Better to see you with

Sight-fishing coming into focus at Lewis Smith

JASPER, Ala. – Modern-day bass boats are armed with thousands of dollars worth of fish-locating equipment: depthfinders, GPS, side imaging units and subsurface sound technology that “attracts” fish.

But the most important piece of fish-finding equipment at the Wal-Mart FLW Tour event this week on Lewis Smith Lake just might be a pair of polarized sunglasses.

With water temperatures hovering right at the 60-degree mark, bass are just hours away from moving up and making beds.

Although the FLW Tour has never visited Lewis Smith Lake (the FLW Series did stop here in November 2006), this event is very reminiscent of the years when the Wal-Mart Open was held on Beaver Lake in early April and fish were moving from prespawn to spawn during the event.

By comparison, Lewis Smith Lake and Beaver Lake are both deep, clear highland impoundments that contain a mix of both largemouth and spotted bass.

Also, both lakes share a minimum size limit of 15 inches for largemouth bass. Spotted bass, however, must be 15 inches on Smith as well, making 15 inches the legal keeper mark across the board.

On lakes with such stringent length limits, like Beaver and Smith, sight-fishing offers an advantage because it allows an angler to target keeper bass directly. Pros can literally troll down the bank, “shopping” for 15-inch fish over nonkeepers.

At the day-one takeoff this morning, the general consensus among anglers was that there are a few fish up on beds – but just how many remains to be seen.

Snickers pro Greg Pugh of nearby Cullman, Ala., says there are a few fish up on beds, but he does not believe it’s enough to go around.

“I’ve got one cove that’s got about 20 pounds of bass laying around in it, but I don’t know who else has found them,” Pugh said. “Put another boat or two in there and they can get divided up pretty quickly.”

What has puzzled Pugh the most about his practice is the lack of spotted bass he has seen.

“All I’ve seen is largemouth; I don’t know where the big spots are,” he added. “They’re out there somewhere, and whoever taps into how to catch the keeper spots consistently is going to be in contention.”

Pugh added that, in addition to sight-fishing, there will be some other patterns at work as well.

“The shaky head, of course, will be a big factor here,” Pugh noted. “There’s usually a pretty decent crankbait bite up in the stained water this time of year, too. Also, there are some fish schooling pretty hard out in open water right now. You might have to wade through some stripers and nonkeepers to get some solid keepers, but I’ve got some schooling holes that I’ll be keeping an eye on periodically.”

“This is a very similar scenario to Beaver Lake,” said Kellogg’s pro Clark Wendlandt, who has won the Wal-Mart Open on Beaver Lake twice.

Wendlandt continued: “Interestingly, the biggest difference in this event is the off-limits day we had yesterday. At Beaver, I would stay on the water until dark the day before the tournament, and I’d know the exact fish I was going to start on the first morning based on its demeanor.

“But this year, with the lake being off limits the day before the tournament, a lot could have changed with some of the fish I’ve seen. Don’t get me wrong, I like having the day off before the tournament – I think it’s good for the lake. But it adds an interesting twist, because I’m kind of torn up over which fish to start on this morning.”

Sight-fishing fanatic Wesley Strader is also anticipating a sight bite this morning.

“That’s how I’m going to start my day, anyway,” Strader said, while putting a shine on his sunglasses. “I might do it all day, or I might do it for five minutes. But I think you better get what you can get off the bank today, because come tomorrow, there might not be many left on beds.”

Weight predictions for the top-10 cut on the pro side vary widely from angler to angler.

Pugh is estimating 23 to 25 pounds for the final-round cut. Local co-angler Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala., offered up 25 to 26 pounds for his guess. And Prilosec pro Koby Kreiger, no slouch of a sight-fisherman himself, believes it’s going to be as high as 28 pounds.

“I’ve seen enough fish up to believe that 14 pounds a day is possible here,” Krieger added. “It all depends on how many more fish the weather pulls up.”

Speaking of the weather, it does not look like the sun is going to shine like some pros had hoped. But the good news is no cold weather is expected for the next few days.

Logistics

Anglers will take off at 7 each morning from Lewis Smith Dam located at 640 Powerhouse Road in Jasper. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at Lewis Smith Dam beginning at 3 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, located at 2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N. in Birmingham, beginning at 4 p.m.

Prior to the weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday, FLW Outdoors will host a free Family Fun Zone and outdoor show at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex from noon to 6 p.m. each day. The Family Fun Zone offers fans a chance to meet their Fantasy Fishing team anglers face-to-face and review the latest products from Berkley, Lowrance, Ranger, Evinrude, Yamaha and other sponsors while children are treated to giveaways, fishing themed games and rides like the Ranger Boat simulator.

Children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone Sunday will also receive a free rod and reel combo while supplies last, and one lucky member of the audience will win a new Ranger boat during the final 4 p.m. weigh-in on Sunday, April 6. Admission is free and you must be present to win.

Thursday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:33 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 60 degrees

Expected high temperature: 75 degrees

Water temperature: 60 degrees

Wind: SSE at 10 to 20 mph

Day’s outlook: warm, cloudy, 60-percent chance of thundershowers