Although Hurricane Isaac made landfall in southern Louisiana it produced heavy rains stretching into Alabama, and the resulting rainfall could have a lasting effect on the Lady Bass Anglers tournament on Lake Neely Henry next weekend, according to top lady pro Pam Martin-Wells of Brainbridge, Ga.

“We went up there about a month ago with some friends, but it’s Coosa River fishing in Neely Henry and you can’t do a whole lot beforehand. Now, with this storm and with the rain headed that way a lot could change,” Martin-Wells said.

She plans to drive to Neely Henry on Friday and be ready when practice opens on Saturday.

“I’ll spend some time up river and some time down in the lake, dissecting things and seeing which patterns are working best. Sometimes the river can be on and sometimes the lake can be on, so we will have some time to figure something out before the tournament begins.”

Martin-Wells, who is second in points in the Angler of the Year race, said she has no pre-conceived notions about how to fish the tournament although she has done well on Neely Henry in the past.

“I try to go into every practice with an open mind,” she said. “I finished second there a number of times and I won the last two events there, but it was a different time of year. But the entire Coosa River Chain has been good to me. It’s a fun place to fish.”

Martin-Wells won the Women’s Bassmaster Tour presented by Academy Sports & Outdoors tournament in late May 2008 and less than a year later she won the Academy Sports + Outdoors Women’s Bassmaster Tour season opener on Neely Henry Lake in late March 2009.

She was the Lady Bass Anglers 2011 Angler of the Year and she is right back in the race this year, trailing another top lady angler, Kim Bain Moore, by only 15 points going into the final qualifying tournament of 2012.

Martin-Wells has been fishing professionally on several ladies circuits for two decades and has stood her ground against top male pros in traditional tournament fishing. She was the first woman angler to make the cut in a Bassmaster Classic, finishing 22^nd in the 2010 Classic on Alabama’s Lay Lake. The all-time leading money winner in womens’ professional fishing, she has made 56 top 5 finishes in competition, won 14 national titles and was Women’s Professional Fishing Angler of the Year for 1994, 1995, 2005 and 2009.

She won the 2005 Women’s Bassmaster Tour Preview Event and the 2006 Women’s Bassmaster Championship. She also has been inducted into the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame.

When not fishing a tournament or practicing for a tournament, she and her husband, Steven Wells operate the Lake Seminole Guide Service and they have just begun producing a local outdoors show, Outdoors 4 Reel which can be viewed on YouTube or at www.outdoors4reel.com.

“It’s a break from fishing and we are having a lot of fun doing it,” she said.

 

Lady Bass Anglers Association

Sept 6-8, 2012

Neely Henry Lake

Gadsden City Launch

Call Larry Morris at 540-239-7902 or Secret York at 270-748-9041

www.ladybassanglers.com