Seeing is believing

Sight-fishing promises to impact third FLW Tour qualifier

LENOIR CITY, Tenn. – Here’s the scenario at the Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes – the third stop on the 2010 FLW Tour. With water temperatures in the low 70s, the bass badly want to go up to the bank and spawn. But the water is over a foot low – meaning the best cover, such as lay-downs and docks, is high and dry. That’s putting the fish in an awkward, in-between mood.

This holding pattern is having a detrimental effect on the bite. It’s also frustrating the pros. Imagine cruising down a creek with your trolling motor on high and your eyes firmly entrenched on the bank. Your graph reads 71 degrees, and the bright sunshine is baking the back of your neck. Everything has lined up for a banner day – except that all you see are a few bass that won’t measure. And then, finally, after hours of searching, a fat 19-inch smallmouth reveals itself.

The consensus among the anglers is that the main wave has not yet arrived – but could do so as early as today. The tournament commenced this morning under cloudy skies, but that’s expected to change to sun by mid-morning. Thursday and most of Friday are predicted to stay sunny as well. That means whoever can find them first will get out to a fast start. But the new four-day accumulative weight format rewards consistency. And that might necessitate having more than one pattern working.

“I’m expecting we’ll see the big bags early,” said local pro Ott Defoe. “Today should be a pretty good day, and then the weights will slowly deteriorate. We’ll see both largemouths and smallmouths; I predict that out of the top five, at least three guys will have two or three smallmouths in their bag.

“You’ll have some fish move up during the tournament, but I don’t know how many. The water is still almost a foot and a half low, and it’s not really supposed to come up in the next few days. But it’s getting warm enough where they might not be able to hold back anymore.”

On day one, Defoe plans to work a prespawn pattern as well as do some sight-fishing. Like most of the eastern Tennessee contingent, he’s not thrilled that the spawn nearly wipes away his home-lake advantage. But he’s still confident he can do well, and he’s eager to improve from his two previous Knoxville finishes.

Another interesting side plot this week will be which lake wins out. While Loudoun is more fertile and typically produces heavier sacks, Tellico is the clearer of the two and is regarded as the better sight-fishing lake.

“I think the field will be split evenly – about half and half,” Defoe added. “Loudoun is typically the better lake, but in the spring Tellico can be good. Once you get past May or early June, nobody really fishes Tellico. Once they spawn and move out, it gets weird over there.”

Logistics

Anglers will take off from Tellico Recreational Area Ramp east of Lenoir City, Tenn., at 7 a.m. each morning. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at Tellico Recreational Area Ramp beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Knoxville Convention Center located at 701 Henley St. in Knoxville beginning at 4 p.m.

Fans will be treated to a Family Fun Zone & Outdoor Expo at the Knoxville Convention Center on Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday prior to the final weigh-in from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be a drawing for a Can-Am ATV compliments of the Knoxville News Sentinel and rod and reel combos will be given to the first 300 kids under 14 in attendance on Saturday. The Family Fun Zone & Outdoor Expo includes Ranger boat simulators, the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public. For a full schedule of events, additional information and to register for the ATV, visit the FLW Tour Fort Loudoun-Tellico event page.

In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The full field competes in the three-day opening round. The co-angler competition concludes at Friday’s weigh-in and the top-five pros continue competition Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.

On the Web

For those who can’t catch the weigh-in action in person, FLWOutdoors.com offers FLW Live, an online application that brings fans real-time weigh-in results, streaming video and audio.

In addition to FLW Live, FLWOutdoors.com is offering real-time updates from the water throughout each day of the Fort Loudoun-Tellico event. Simply click on the “On the Water Coverage” banner from any of the FLW Outdoors, Bass and FLW Tour home pages.

Wednesday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:55 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 51 degrees

Expected high temperature: 73 degrees

Water temperature: 67-72 degrees

Wind: WNW at 8 mph

Maximum humidity: 60 percent

Day’s outlook: partly cloudy