Living the Dream: Wheeler Lake, Part 3
Dave Andrews details second half of official practice for FLW Series event on Wheeler Lake
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Editor’s note: This is the third piece in a series of journal entries from Dave Andrews, winner of the 2007 TBF National Championship, detailing his second stop on the 2008 FLW Series Eastern schedule. Entries will be published at FLWOutdoors.com throughout the course of the season. As winner of the “Living the Dream” package, offered by FLW Outdoors through The Bass Federation, Andrews had his entry fees paid to test his club skills on the pro tour with the use of a fully wrapped boat and tow package. Andrews will chronicle his adventure in pro bass fishing, having most recently competed on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake. After Andrews has submitted his journal following each FLW Series event, segments will be posted approximately weekly. (Read Part 1 and Part 2) (Read his Okeechobee journal; this links to the final entry, which provides links at the top for each preceding part)
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Wal-Mart FLW Series BP Eastern Division
Stop No. 2: Wheeler Lake
March 26-29, 2008
Official practice: day three
Sunday, March 23, was the third official practice day for Wheeler Lake, and Scott and I again launched at Ingalls Harbor in Decatur, Ala., and headed south. The plan was to try to expand the bluff pattern and search for a backup pattern in the little pockets near the steep bluffs. A cold front had dropped into northern Alabama, and the morning run was quite chilly. A mix of sun and clouds would dominate the day, but temperatures started near freezing and only made it into the low 50s. A strong north wind made running and gunning a challenging endeavor.
We fished along a stretch of riprap near the Brown Nuclear Plant with Rat-L-Traps but came up empty, so we crossed over to the opposite side of the lake and began running bluffs, power fishing with the Traps. As the sun got higher in the midmorning period, the bass began to stir along the bluff walls. The 
power company was doing its thing too, as the current was clearly evident, streaming along the rocky shoreline.
We looked at all new water than what we had previously fished and found many keepers willing to bite the Trap. Most were smaller than the first day, but very solid tournament fish in the 2- to 2 1/2-pound range. During one small stretch, we hooked eight keepers in about 20 casts, with three of them being nice smallmouth bass. I wanted to establish a good backup bait, and with the bite on, I pulled out a silver Bomber Long A jerkbait; Scott experimented with a small Strike King crankbait. I had a couple of nice bass flash on my jerkbait, but didn’t set the hook on the fish. Scott boated a few decent keepers on the crankbait as well. The whole way I was punching waypoints into my Lowrance X28. I figured I had established my primary pattern for the tournament and that I had plenty of bluffs that were holding fish, so I set out to see what else I could find.
Early in the afternoon, we drove back upriver to the Decatur Flats area to see if we could pattern fish there. We cranked the small ditches and fished our way back quite a ways into the mass of stumps and trees. The visibility on the flats was not good; again it was coffee-with-cream colored due to the strong winds on that very exposed part of Wheeler Lake. With so much water to cover and without really any idea where to start, we mostly power-fished with Traps, slowing down to flip any stump that we bumped into. We boated a few small keepers on the Trap, but never got a bite from the stumps.
Late in the afternoon, I noticed a few fresh, green strands of milfoil drifting along the surface with the wind. Like breadcrumbs someone had left, we followed them upriver until our Rat-L-Traps finally caught the grass along a 200-yard stretch of the flats. The grass was short, maybe 4 or 5 inches long, but it was the only grass we had seen anywhere on the lake, and we figured it had to be important. Sure enough, as soon as we stumbled into the milfoil, we began catching bass. The flats where we were finding the grass were in 3 to 5 feet of water. We boated quite a few small keepers, dissected the best sections and marked them into my GPS. By the time we pulled off the water, we had had quite 
a successful practice day. The numbers were good, but we lacked any real big bites that day.
Back at the hotel that evening, I was working on tackle in the room, and the TV had the local news on in the background. The lead story featured two individuals, apparently bored and chemically altered, that jumped off the 75-foot-high Huntsville Bridge into the swift 55-degree water of Wheeler Lake up near Guntersville Dam. One had made it to shore and one, unfortunately, had not. The news story was certainly tragic, but I had no idea at the time how much it would impact the upcoming tournament.
