AnglersChannel

With Water Level Down, Fishing 'rather Tough' For Flw Tour Major On Beaver Lake

Dearal Rodgers has had mixed result in five previous FLW Tour tournaments on Arkansas' Beaver Lake, but he notched top 50 finals in the last two events there and is looking for more of the same in the third FLW Tour Major of 2012 this week.

But, it might not be easy.

“Beaver Lake was high a couple of weeks ago but it has been dropped about 6 or 7 feet and is pretty low right now,” said the second-year Camden, S.C., pro. And that, he added, has made the fishing “rather tough.”

Rodgers did not earn a check in his first trip to Beaver Lake as a co-angler in 2006 when he finished near the bottom of the pack. But, he did pick up prize money in his next two trips there, finishing 82^nd in 2007 and 81^st in 2008, as a co-angler.

His best finish came in 2009 when he weighed in seven bass over two days at 11 pounds, 3 ounces, to finish in 21^st place and win $1,300.

The next time he fished Beaver Lake was last year when he finished 50^th as a pro angler after weighing in six bass at 14 pounds, 13 ounces, and won $10,000.

In 2009 Rodgers was the FLW Tour's Co-Angler of the Year after registering two top 25s, a top 15 and two top 10s. The following year, he capped his co-angler career by winning the Forrest Wood Cup on Georgia's Lake Lanier. In his second year as a pro angler he is currently ranked 87^th, after finishing 68^th at Lake Hartwell and 95^th on Table Rock in the first two Major tournaments of the year, both in March.

In 2011 Rodgers finished 59^th in points, but felt he had a fairly good year as a first-year pro considering the fact that he was able to take only so much time away from his job and did not get to practice sufficiently for most tournaments. Caught between the rigors of tournament fishing and job demands he ran out of steam towards the end of the year.

But that changed this year after he and his wife opened their own business and his financial demands were eased somewhat when Sportsman's Warehouse came on board as his major sponsor. The relationship also helps with planning his fishing strategy, he said.

“I logged onto sportsmanswarehouse.com and ordered some more Spot Removers and trick worms for the event on Beaver Lake,” he said.

After checking out the lake this week Rodgers said he has not seen any fish on the banks.

“They seem to be relating to the steeper areas. I feel like there is going to be a good bite on top early in the morning and then it will get tougher in the middle of the day,” he said. “A lot of Shakey Head fish will be weighed in and I think 10 pounds a day will be very good.”

Rodgers added, “Largemouth keepers are going to be key this week so I'll be trying hard to catch some.”

FLW Tour Major

Apr 26-29, 2012

Beaver Lake

Prairie Creek Park

www.flwoutdoors.com

by AnglersChannel

Fishing Friendships Forged In Warriors On The Water Tournament For Military Anglers

In fact, said Hal Abshire, one of the co-founders of the unique fishing event, many of the military fishermen have been deployed since they fished in the tournament.

“They say that all they thought about is coming back to fishing in the Warriors on the Water Tournament.”

The 7^th annual Warriors on the Water Bass Tournament will be held Friday on North Carolina's Jordan Lake. Abshire said the tournament is limited to 150 boats and anglers come from all over the United States to fish with their military partners.

“All the boats will have American flags and there will be yellow ribbons tied on each boat as a welcome home from the front. It is a very unique experience to see that,” he said.

The WOW week begins Wednesday with the Ice Breaker, a social gathering so the anglers and their military counterparts can meet and get to know each other.

“For the past two years we have put two boaters and two military co-anglers at each table so they can not only meet but also sit with them throughout the evening,” Abshire said. “We will also have VIPs in from the military side, commanders from the different branches of service who will speak to the crowd. Bassmaster Classic contender Dustin Wilkes will be a guest speaker representing the Elite side of BASS tournaments.”

And nobody goes home empty-handed, he added.

“When they get there they receive a bag of goodies and this year they get a rod and reel as well. All of this is due to our sponsors who help us put this event on. This whole deal is at no cost to the boaters or the military anglers. Everything all three days is free thanks to the sponsors and the fact that we raise money all year long so we can put this event together.”

