“Fishing has been kind of tough. In the early morning it is okay, but then it gets tough. We’ve had record heat, 104 degrees here just a couple of days ago, so it is hot and they are predicting triple digits.”

That, said Gerald, means most of the fish weighed in Saturday probably will be caught deep.

“Other than that it is going to be a tough tournament I don’t think we will see a huge bag, probably 17 pounds would be a good bag Saturday,” he said. “I am sure there will be some fish caught on a deep diving crankbait and any type of plastic or jigs that you can cast and get out in the deep water.”

Deep on Lay Lake, he noted, is about 12 to 14 feet, not the extreme depths found on some other Southern reservoirs.

“Flipping is usually good on Lay Lake, so I am sure there will be some fish caught flipping, but the tournament won’t be dominated by flipping. It could be mixed, with both flipping and deep water producing.”

As tough as the fishing is for the moment, he said, a little change in the weather could create much better fishing.

“We are getting some showers around. They are just sporadic showers, so we will just have to wait and see, but if the weather does change and cool things off it may change the fishing.”

The extreme heat and tough fishing may combine to hold some anglers back who would normally fish Saturday’s tournament, Gerald said.

“All you have to do is fish one tournament to qualify for the classic and I would think some of these guys who have already fished a tournament, if they are not competitive for the points, might opt to do something else Saturday as tough as the fishing is.,” he said.

But they might also come and fish just to get in on the superior prize package offered by the Airport Trail, he said.

“We pay back more than we take in. We pay back about 120 percent and nobody else does that. That is one of the things that is appealing for our tournaments. Plus the manufacturers bonuses are really big,” he said.

“If you are fishing out of a Triton and you win one of our tournaments you get a $7,000 bonus in cash and that his huge. And if you are fishing in our Classic in a Triton you will be fishing for $12,000. For a hundred-dollar entry fee nobody does that but Airport Marine.”

And some anglers new to the trail might show up as they only have to fish one tournament to qualify for the classic, he noted.

“The guys who have not fished the trail have two more chances to qualify for the classic, which is going to be a really big deal,” he said. “The Classic will be held Sept. 8 on a lake to be announced. We won’t have a blast-off. Everybody will be pre-paid and will start fishing at a certain time. The fishermen just love that. That is why it is called the EZ Trail. We make it as easy as we can for the fishermen.”

The remaining qualifying tournaments include Saturday and the Aug. 4 on Lay Lake.

 

Airport Marine Tournament Trail

Sat, Jul 7, 2012

Lay Lake

Paradise Point Marina & RV Resort

Call Flynn Gerald 205-678-9666

www.airportmarinetrails.com