Mathis moves ahead by 1 ounce

Rookie pro takes early FLW Series lead on superstingy Lewis Smith Lake

JASPER, Ala. – After day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Lake Lewis Smith, it’s official: Fishing is tough.

For the first time in the five-event Series season, anglers have run into a real buzzsaw in North Alabama.

Just how bad is it?

Consider that out of 374 anglers casting and reeling through torrential downpours all day, only eight five-bass limits were brought to the scales. For the statistical types, that’s just 2 percent of the field fulfilling a five-bass limit.

Brian Mathis of Charlotte, N.C., took the early lead with five largemouth bass weighing 11 pounds, 3 ounces.

“I’m just a rookie out here, and for once this season, things finally went my way,” Mathis said. “I’ve had a horrible year, which started with blowing my motor at the first event, so I’m real happy to have finally gotten something right for a change.”

Understandably, Mathis did not want to reveal a whole lot about his catch today.

“I would love to tell exactly how I’m fishing, but I just can’t, yet,” he said. “I’m fishing one specific area, and it’s a pretty obvious deal on the map; anybody who read the description would know exactly what I’m doing.”

Mathis did reveal that he is fishing shallow for largemouths. He had his limit by about 10 a.m., and once he left his primary spot, he never caught another keeper.

“The weather helped me out a bunch,” he said. “It really lined up nicely for what I was doing. I worked the area pretty hard, but I think it’s still got some fish left in it – I lost two 5-pounders in there.”

Looking ahead to clearing and cooling conditions, Mathis said if the sun pops out tomorrow, he’ll probably have to fish deep.

Yamamoto second

Several Western anglers crossing the stage today noted how Smith Lake closely resembled Lake Shasta or Lake Oroville out West.

When Gary Yamamoto of Mineola, Texas, took second place with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 2 ounces, he made the observation, “This is just like good, old-fashioned western fishing.

“In fact, I’m using a 25-year-old lure. It’s an old hula grub that’s practically considered an antique now.”

Yamamoto reported catching his fish both shallow and deep and remarked that the impending clearing and colder weather should help him. 

Local Chappell in third

Going into Lewis Smith Lake, many figured locals would have a distinct advantage, given the FLW Series’ off-limits period and official four-day practice.

Andy Chappell of Warrior, Ala., is one of three Alabamians in the top 10. He weighed in five largemouth bass for 11 pounds to start the event in third place.

“The weather had a lot to do with my catch today,” Chappell said. “I caught those five fish by 9 this morning and didn’t have another keeper bite after that.”

Like others who sacked largemouths, Chappell is concerned about the clearing cold front.

“If it gets clear, bright and cold, there’s a good possibility that what I’m doing could go away,” he said. “If that happens, I’ll just have to get out there deep and struggle around with the rest of them.”

Fritts fourth

David Fritts of Lexington, N.C., is in fourth place with four bass weighing 10 pounds, 9 ounces.

“This is not exactly a great crankbait lake,” Fritts chuckled after being asked about catching fish with his favorite deep-cranking style. “It’s more of a plastics lake. I had five rods out today: two crankbaits, a Senko, a Zoom lizard and a spinnerbait, and I caught fish on just about every one of those.”

Fritts also admitted that weather played to his favor today.

“I think you’re going to see a flip-flop in the leaderboard when these clouds give way,” he predicted. “Some of these shallow fish are going to quit biting, and those guys sitting out there with those little worms are going to come on strong. But if you have to put on 6-pound-test to catch a keeper out there, then I guess I just won’t catch one because I’m not going to do it.” 

Farley fifth

Ending day one in the fifth position was FLW Series Lake Lanier winner Tim Farley of Lula, Ga., with five bass for 10 pounds, 7 ounces.

Has Farley put together a spotted bass connection between Lanier and Smith?

“Not really,” Farley said. “This lake actually fishes a lot more like Cumberland than Lanier.”

Farley has located about 20 specific underwater structures in depths of 16 to 25 feet, and he is fishing them vertically to catch his bass.

“It’s pretty precise fishing.” he said. “I have to get right over these structures so I can see them on my Lowrance. Then I drop my bait straight down to keep it in the strike zone.”

Big bass

Leading the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division after day one is Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif., with a 4-pound, 7-ounce spotted bass.

Rest of the best Rounding out the top 10 pros after day one at Lewis Smith Lake:

6th: Aaron Martens of Leeds, Ala., five bass, 10-3
7th: Mike Cox of Huntsville, Ala., four bass, 10-0
8th: Keith Monson of Burgin, Ky., four bass, 9-9
9th: Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas, four bass, 9-6
10th: Harold Allen of Shelbyville, Texas, five bass, 9-4

Fahnestock leads co-anglers

If you thought the pros had it rough on day one at Smith Lake, consider that only 60 co-anglers boated a keeper bass today, and of those, only 11 co-anglers caught more than one bass.

The only co-angler to weigh in a five-bass limit today was Aaron Fahnestock of Enterprise, Ala., giving him the day-one lead with 9 pounds, 9 ounces.

High five co-anglers

Two-time Wal-Mart FLW Tour co-angler winner Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala., is in second with three bass weighing 9 pounds, 4 ounces.

More than half of Lee’s weight came from a 4-pound, 13-ounce kicker largemouth, which also shares the co-angler Snickers Big Bass award after day one.

“I actually saw her sitting in the back of a pocket,” Lee said of the big fish. “I pitched a crankbait over there, and she ate it on the first cast.”

Co-angler Frank Divis of Fayetteville, Ark., might consider changing his name to “Football Frank.” That’s because Divis is an absolute master at deep-dragging football-head jigs from the back of pros’ boats, which is exactly what he did today to sack three bass for 8 pounds, 11 ounces to take third place after day one.

“I had two rods out today,” Divis said. “One rigged with a brown and purple football-head jig and the other rigged with a brown and purple football-head jig. And that’s all I’m throwing for the next two days.”

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are T.R. Fuller from Auburn, Ala., in fourth with three bass for 6 pounds, 5 ounces and Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark., in fifth with three bass for 5 pounds, 15 ounces.

Day two of the FLW Series on Lake Lewis Smith begins at 7 a.m. CST Thursday at the Lewis Smith Lake Dam.