Thursday is VIP Day, which is a real treat to the boaters, sponsors and volunteers, Abshire said.

“We take them to Fort Bragg and to Polk Field so they can see what the military people do for a living. We will have them jumping out of a 42-foot tower and sliding down a rope, which is an introduction to parachuting – and they love it. We visit different troops, eat lunch with them, and do just about everything with them for a day.”

On Friday, when the tournament starts Chandler Flynn, a senior at Wahlert Catholic High School in Dubuque, Iowa, will sing the National Anthem. Over the past four years she has performed in many Grand Opera House productions as well as productions at her school. She plans to study music education and vocal performance in college next year.

Abshire said the boaters love doing the tournament as much as the military anglers they take on the water.

“Some of them have never been in the military and this is a way for them to say 'Thanks.' A lot of friendships have been made and a lot of them stay in touch and fish together through the years,” he said.

Abshire said Warriors on the Water is a non-profit organization founded by three combat veterans as a way to show appreciation to the men and women who serve in the military today. The tournament Friday will launch with all the pageantry of a championship bass tournament, with New Hope Ramp lit up like a small city filled with ladies and others greeting everyone as they come by on their way to the water.

“FLW will have their stage set up for the tournament and Texas Roadhouse will prepare the food for them. It will be a big deal, for sure.”

Warriors On The Water Bass Tournament

Fri, Apr 27, 2012

Jordan Lake - NC

New Hope Ramp

www.warriorsonthewater.org

by AnglersChannel

Gainey Hoping To Lose 'confusion' By Time Everstart Tournament Starts On Santee Cooper

Nick Gainey spent the first half of this week trying to make sense out of the confusion over the bass in the Santee Cooper Lakes as he prepared for the FLW EverStart Series Southeast Division tournament this coming weekend.

After practicing on his home waters Friday and Saturday, the Charleston, S.C., angler admitted the bass had him more than a little befuddled.

“I fished on some key trees that I normally catch fish on and I had five bites for the two days,” Gainey said. “And then Saturday they had a BFL tournament out of John C. Land Landing and the boy who won it caught 27 pounds and he was fishing trees like I had been for two days.”

Chuck Howard of Elloree weighed in five bass at 27 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the BFL South Carolina Division tournament on the Santee Cooper Lakes, earning $3,466 for first place, plus a $2,000 Ranger Cup bonus.

This time of year, Gainey said, the bass are mostly in post-spawn and typically the first place they go after spawning it to the standing trees in the lakes.

“A lot of times they will be on an isolated tree, or a tree on an isolated point or island. That is the best spot. Sometimes a little group of trees around an island will do well, too.”

The problem is finding the key trees, he said.

“They are not on every tree at Santee. You can catch 25 pounds on some trees and then you can fish 500 other trees and not catch a fish.”

So, his game plan this week was to concentrate on an area where he believed a group of fish would be instead of running all over the lake.

“Just pick a quadrant and spend three days trying to fish it down,” he said.

A lot is at stake for Gainey, who is currently ranked 68^th in the EverStart Southeast Division, in this EverStart tournament on his local waters. He had mixed success in Florida and Georgia earlier this year, finishing 112^th on Lake Okeechobee in the EverStart in January, but rallying to a 43^rd place finish on Lake Seminole a month ago.

Ironically, he suffered one of his worst tournaments in the Okeechobee EverStart but had one of his best outings on the same lake three weeks later, finishing 10^th in the Walmart FLW Series Open tournament there February 9.

“I did very well in the EverStart on Lake Seminole, which gave me two good tournaments in a row after I finished 10^th in the Open on Lake Okeechobee,” he said. “At least I am on a little roll now.”

That, and the fact that he is noted for following poor practices with good tournaments, could bode well for Gainey in the Santee Cooper EverStart this week.

“I'm pretty confident because I have this pattern going in tournaments,” he said. “I have some friends from Georgia and West Virginia that I travel with to tournaments and they accuse me of lying because if I have a bad practice I am liable to whack them in the tournament. I've done that a half a dozen times.”

He recounted a tournament on the Potomac River a few years ago when he struggled mightily in practice – and then finished fourth in the tournament.

“When a tournament starts,” he said, “you just put your head down, don't run everywhere, and you just fish. Fish where you got some good bites. I have that rep going, so I feel good about the tournament.”

FLW EverStart Series – Southeast Division

Apr 19-21, 2012

Santee Cooper Lakes

John C. Land III Landing

www.flwoutdoors.com

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/bassfishing/afs/tournament/2012/6763/santee-cooper-details/

by AnglersChannel

Howard Wins Santee Cooper Bfl

Second place finisher Lex Costas was on Howard’s heels, bringing 5 fish to the scale that weighed 27-06. Unexpectedly, these torp two anglers were the only ones to catch more than 25 lbs on the lake that has given up numerous 30 lb bags this spring. In a testament to how tough the fishing was, 3 anglers finished in the top 10 without catching a limit of fish—and one of them only had 3 fish.

In third place, Jayme Rampey’s limit pushed the scales to 22-14.

Dearal Rodgers pulled off an impressive feat, taking 4th place with one fish less than the limit. The weight of his 4 bass was aided by two brutes that weighed over 7 lbs apiece. “I caught the biggest one on a buzzbait early near some grass. All my other fish came on Texas-rigged plastic worms,” said the Camden native, whose bag weighed 21-13.

5th place saw Chad Cook just 3 ounces back of Rodgers. Cook weighed in 21-10, which included the tournament’s big fish, an 8-01 that added $435 to Cook’s pocket. “I caught that fish on a jig, and I missed another one early this morning that was about as big,” Cook said, stressing the fine line that separates a top five finish from a win. No stranger to big fish honors, Cook earned the same award last month at the Bassmaster Weekend Series event at this same landing.

In 6th place was Eddie Herlong Sr, who was bested by Cook by a mere ounce. Jay Keith  was  right behind Herlong with 21-08, followed by Lyn Langston, whose 4 fish weighed 19-11. Dennis Reedy took 9th place with just 3 fish that tipped the scales at 18-13. Ron Brown finished off the top 10 with 5 fish that weighed 18-12.

The top 17 anglers earned checks on the day, and 68 of the 87 anglers weighed fish.

In the co-anglers division, Scott Frye entered the tournament atop the overall standings in the SC non-boater division, and did his part to keep things that way. Frye boated 5 fish that weighed 15-02, topping the second place finisher of Kenneth Morrison by 4 lbs. Frye ended the day with a check for over $1700.”I used Texas-rigged Zoom trick worms all day,” said the Sumter angler.

Frye and Morrison were the only 2 co-anglers to bring 5 fish to the weigh-in platform. Todd Gambrell took 3rd with 4 fish that weighed 8-03. Michael Smith and Bart Jacobus rounded out the top 5 with 3 fish apiece. Smith’s bag weighed in at 7-15, with Jacobus weighing in 7-10.

One co-angler, 18-yr old DJ McEachern, knew the day was going to be tough after prefishing Friday. “I only got a handful of bites yesterday, so I expected it to be a tough day,” said the Columbia native. “Then, someone stole my boater’s keys, so we couldn’t use the outboard. We just fished close by with the trolling motor all day.” McEachern, who plans to fish on USC’s fishing team starting this fall, made the best of things, catching one keeper that weighed 3-08 and landed him in 26th place.

87 co-anglers fished, with 45 weighing in at least one fish.

The next stop for the BFL’s South Carolina division will be June 2 at Lake Wateree out of Clearwater Cove Marina.

by AnglersChannel

Montgomery Heading To Elite Series Tournament On Bull Shoals With Open Mind

Andy Montgomery has never fished Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas before, so when practice starts Monday for the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament next week, he will be in full learning mode.

