OK, the clock is winding down on your Fort Loudoun-Tellico picks and I really don’t have much news from the scene except to reiterate that this one could be a tough fantasy roster to fill simply because everybody’s saying the fishing’s so tough.
The reason for that is the deepwater ledges are apparently very crowded out there. It’s summer, so everybody’s going to want to fish this one out between 15 and 30 feet; the problem is that most of those prime ledge spots seem to be getting hammered pretty hard even before the tournament starts. And it’s not just the FLW anglers, either. This lake is very close to Knoxville, and judging by the boat traffic at the lake, there are a lot of recreational fishermen out there having some fun on those ledges, too.
Talking to everybody’s favorite pick, Andy Morgan, today, he made a good point: Watch out for the late entries into this tournament. If you’re signed up to play this game, you’ve probably been receiving e-mails in the last couple weeks notifying you of anglers who’ve recently signed up to fish this tournament. You might not have heard of many of these guys – guys like Terrence Newcomb and Quint Bourgeois – but don’t overlook them. Most of them are local pros who might know of a few out-of-the-way places to find fish. In a tougher event like this one, that advantage could be priceless.
That said, most of the pros I’ve talked to leaned heavily on the well-known East Tennessee pros in their top picks. So if you like your Wesley Straders, Craig Powerses, David Walkers and Ott Defoes, well, you’re just like a lot of the pro fishermen here. Keep in mind, though, that while all of these guys seem like good picks, odds are that all of them won’t make the top-10 cut. Figuring out which ones will is the secret to this game.
As for who else besides the locals make good picks, another compelling theory is cropping up here. Look out for a Western pro or two like Brent Ehrler or Michael Bennett. Those guys make a living fishing deep and slow, and they might just out-patient some of the others crowding in on the ledges. Western guys tend to do very well when the fishing’s tough, tight and deep.
Good luck on your Fort Loudoun-Tellico picks, fantasy players. Final roster deadline is midnight tonight, Eastern time. We’ll have all your analysis, videos and more as the tournament unfolds.