Pressure mounts as water drops at Pickwick
EverStart day three under way
FLORENCE, Ala. – The top 20 pros and co-anglers took off from McFarland Park at sunrise to open the semifinal round of the EverStart Series Central Division tournament at Pickwick Lake Friday. All 40 competitors restarted the day with zero weight and are fishing for one day to determine the top 10 anglers per division advancing to Saturday’s final round.
Anglers might have to do a little scrambling to make the finals, however. The water level on the reservoir dropped significantly overnight and that might have repositioned the bass at many competitors’ fishing holes – or pushed them out entirely.
“If the water dropped 2 feet, that might change my plan,” opening-round pro leader Brian Rand said before takeoff. Rand earned first place by sight-fishing for spawning bass the first two days.
One positive sign for anglers hoping to target a few bass on the beds was the water temperature, which Friday morning registered about 5 degrees higher at the ramp than earlier in the week. The females are itching to spawn, and the warm-up could be the trigger.
Friday’s weigh-in begins at 4 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 3100 Hough Road in Florence.
Friday’s conditions
Sunrise: 5:44 a.m.
Air temperature at takeoff: 61 degrees
Expected high temperature: 79 degrees
Water temperature at the ramp: 60 degrees
Wind: from the southeast at 10 mph
Relative humidity: 84 percent
Day’s outlook: partly cloudy
Day-three links: