Fish In Transition Could Make Fishing Tough For Bws Tennessee East Final On Watts Bar
Fishing in the Bassmaster Weekend Series Tennessee East Division two-day final on Watts Bar Lake this weekend is probably going to be pretty tough, said points leader Dale Pelfrey of Rockwood, Tenn., who has been monitoring the fishing steadily for about two weeks.
“The weights are going to be down in this one,” Pelfrey predicted. “The fish are in transition, moving from deep water back up – and they are scattered and suspending a lot. That is gong to make it tough fishing for a lot of people.”
Pelfrey, who lives right next to the boat ramp, has practiced just about every day this week. He said he believes he can hold onto the points title by fishing deep.
“There are still enough fish out deep that will bite; they are just scattered,” he said. I’ll be deep cranking, jigging and working a big worm.”
Pelfrey holds a considerable lead going into the two-day final, some 27 points ahead of Perry “BJ” Dawson of Spring City, Tenn., with the rest of the field trailing 17 and more points behind Dawson.
Pelfrey had a fairly slow start to the season, finishing 13th in the first tournament in March on Lake Guntersville, but since then he has been a model of consistency. He finished second in both tournaments on Chickamauga Lake in April and May and then won the tournament on Ft. Loudon Lake in June.
“I feel like I have a good shot at winning this Angler of the Year race,” he said. “I know everything could change. I could have a bad day, but right now I think I am on enough fish to make a good run of it.”
Since the final is a double-points tournament, with a two-point gap in points awarded (i.e., 500 for first, 498 for second and on down) a good day would stretch Pelfrey’s lead, but if he stumbles somebody in the top echelon could have a good day and make up a lot of ground with double points.
The top 40 boaters and top 40 co-anglers in this weekend’s tournament will be invited to fish the Southeast Regional Championship at Clarks Hill Lake near Augusta, Ga., Oct. 5-6. The regional will feature teams from the Alabama North, Alabama South, Tennessee East, South Carolina and Florida Divisions.
From the regional championship, the top 50 boaters and top 50 co-anglers will qualify for the Bassmaster Weekend Series Championship Nov. 4-10 on Lake Sam Rayburn in Texas.
Bassmaster Weekend Series – Tennessee East Division
Aug 25-26, 2012
Watts Bar Lake
Tom Fuller Park
Call Billy Benedetti 256-230-5632