“I' don't know much about the place and really have not done much research, but I have fished Table Rock and Beaver Lake several times and they are on the same chain, so I figure the fishing will be pretty similar,” Montgomery said.

“When practice starts Monday I'll be riding around to see what the place looks like and go from there. I'll just keep moving and covering water,” he said.

“I do know there is a lot of clear water in the lake, extremely clear, so there will probably be a lot of sight fishing. I kind of expect sight fishing to be the dominant pattern. Other than that, if we get a rain and get any color in the backs of the creeks you can probably catch them flipping around the bushes. The Ozark lakes fluctuate a lot, so if we get a rainfall and the water comes up in the bushes we will try to catch them flipping.”

Another tactic he will probably consider, he said, is throwing a Wiggle Wart.

“The Wiggle Wart is always a staple in the Ozark Lakes,” he noted.

Montgomery said he has a pretty tough hill to climb to get back into the top echelon in the points standings after a rough tournament on Florida's Lake Okeechobee last month. After a 40^th place finish and earning a check on the St. John's River, Montgomery finished 83^rd a week later on the Big O and left with no money. As a result, he heads to Bull Shoals in 66^th place in the standings.

“I have done well on Okeechobee in the past and am pretty comfortable fishing down there. I had an extremely good practice there, but for whatever reason they did not bite the first day of the tournament and I did not go back to my spot the second day. I should have because I knew the fish were there,” he said.

“I caught them good the second day. I just did not catch an size. They are all little fish. I did lose one big one the second day flipping it into the boat that would have got me up there in the standings.”

While Montgomery isn't satisfied with his place in the standings, he is not overly concerned.

“It's way too early in the season. We've only fished two tournaments. I don't like being down there, but I have been down there before and was able to fight my way back.”

Bassmaster Elite Series Bull Shoals Quest

Apr 19-22, 2012

Bull Shoals Lake

Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock

www.bassmaster.com

by AnglersChannel

Cherry Hopes To Parlay Tournament Success Into Elite Invitation In Southern Opens

Hank Cherry of Maiden, N.C., hopes to extend his recent tournament success in the Bassmaster Bass Pro Shops Southern Open tournament on Lake Norman next weekend, with the goal of earning a slot in the BASS Elite Series next year.

Cherry finished a respectable 17^th in the first Southern Open of the year Jan. 19-21on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Florida and he hopes to improve that position on his home lake in the second Open of the year April 5-7.

Fishing should be very good and he likes his chances, he said.

“Right now about half the bass have spawned and about half are waiting on the next full moon to come up. I think fish will be caught from the bank out to 20 feet deep in the Open, and I think you will be able to catch them just about any way you want to fish,” he said.

“We had such a warm winter the lake never got cold so I really can't tell if one end of the lake will have better fishing than the other. The water temperature is all about 68-69 degrees over the whole lake.”

Cherry said he believes it will take a combination of spotted bass and largemouth bass to win the tournament.

“I would expect to see some big bags come off the beds the first day of the tournament and then I imagine that will all be done,” he said.

Cherry, who had to back off from a heavy tournament schedule because of the bad economy and the arrival of a baby, is forging his way back onto the tournament scene.

“I could not round up enough money to go out and fish on my own and then my wife and I had a baby, but he is bigger now and things are getting more stable so I am trying to get back to where I want to be,” said Cherry who has won more than $134,000 in FLW Outdoors tournaments, including wins in four Walmart BFL events from 2006 through 2009.

Cherry is sponsored by Cashion Rods in Pittsboro, N.C., a company that takes a scientific approach to designing fishing rods, using cutting edge procedures and high performance materials that are typically used in the production of race cars. All Cashion Bass Fishing Rods are designed using Fuji Microguide technology, which increase the physical performance and sensitivity.

Cherry has started strong in local BFL competitions, currently leading the BFL South Carolina Division in points and is fifth in the North Carolina Division standings.

He finished second in the S.C. Division tournament on Lake Murray Feb. 25, with his largest one-day catch in FLW Outdoors competition at 22 pounds, 13 ounces. His limit included his biggest fish in FLW Outdoors competition, a 7-pound, 6-ounce Lake Murray largemouth.

