West Point heats up

Day two of the EverStart Series Southeast event slated to be a cooker

VALLEY, Ala. – A bright burning ball of fire rose quickly over the still waters of West Point Lake this morning, promising an even warmer day than Wednesday.

The water temperature is climbing several degrees each day, and fish are beginning to leave the shallows quickly.

Many pros reported terrific shallow-water fishing on West Point over the weekend, but at Wednesday’s weigh-in, the sad tale of fish that had vacated spawning beds was iterated too many times.

Though tournament leader Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala., saw some fish shallow yesterday, he thinks they are moving out faster now.

“They are definitely going that way (deep),” Kennedy said. “I have a couple of deep spotted bass holes, and yesterday was the first day I caught any big largemouth out on those places.”

Second-place pro Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn., would like to see it stay sunny and hot as well, but not because he is fishing deep. Powers says the bright, still conditions are ideal for his topwater bite.

“Don’t ask me to explain it, because I can’t,” Powers said. “I probably had 17 or 18 blowups on topwater yesterday, and it didn’t start until 10:30 when the sun was high up over head.”

Powers did say he tried to target shady pockets yesterday, but what astounded him was the number of quality bites he got out in the middle of nowhere in the bright sun.

“It just goes to show we don’t know near as much about these fish as we think we do,” he added.

Thursday’s weigh-in begins at 3 p.m. ET at Southern Harbor Marina.

Thursday’s conditions:

Sunrise: 6:38 a.m.

Water temperature: 78 degrees

Air temperature: 64 degrees

Expected high: 85 degrees

Wind: light and variable

Day’s outlook: sunny and warm