the marina for about 30 minutes with no other hits and left.

Bolivar came out of the marina and stopped at a defined point at the mouth of the next creek arm downstream. The water was deeper – 8 to 12 feet deep – with stumps covering the point. Spinnerbaits, swimbaits and crankbaits did not produce a fish. Bolivar fished to the back of the creek arm with no luck.

By now, it was about 10:30 a.m., and only one fish had been landed. Slightly frustrated by the lack of action and the bitterly cold, windy conditions, Bolivar ran back out to the main lake, which by now was covered with 3-foot white caps. He pulled into a pocket on the east bank and ran into Ehrler. He didn’t have any good news either. After a 20-minute chat comparing notes, Bolivar ran across the lake and fished a long, main-lake point on the calmer west bank. Once again, nothing produced.

Bolivar moved back in the pocket and found a massive logjam in shallow water. The water was very clear, with visibility of 4 feet or better. Nothing seemed to be moving in or around the logjam, but Bolivar pulled out a Texas-rigged Sweet Beaver in natural colors and immediately caught a short largemouth. Nothing else hit the Texas rig or a Fluke thrown over the logs.

“People need to know that pros have tough days also,” Bolivar said. “It’s freezing cold, the day after a cold front, and the fishing is terrible. But I still need to practice and try to figure something else out. There could be conditions just like this in the tournament, and I need to figure out how to catch something if another cold front comes through this week.

“Now, based on practice so far this morning for both of us (he and Ehrler), I don’t know if I’ll come back here. I can do better in these conditions in other places I’ve practiced.”

By now it was well after noon and Bolivar dropped me off at the ramp. He and Ehrler continued fishing until dark, as they do nearly every practice day – dark to dark. Then they compare notes at the end of the day to hopefully iron out plausible strategies for the tournament.

Tale of the tape

On day one, Bolivar ran nearly an hour to the shipping canal connecting Pickwick and Bay Springs. He stuck with the pattern that had produced the best in practice and during the Stren Series Championship last November. He caught a strong limit weighing 14 pounds, 4 ounces to put him in fourth place heading into day two.

Day two was completely different. Bolivar caught several short fish, but the keepers never showed up. Without a good backup spot, he had to stick with the riprap banks of the canal. He zeroed on day two and finished the event in 22nd place, worth $10,750. The solid finish was good enough to keep him in contention for the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year title.

So how did Bay Springs Marina produce during the event?

Ray Scheide, one angler practicing in the marina the day Bolivar practiced there, fished the marina exclusively. He caught a limit on day one weighing 9 pounds – pretty good in a tough event. On day two, Scheide caught another limit weighing 7-14. His two-day total of 16-14 placed him in 14th for the tournament.

Kentucky Lake practice

FLW Outdoors Magazine was able to catch up with Gabe Bolivar again at Kentucky Lake the Monday before the Kentucky Lake FLW Tour event. The Kentucky Lake practice was much different than Pickwick.

The water temperature was around 70 degrees with good clarity. Fish were deep, shallow and in between.

Bolivar arrived in Kentucky on Thursday before the event. He started shallow in Lake Barkley throwing a topwater. He caught 48 bass in one day on the topwater but only three were keepers. That convinced him to head to ledges, since that is how May tournaments on Kentucky and Barkley are most always won.

For two days, Bolivar hit ledge after ledge in Kentucky Lake. He was able to find one ledge Sunday where three casts produced three keepers. He left.

He found another ledge and a stump flat that were also producing keepers, but only sporadically.

On the day I met Bolivar, we started at 7 a.m. throwing topwaters and jigs on riprap in north Barkley. That produced a couple of short fish and a keeper smallmouth. He then moved out to two drops in north Barkley that produced several fish, including a few white bass, on crankbaits and Carolina rigs but no keeper blacks.

At noon, he moved back to Kentucky Lake and threw a finesse worm on a jighead on some steep rocky banks, which produced three keepers – one largemouth, one spotted bass and one smallmouth. He headed back offshore to some midlake drops that only produced a couple of short fish and a striper on crankbaits and Carolina rigs.

Around 3 p.m., with the sun high in the sky and Bolivar about 15 miles south of Kentucky Dam, he decided to try a topwater again on riprap and pea-gravel banks that dropped off to 15 feet of water. He quickly caught several keepers, including the largest of the day – a 4-pound largemouth.

After talking with a fellow competitor, he decided to head back toward the dam and throw a frog in the far backs of bays on the west bank. He threw the lure on 65-pound braid into the thickest vegetation and flooded bushes he could find. That only produced a few short fish.

It was nearly dark, and although Bolivar’s best five weighed only 13 pounds – not enough to compete for a title on Kentucky Lake – he was pleased. He had, after all, left his best spot alone and tried to find new fish. And he caught keepers several different ways.

On Tuesday, he went back shallow on riprap banks with a big swimbait during a rainy period and whacked a big limit. That pattern, however, only held up while it was raining.

On day one, Bolivar went to one of his riprap topwater spots and caught a quick limit. He then went to his best ledge and culled everything with a crankbait and weighed in 19 pounds, 12 ounces to put him in fifth going into day two.

Day two was a little tougher for the pro. Bolivar only caught four small bass for 6 pounds, 15 ounces, giving him a two-day total weight of 26 pounds, 11 ounces. Bolivar finished the event in 34th place and earned a check for $10,250.