Pickett’s Pickwick prominence

Peek retains co-angler lead in EverStart Southeast event

FLORENCE, Ala. – A few weeks ago, at the BFL All-American, Lloyd Pickett Jr. had a good Carolina rig bite going until strong winds on Louisiana’s Cross Lake foiled his offshore action. Well, this is not Cross Lake, it is not windy and Pickett’s having no trouble grabbing huge bags to mount a massive two day lead at the EverStart Southeast Division tournament on Pickwick Lake.

The only angler to break 20 pounds both days, Pickett weighed 24-15 on day one to top the pro field by 2 pounds, 11 ounces. Today, he laid into `em and sacked up 27-13 for a total of 52-12 and a now epic lead of 13-7. Not surprisingly, Pickett had the Snickers Big Bass both days – 7-2 and 8-5, respectively.

“The Lord blessed me with two of the best days I’ve ever had on the water,” Pickett said.

Day two, however, did not exactly begin with a bang. Pickett said he worked several spots without a bite before eventually finding active areas with quality fish.

“Yesterday I had a limit by 7:30 a.m. but today I hit three holes and by 10 o’clock I didn’t have a fish,” he said. “I had good holes to go to and I knew that so I just kept floating around.

“I hit a total of seven holes, giving them about 10-15 minutes a hole. When I got to my eighth spot, I caught the 8-pounder on the first cast and then I caught a 6. Then I moved to another spot and caught two other (big fish).”

At this point, Pickett had four quality fish and a 2-pounder in his well and estimated he had about 25 pounds. His co-angler had only one keeper, so the pro from Bartlett, Tenn. took him to a spot on an old road bed that was loaded with keeper fish. A fellow competitor who was already on the spot encouraged Pickett to pull up and share the spot, so that availed his co-angler to some bag-building potential.

Initially, Pickett had intended to just sit back and let his co-angler work on his limit, but after several minutes of watching one angler on his boat and two on the neighboring vessel pulling in a bunch of fish, he couldn’t take it any longer.

“They were catching them left and right so I said `I’ve got to fish,'” Pickett said. “I said `I’m going to turn around and throw at the 40-foot water while y’all fish that (15-foot depth),’ and the Lord blessed me with a 4-pounder. I was feeding line to let it get to the bottom and as soon as it got there, I moved it one time and it got heavy so I set the hook.”

Clearly, the calm conditions that have contributed to exhaustingly hot days have played perfectly into Pickett’s C-rig prowess. The key to this deal is slow, methodical movements – actually a dragging motion that makes a weight and beads click-clack over hard bottom to attract attention from bass that will spot the subtle presentation of a soft plastic trailing behind on a leader.

Pickett fished Zoom Baby Brush Hogs, Old Monster worms and finesse worms (watermelon and green pumpkin) on 3/0 and 4/0 Gamakatsu hooks with ¾-ounce weights. Pickett fished his baits on 15-pound Berkley Trilene Big Game main line with 12-pound on his leader.

Second place Padgett targets suspenders

Bobby Padgett, of Lagrange, Ga. targeted the same ledge habitat that most of the field fished, but he took a different approach that proved strategic on Pickwick’s heavily pressured waters. While many of his competitors threw bottom oriented baits, Padgett rigged a 7/16-ounce white bucktail jig on 6-pound fluorocarbon and hopped it a few feet higher in the water column. The plan worked, as Padgett caught a 20-pound limit that lifted him from sixth place to second with a two-day total of 39-5.

“I’m fishing behind people and I’m catching suspended fish,” he said. “I can usually get one or two bites off of a spot. The light line is the key.”

Padgett caught his fish in 18-24 feet over ditches off the main ledges. The fish were suspending in about 16 feet. One of his keepers came on a crankbait.

“The spots I have are good spots,” Padgett said. “There’s bait in there – you have to have something holding them. But you’d better get them on that first of second cast because that’s it.”

Goggins improves to third

Auburn, Ala. pro Anthony Goggins made a big move from 12th to third on the strength of his 19-pound, 8-ounce limit. Pairing that weight with his day one score of 18-0 earned him a final-round berth with a total of 37-8.

“I’m on some good fish downriver on two schools,” Goggins said. “I’m only fishing them about two hours and then I’m making my way back. I’m looking forward to fishing it (more thoroughly) tomorrow to find out what kind of fish are there. Maybe I should have stayed there longer today, but at least I made the top-10.”

Goggins caught his fish on a Strike King 6XD in gizzard shad and a Strike King spoon. “I could see them on my Lowrance graph and I tried to get them fired up off the bottom with the spoon and then crank down and catch them while they’re up.”

Davis drops two spots to fourth

William Davis of Sheffield, Alabama likes fishing fast over the Pickwick ledges, but the lack of lake current forced him to reach outside his comfort zone to fish much more slowly.

“When (the TVA) is running current, I have enough places that I can run and gun all d ay, but right now, they’re not running water so you just have to fish slow baits,” he said. “I’m not any good at fishing slow like that. Everybody knows what to look for now and (the prime spots) are covered up, so it’s a struggle.

Davis caught his fish on crankbaits, jigs and Carolina rigs. He caught five fish that weighed 14-4 today and tallied a total of 36-8.

Scott Mansfield, of McKenzie, Tenn. placed fifth with 35-4.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 pro leaders at the EverStart Series Pickwick Lake event:

6th: Donny Beck, of Killen, Ala., 34-11

7th: Curt McGuire, of Paris, Tenn., 34-9

8th: Matt Ferguson, of Pontotoc, Miss., 34-9

9th: Jeremy Utley, of Florence, Ala., 34-8

10th: Randy Haynes, of Counce, Tenn., 33-2

Peek holds on to co-angler top spots

Richard Peek of Centre, Ala. caught a limit of 21 pounds and held on to his co-angler lead with a two-day total of 41-4. The only co-angler to break 20 pounds, Peek did so both days. His day one bag weighed 20-4.

“Fortunately, I got another good draw today and my boater was around the fish,” Peek said. “We pulled up on couple of spots and got a couple of big bites and just went with it the rest of the day.”

Peek wouldn’t disclose his bait, but said it was a soft plastic fished deep. Patience, he said, was essential, as it took up to 60 minutes to stimulate a school. But once the fish started, the action was consistent. He and his boater came in early to ensure their fish remained healthy in the hot weather.

Tim Cummings, of Waynesboro, Tenn. moved into second place with 35-7, while Lyn Melton, of Florence, Ala. took third with 32-5. T.J. Smith, of Richmond, Ky. placed fourth with 28-13 and Daniel Hinkleman, of Conyers, Ga. was fifth at 28-6.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 co-angler leaders at the EverStart Series Pickwick Lake event:

6th: Greg Sorrell, of Guntersville, Ala., 28-3

7th: Justin Jones, of Apex, N.C., 27-15

8th: Daniel Costley, of Memphis, Tenn., 27-3

9th: Robert Russell, of Smyrna, Tenn., 26-9

10th: Jason Smith, of Killen, Ala., 26-8

Jones won his division’s Snickers Big Bass award for a 7-pound, 10-ounce largemouth that he caught on a 1/2-ounce shaky head rigged with a Zoom Old Monster worm and sweetened with Smelly Jelly.

Day three of EverStart Series Southeast Division action on Pickwick Lake continues at Saturday’ takeoff, scheduled to take place at 5:15 a.m. (Central) at McFarland Park located at 200 James M. Spain Dr., Florence, Ala.