Fishing Report for Alabama Bass Trail on Smith Lake 2/24/19

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Boy, howdy. Where to start. Where do yall want to start? Let me start off by saying that I managed to get sick some how, so I'm not feeling well and with that and how the weekend went, you can bet that I am not in a good mood. 

I think we have to go back to last year. In a very similar circumstance, the first ABT event was moved. Last year, the event on Pickwick was moved to the end of the year, making Guntersville the first event of the year. Most of you read this stuff pretty regularly, so you know how I feel about The Big G. In that event, water levels dropped two feet over night and the fish we found in practice relocated to more wet environments. We weighed in one fish and the very next event, my Mercury blew a powerhead on Wheeler and we didn't even make it back to the ramp. That torpedoed any chance at making our goals. I swore that wouldn't happen again. 

Ok, file that away.

I've fished rather well on Smith in the month of February. Brad and I have done well, but we assumed our luck wouldn't last. Last weekend, it didn't. We bombed and you can read about the event in the link below. 

Fishing Report for Smith Lake 2/16/19

No problem, right? Josh and I had been practicing a lot on the other end of the lake and we had been on a really strong bite until the water was dropped. With the water coming up, we assumed the fish would be back. We made another assumption that with water levels predicted to be at full pool by Saturday, we would time it JUST RIGHT. 

Storms forced moving the tournament from Saturday to Sunday and with those storms and life in general, we wouldn't be able to prefish the entire week of the event. More importantly, water levels over that critical 24 hours went from full pool to six feet (or more) above full pool. 

I hope that I portray myself for not making excuses. If you practice hard enough, you will do well. Normally. 

In this case, we were in a situation where we had ZERO experience on this lake with these conditions. We hadn't been able to do simple things like check water colors in various places. We made up our mind to go to the spot where we had caught one five pounder and multiple four pound largemouth as well as a ton of quality fish around Duncan Bridge. What else did we have to go on? After fishing Simpson creek and around the park last week and not having any luck, coming out of the dam and turning left instead of right was an easy decision.

It was also the wrong decision. 

Two slot fish and three total bites is all I can report. 

Obviously, the fish were biting for some people, just not us. But I don't know what else we could do. We flipped wood. We threw chatterbaits and spinnerbaits in run-offs. I threw a wacky rig half the day around wood, docks, middle of pockets, everywhere. We fished the middle of slews. We fished points.  We skipped docks. We ran miles of banks with squarebills. Chocolate milk water. Stained water. Clear water. It didn't matter. We could not get bit. The only thing I could guess is that where we fished was simply dead water, even though that dead water was two entire creeks. 

Ok, now to the more touchy-feely stuff. I said earlier how I was determined not to bomb the first tournament of the ABT AND a second straight tournament. I don't think I am a great fisherman and I hope I don't come across that way. I think I am decent and I think I can figure fish out, given long enough. I don't think I've bombed two straight tournaments since I've been writing this blog. Sure, I've not done well in two straight but I've never NOT WEIGHED in two straight. There's a first for everything. 

Anyway, like I said. Not feeling well and pretty down about yesterday and I don't think I even know where we went wrong. 

Fishing Report for Smith Lake 2/16/19

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I said it to Brad. I said it to Wyatt. I said it on my 2019 Tournament Season Look Ahead: First Half post last week. There was no way our luck could hold out on Smith Lake. For reference, practice had historically been really, really bad for us leading up to the three tournaments I have fished on Smith. We would get very, very limited information and then BAM! Light's came on and we won two and had a second place finish in the third. You can read about two of those events, which were both in February, by clicking the links below. 

Fishing Report for Smith Lake 2/24/18

Fishing Report for Smith Lake 2/18/17

Couple of notes, here. I have been out on Smith a little bit for the upcoming Alabama Bass Trail event this Saturday, but Brad and I had decided to stay closer to the Smith Lake Park area, so that's where I prefished. The water is down over ten feet from full pool and the last time I fished Smith, back on January 1st, it was at or near full pool. 

Imagine my surprise on Friday when the weekend started out the complete opposite. Wyatt and I struggled most of the morning, but he had been out a week before and told me that we needed to be fishing the middle of slews and pockets. So, I knew of a few that were close to the areas that Brad and I had won those two tournaments on. They definitely weren't on those points we had been fishing in the past, so we backed out and started fishing deep. 

The lights turned on and we began boating fish. We didn't catch a ton, but everything we caught was an over. I believe we had one under and one slot and while we did miss a lot of fish, by the end of the day we had around 12-14 pounds and we did it without beating on any of the spots we fished. We had two really, really good spots and we agreed to split the two the next day. It seemed like both would be good enough to win on, if you got the bites in the boat. 

I was really excited and didn't sleep Friday night. I was on fish and this would all be a bonus going into the ABT event. It felt like we couldn't miss if we stuck to the pattern the next morning. 

