This was the final event in the Southern Division and on a lake where I normally feel really comfortable. Unfortunately, that comfort level came from
This was the final event in the Southern Division and on a lake where I normally feel really comfortable. Unfortunately, that comfort level came from several visits to Smith in the Winter and early Spring, never in late Summer or Fall.
Ariving at Smith for practice I found the lake level 5 feet below pool with water temps in the low 80’s. The lake level deal was easily handled by my Garmin electronics; with Gamin I easily changed the map (-5) to match the water level so my units showed the water levels exactly as they were during this event. The fall patterns on this predominately spotted bass lake were a different deal altogether. Try as I might I couldn’t put together a pattern or an area that could be repeated. I caught some really nice spots in practice but could go back to the same area the next day and not get a bite. I did find a pattern and area for largemouth. I could catch largemouth on a Zorro Booza Bug with a Zoom Big Salty Chunk trailer in laydowns and brush piles up the river. I told my practice partner Greg Mauldin that I could catch 18 pounds and day “IF” I was the only boat up the river and “IF” I put every bite in the boat. Well, I was not the only boat upriver (there were 12 tournament boats) and I didn’t fish perfectly clean. I did, however, catch a limit; the problem was it took me two days….I had four largemouth on Day 1 and only one on Day 2. As predicted, there were just not enough largemouth for that many boats over a two day period. The highlight of the tournament was presenting a TMNT Kid Casters No-Tangler rod to Korbin Hayes from the BASS Open stage. My 89th place in the final standings put me in the middle of the pack. I can’t wait to get back next Spring when the FLW Tour visits Smith Lake April 26-29!
Since I didn’t make the Top 12 third day cut I spent the morning showing off my beautiful TMNT Toyota Tundra with its Leer cap at the Jasper, AL Toyota dealer; they invited me back next April when I’m in town for the FLW.