Official practice: day four
Monday, March 24, was the final practice day. The weather was a continuation of the previous day’s cold and windy conditions. We launched with only a handful of other boats at Ingalls Harbor that morning. The plan was to check on the milfoil fish that we had found the previous evening. I wanted to see if they would bite in the morning, and I wanted to see if I could find some more key spots out in the flats. The strong north winds had muddied the Decatur Flats and spawned 2-foot rollers that made fishing this very exposed area nearly impossible.
Scott and I worked Rat-L-Traps through the grass, with only one small keeper to show for our efforts. At one point, I thought I had hooked a stump with my Trap, only to have the “stump” move. Wheeler Lake is full of giant, odd-looking fish, and this could have been anything. After a long 15-minute battle, I finally brought an enormous carp alongside the boat. The beast was easily the biggest fish I’ve ever caught in fresh water. It had my Rat-L-Trap stuck in its dorsal fin. We had no net in the boat, but that really didn’t matter as this fish would not have fit in any normal sized net, and I didn’t really want him in the boat anyhow. Scott managed to get the bait out of the fish’s back, and it went on its way, no worse for the battle. We estimated that it weighed about 40 pounds.
I had spent a couple of hours battling the wind on the flats when I had had enough. It had been bugging me since I got down here that I should trailer up to Ditto Landing, roughly 35 miles north of Decatur, and check out the river section of the lake. I heard there were some spotted bass up there, and there would likely be few boats willing to make the long run to fish for them.
We pulled out and headed north, driving past Huntsville, and found Ditto Landing. We dropped the Ranger in the water just after 11 a.m. There were only three other bass-boat trailers in the lot that morning. The scenery was amazing; it was in stark contrast to the lower section of Wheeler Lake. Steep bluffs, hundreds of feet high, plunged down into the clear water of the Tennessee River. There was no industry, no houses and really no signs of life up here. Bald eagles and ospreys were our only company for much of the day.
We studied the map and picked a sharp bluff area where the river channel swung in close to the bank. The wind and current pushed the boat alarmingly fast down the bank; it was more like whitewater rafting than traditional bass fishing. The banks were loaded with tiny spotted bass that would eat our small cranks with reckless abandon. We boated 20 spots in short order and several white bass, but none of the spots measured 12 inches long. We ran up 12 miles, all the way to Guntersville Dam, and 
fished several of the bluff banks along the way, all with the same results: more small spots and tons of white bass.
As the daylight faded, we worked our way close to the ramp and found a somewhat protected bank that gave up several nice spots. None were bigger then 2 pounds, but they were all keepers. We caught them on various styles of crankbaits. In the short amount of time that we had up there, I just didn’t find enough to justify going back in the tournament. I wished I had more time to explore the northern section of Wheeler; it really suited my fishing style. We pulled off the water around 6 p.m., noticing the news trucks and body-recovery team that was also ending their day around that same time.
We drove back to Decatur, grabbed a quick shower and headed over to fellow angler Brent Crow’s house in nearby Hartselle. Brent was hosting a bunch of the tournament anglers, and Scott and I were invited for steak dinner, complete with lots of fish stories. During tournament week, I usually spend all of my time on the water, preparing for the event. I push hard; it’s just the way I play the game. With the off day on Tuesday, it was nice to socialize and enjoy some down time with the other anglers. Thanks, Brent! We had a blast.
Tuesday was an off day. I slept in a little and worked on tackle for most of the morning. Scott and I took a break and had a nice breakfast at an omnipresent Cracker Barrel nearby. Registration was that afternoon at the Holiday Inn in Decatur. I drew out boat No. 72 in the fourth flight. My partner was Mike Hawkes from North Carolina. The weather pattern was improving. Warm air was moving into northern Alabama, and the forecast was for mostly sunny days the remainder of the week with temperatures heading into the low 70s. The bite should be on.
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Editor’s note: Stay tuned for Part 4 of Andrews’ adventure on Wheeler Lake, in which he’ll write about the first day of competition.
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