I ignored a few really important facts, all of which fall under one factual umbrella: Mother Nature is undefeated. 

It rained that night. The temp plummeted and even though Brad and I could easily see that the water temp had fallen over five degrees from the day before, I didn't think it would affect the fish. We run to the spot that I was sure we would spend all day in. We picked up a couple of shorts and slot fish pretty quick. I was getting a ton of bites but I simply could not get them to hook up.

This happened a lot the day before, but I just let them chew on the shakey head thinking they would eventually eat it. Bite after bite after bite, the fish would not swallow this worm. I dyed the tail. I flipped the worm and dyed the head. I went to a stick bait. I went to different colors and shakey head sizes. I tried everything I knew and I could not get them to eat. 

The bite shut down at 11AM and I found myself having had 20 or more bites, only boating three fish with none of them overs. Brad boated around the same with no overs. 

We started trying to replicate the pattern, thinking maybe we had spooked the fish. It didn't work. Considering that I brought only four rods, something I have never done before, and they were all finesse baits, I didn't have the ability to go to my normal panic mode, which is to get my 6XD out and start running ledges. 

I kept throwing that worm and it kept not working. We were incredibly frustrated and decided to go home early before the high school tournament started piling up at the park. Again, that's something that I haven't done before. 

The weights to win were right where I expected it. The wildcats took the same weights. Our club took 14 pounds, which was exactly what I thought it would be. But, from third down in every tournament on Saturday, seems like everyone struggled. A lot of that is the pressure on the lake. A lot of it was poor weather and lake levels. 

Of course, I don't let that make me feel better. I didn't fish the current conditions and that was stupid. Water was coming up and it was stained. I should have been cranking, something I have done the past two years and it has landed me big fish. I think the thing that bothers me the most is that I dictated the game plan for Brad and it failed miserably and I feel like I owe him for that. If we would have just showed up with no prefishing, we would have done better. It was impossible to do worse.

Anyway, we didn't get the result we wanted, but the real prize is this weekend. Our number one thing we learned from  Alabama Bass Trail 2018: Year in Review was that fishing pressure is the number one thing that will affect the lake the most on tournament day. So, right now we are fighting the fish, the lake level, and unprecedented amounts of pressure. One thing I know about myself is that I would rather have the world piled on me than not. 

See you this time next week where, hopefully, we have a good showing. 

2019 Tournament Season Look Ahead: First Half

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It's hard to believe that tournament season is officially upon us. If you've been following along this winter (stats say a lot of you have been), then you know I never quit fishing this winter. Storms, sleet, snow....didn't matter. I made myself push through the weather and, for the most part, it was incredibly rewarding. 

In the end, I fished over 48 days in 2018, which is a pretty astounding number of days for a guy with a full time job, three kids, and a lot of other hobbies. 

If you read my Alabama Bass Trail Year End Review, you know I was less than happy with how our first season among some of the best sticks in the south went. Bad decisions, bad luck, and lack of preparation kept us from either of our two goals: to break even by hitting a Top 40 in three of the events and/or making the Championship. 

Enough on the past. Let's talk the first half of 2019. 

I am fishing one club full time, the ABT, and associated wildcats to fill in the limited amount of time. That's basically a tournament once a week. For reference, I fished 48 days last year, at a minimum. 

First up is a double shot of Smith over the next two weeks. Brad and I have fished three club tournaments on Smith the last two years and we've won two and had a second place finish in the other. However, those 10-13 pound bags won't hold up in the local wildcats, much less the ABT.

2015's ABT event took 19 pounds to win and 14 pounds to get 40th. In 2016's ABT, there were three bags above 19 pounds with it taking almost 23 pounds to win. The Wiggins brothers had a solid finish in 2016 and they won both the amateur and pro side of a very tough event last summer. Hard to bet against them. It took 12 pounds to cash a check. In 2017, the bags were much lower with Wesley Sams and Jordan Wiggins taking the win with 17. Again, 12 pounds cut a check. If you look at the leader board, you see the same names over and over. 

We have yet to find magnum spots, though we've been able to put together consistent 12 pound bags of spots. Water level is going to be a concern, as is the weather instability over the coming days. It's going to take 20 pounds to win and 13 to get a check for the ABT. 13 is a number I think we can hit. That's do-able, though fishing against over 200 boats makes anything tough. For our club tournament, it will take 11-13 pounds to win, I believe. I am going to do a lot of fishing on Smith in the coming week, but my expectations are that I doubt I will get lucky three years in a row for the club tourny, but that's a sacrifice I am willing to make to be competitive for the ABT. 

