Right or wrong, I’ve made last-minute adjustments to my Fantasy Fishing picks to reflect an “all in” attitude towards the Wiggle Wart bite on Table Rock Lake.
I kept my top five original picks but replaced my bottom five with more pros who will be burning the banks with a crankbait.
Originally I had Dave Lefebre, Larry Nixon and Michael Bennett in the top 10 for their superb ability to “grind out” bass from small areas when fishing is tough. I replaced them with Ott Defoe, Jeremiah Kindy and Robbie Dodson for one reason: the forecast.
Originally, I had my grinders in place just in case Table Rock got calm and sunny during the tournament – certain death for the Wiggle Wart bite. But looking ahead, the forecast is calling for brutally cold, cloudy and breezy conditions for the first two days – perfect for the Wiggle Wart contingent.
Now if the forecast had called for bright sun and light and variable winds then Nixon, Lefebre and Bennett would have stayed and probably moved up in my picks.
A couple of other factors pulling me towards the cranking crew are the off-limits day and the 150-man field.
I believe that with 50 less pros and the Wednesday off-limits day, this lets the lake kind of “reset” before competition begins. In the years when the FLW Tour carried a 200-man field straight from an extended practice right into the tournament, the lakes got extremely beat up and by day one of the tournament there were no shallow, aggressive fish left.
Now with a smaller field, a limited practice and a day off, shallower fish are more available. Add in the brutal weather coming and it all sets up for bank blitzers to come out on top, hence my final adjustments have been made.