“We’ve got about 175 teams qualified and we usually sign up 45 to 50 teams the morning of the tournament, so we are on pace to get about all of them for the championship.”

But, that is how it has been all season. While most tournament series saw entries drop this year with rising gas prices, Anglers Choice just kept drawing entries – 170 boats at Buggs Island once and more than 200 in two tournaments on Smith Mountain Lake.”

In fact, the series has got so big that it has become cumbersome to accommodate all those anglers, so Lucas has decided to split the series into two divisions for 2013 – a Virginia Division and a North Carolina Division, each featuring six tournaments with the annual lunker challenge in September on Smith Mountain Lake and the two-day classic for both divisions in October on Kerr Reservoir. A tentative schedule is already posted on the Anglers Choice Marine website.

Meantime, Lucas said fishing is expected to be good “in spots” for the 2012 Classic on Smith Mountain Lake this weekend.

“Some guys are finding schooling fish and catching some pretty good ones. The ones not finding the schools are catching 2-pounders,” he said. “This is the time of year when, if you pull up on the right place and have a school of fish come up you can load your boat.”

The cold front that moved through the first part of the week has moved on out, he said, and sunny skies are expected for the rest of the week, but low water may present a problem, he said.

“It looks like the weather will cooperate, but I say that cautiously. Around here it can change in a day. However, I think today was the last cold day of the front, so hopefully everything will be stable and the fish will be cooperating this weekend,” he said.

“The water is down a lot and that may mess with the fish a little bit as far as where they are going to be. That said, I think the fishing will be pretty good this weekend. I don’t think the guys will have any trouble catching fish.”

The low water will create an inconvenience in launching, he noted, with only one boat ramp open at Parkway Marina.

“If water conditions stay the same all anglers who plan to launch there should plan to come early to get their boats in the water. We will only be able to launch one boat at a time which will cause delays each morning. I will launch at the regularly scheduled time unless the conditions are deemed to be unsafe for boat operation.”

Teams had to fish a minimum of four tournaments to qualify for the Classic where the winners will take home a new Ranger Z118 boat with a Mercury Opti Max motor and trailer and Lowrance electronics.

“We have a tie again for the Jiffy Automotive Points Championship,” Lucas said, “so we will have a fish-off at the Classic The team between the two tied for first place that finishes with the highest weight at the Classic will be declared points champions for the 2012 season.”

Tied for first place for the second year in a row are Kenny and Brandon Reynolds and Mike Altizer and Mike Pendleton. Kenny and Brandon Reynolds also won the Jiffy Automotive Big Bag of the Year award, a five-fish limit caught in the first tournament of the year at Smith Mountain Lake that weighed 23.31 pounds.

“Geoff Hill and Chris Vaught won the Jiffy Automotive Big Fish of the Year award with an impressive largemouth caught at Smith Mountain Lake on June 16 that weighed 7.10 pounds,” Lucas said.

 

Anglers Choice Marine Team Trail Championship

Oct 13-14, 2012

Smith Mountain Lake

Parkway Marina

Call Chris Lucas 276-358-0844

www.anglerschoicemarine.com