March brings a club tournament on Wilson. Wilson in March has consistently been a fantastic matchup for Brad and I, though 2018 was a bit of a down year, though we did get 3rd in the two tournaments we fished. Those were two of our smaller bags we've had on Wilson. It will take between 20-23 pounds to win that and while 20 pounds is within our grasp, if anyone hammers them, it's not likely to be us. It's more likely we will find ourselves in the 16 pound range. I just don't have faith that we can find a five pound average on tournament day like others have. We just aren't there, yet. 

ABT on Wheeler in late March. This is an interesting time of year on Wheeler because fish will be in a lot of different spawning phases and it can be very, very tough. On the lower end, you are as likely to hit 20 pounds as you are to bust completely. The upper end is completely current dominated and more doesn't mean more is better. You are rolling the dice during the month with the most rain. There is a sweet spot in the TVA's flow and that end fishes super-duper small. Don't be surprised if it takes 25 pounds or more to win this event with it taking 15 to cash a check. More likely, there will be one 20 pound bag with a two pound drop per position to the Top 10 with a cluster around 14 pounds. 

Historically, it's been quite the spread. It's taken 20. It's taken 30. The spread to get a check is anywhere from 11-14. Barring some crazy event, we should get a check here. I would be really disappointed if we don't, considering how much time we spend up there. 

We head back to Weiss in April. That's a month earlier than we made this stop with the ABT last season. With a little less heat than May, this is going to be a numbers game for the majority of the field. Who can luck into those magnum spots? The top, however, has the potential to have the roof blown off, if last year were any indication. Despite being one of the top crappie lakes in the country, Weiss pounded out a 26 pound bag last year. That didn't come to a surprise to many, as Josh and I were told the night before the tournament that it would take 25 or more. The two ABT tournaments have taken at least 23 pounds to win. 

The cut line is going to be around the 12 pound mark and fractions of ounces will matter. Though we only had 10 pounds last year, we had on a fish that would have cut us a check. We had only one day of practice and by the end of the tournament, we had learned a great deal. However, what will it being a month early do to what we found? Still, we know how to fish for spots, so I expect us to be in the running for a check. 

Check back later with the back half of our schedule. 

Fishing Report for Wilson 2/9/19

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I know, I know....you guys are looking for info on Smith Lake, right? Chill out, we will get there. And yes, I have been prefishing on Smith, but with back-to-back tournaments coming up including the Alabama Bass Trail event, I don't think it's wise to air out my laundry.

I will say this about Smith. Smith Lake Park is essentially out of water and you are taking your boat's health into you own hands going there. Josh and I were on fish, but with the water level so low, we didn't bother fishing this week because I think that it would lead me astray. But, then again, what if the water doesn't rebound? It's a guessing game at this point, so I am not going to worry about it until late this week. 

Wyatt and I needed to get on the water, but with a date later that night, I couldn't go to Smith or Pickwick. That left Wilson, Wheeler, or Guntersville. I ruled out the G simply because of the number of boats that would be on the pond. I've fished Wheeler too much this winter, as it is. It hasn't been bad, but it hasn't been fun enough to continue to keep going. That left Wilson.

I was surprised at how many trailers were in the parking lot at Safety Harbor. The lot was almost completely filled, but we hardly saw any boats on the main river with only about four or five anywhere near the dam. 

You can ask my wife, I don't take hints so we fished the dam anyway, getting started about 9:45 AM. I thought the day was going to go terrific because within five minutes of fishing the 100,000 CFS flow, I boated the nice smallie pictured above. Another 15 minutes without a bite and I decided to leave. This wasn't a tournament day, this was fun fishing and I didn't feel like fighting that kind of current for hours just to get five bites.

Joke was ultimately on me, at least in terms of the numbers of bites. We fished the face of the dam, no bites. Ran to Bluewater Creek, no bites.

I decided to start running some of my better bluffs where I have caught huge 20+ pound bags, such as the one from this report: Fishing Report for Wilson 3/19/16.

It didn't take long to get on the board. Wyatt boated two chunks on a wacky rigged stick boat in two consecutive casts and missed another one on the third cast. I boated keepers four and five on two different cranks before we moved down the bluffs. 

At the time, my experience told me that fishing these bluffs was about covering water, not location specific. In addition, it also told me that the A-rig would be the best way to get bit. 

I didn't get a single bite on the rig, nor did we get a single bite anywhere else. Before we knew it, it was 1PM and we had to hit the road after a scant three hours of fishing. Still, our best five went 12 pounds, which wasn't too bad. I just wish we had gotten more bites. 

According to Mr. Johnston of Heartland Anglers, they had 28 boats with it taking 26, 25, and 22.5 pounds for checks. Like I said, I didn't see many boats fishing the river, though I was on the South side and the wind and waves are bad on that side and not many brave it. I believe most people were in the major creeks. 

Water was 52-53 degrees. About a foot of visibility. There was solid chop on the water.