“I think it’s going to be a huge tournament,” said tournament director Chris Lucas, who said the recent Virginia-North Carolina dual weekend on Kerr Reservoir set records for the number of anglers entered. “We had 226 teams for the Virginia Division ornamental on Saturday and 176 for the Carolina Division on Sunday. Almost 400 teams in two days was just amazing.”

And he anticipates another huge turnout with outstanding fishing for Saturday’s Virginia Division tournament on Smith Lake, he said.

“I fished the Oakley Big Bass tournament up there this past weekend and you could see a few fish up, a few beds here and there but the big wave had not come up yet. The temperature was 60 degrees and today (Thursday) it was up to 64 degrees. With the milder weather and with the full moon coming May 14 they may be all over the place for our tournament on May 10.

“If the weather continues to be decent I think we will have another big draw,” he said. “If you plan to fish it, you might want to get pre-registered. The numbers are going to be high and if you want to get out early that morning, you had better get your name in soon.”

Because a good many anglers missed the opening tournament because of the snowstorm, Lucas scheduled a wild card tournament for the weekend before the May 10 tournament so anglers could get qualified for the championship.

“The wild card does not count for points,” he said. “It is being held just to make sure everybody gets to fish for a boat. It looks like we will have 50-60 teams in the wild card.”

Lucas noted that the season is in the second half now, with the Smith Mountain tournament for the Virginia Division May 10, followed by Carolina Division tournament May 24 on High Rock, then another Virginia-Carolina combo weekend June 7-8 on Kerr. Beginning last year the Anglers Choice Team series was split into two divisions, one for Virginia and one for North Carolina, with four qualifiers in each division.

“The other aspect of out trail this year is that we are going to have two separate Classics, with a Ranger Boat for the winners on the Virginia side and a Triton for the winners on the North Carolina side. So, with the opportunity to fish both Classics, guys have two chances to win a boat.”

And, he added, about 80 teams so far have registered for the Bassmaster Trail to fish for the opportunity to qualify for the 2015 Bassmaster Classic.

The Virginia Division Classic will be held Oct. 4-5 on Smith Mountain Lake.

 

Anglers Choice Marine Team Trail – VA Division

Sat, May 10, 2014

Smith Mountain Lake

Parkway Marina

Call Chris Lucas 276-358-0844

www.anglerschoicemarine.com