That finish, combined with a sixth place at Lake Wylie March 17 has him in first place in the points for South Carolina and he is not far behind in the North Carolina Division. Cherry finished fifth in the only N.C. Division tournament of the year so far March 3 on Lake Norman and holds down the fifth spot in division standings.

However, Cherry will not be able to defend his spot atop the standings in the South Carolina Division because the next tournament at Santee Cooper conflicts with his plans to fish with his dad in the Oakley Big Bass Challenge on Lake Norman the weekend of April 14.

“My father has a bad back and does not get to fish very much. I am going to fish the Big Bass Challenge with my dad the day of the Santee BFL tournament He wants to go so I am going to take him instead of going to Santee,” said Cherry. “I only have one dad and there are plenty of bass tournaments.”

Although his primary goal is to secure that Elite Series invite, Cherry admits there is another possibility that he also has his eye on at Lake Norman.

“The winner gets an automatic invite to the Bassmaster Classic. Only one person can win and on Lake Norman I think I have as good a shot as anybody this time of year,” he said.

Bassmaster Bass Pro Shops Southern Open #2

Apr 5-7, 2012

Lake Norman

Blythe Landing

www.bassmaster.com

by AnglersChannel

Ware Specializes In Salt Water, But Don't Count Him Out When It Comes To Largemouth Bass

Kent Ware's professional expertise is in saltwater game fish, but his passion is in freshwater – as in tournament bass fishing.

He has taken time off from his day job this week to fish the FLW EverStart Series Southeast Division tournament on Lake Seminole, returning to the EverStart Series after a layoff of a couple of years. Upon his return to EverStart in January, Ware finished sixth in the tournament at Lake Okeechobee to open the season.

Ware, of Wadmalaw island, S.C., began practicing in Seminole over the weekend, a little while after arriving Saturday and a good bit on Sunday.

“It's going to be an interesting tournament,” he said. “The fish have been bedding for about six weeks and the ones left up are pretty ragged out. They've already expended a lot of energy laying eggs and the water is pretty warm, so a lot of fish are moving back to the river channel.”

And, he said, they have been hammered, too.

“There have been a lot of tournaments here on Seminole lately and a lot of the shallow fish have been beat up pretty bad,” he said.

“I've caught a few fish each day, but nothing big. I have not seen any big fish at all. Most are 2 to 3 pounds, nice tournament fish. I would be more comfortable if I could find some post spawn fish. Most of the fish I am seeing up on the beds are males,” he said. “But, we've got a new moon coming so that may change things.”

Ware last fished the EverStart Series in 2009, taking time off from the travel to work at his job with the U.S. Fish Hatchery at Bears Bluff, S.C, and concentrate on fishing the Fishers of Men tournament series with his wife and daughter.

“I have a real job so I had to back off the BFLs. My wife and I are pretty active in the Fishers of Men trail and I fish some tournaments with my daughter,” Ware said. “My wife and I fished the Fishers of Men nationals at Guntersville last year and did pretty well and my daughter Emily and I fished the Fishers of Men Santee Legacy tournament last weekend and came in second.” Ware and his wife Shannon finished second in that FOM National Championship at Guntersville.

Ware works with redfish, sturgeon, cobia and American shad at the hatchery at Bears Bluff.

“We've been raising redfish and stocking them around Wadmalaw Island, a half a million a year out of the hatchery, in partnership with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. They provide the brood stock,” he said. “We keep a real close eye on genetics so we make sure we are putting fish back that are comparable with the wild fish. Then we go back a year later and do sampling to determine what kind of contribution we are making.”

While he has had to draw back from major tournament fishing during the downturn in the economy, Ware has kept his bass fishing instincts honed in Fishers of Men and other local and regional tournaments and his showing in January on Okeechobee is proof he could make some noise on the EverStart circuit this year.

FLW EverStart Series – Southeast Division

Mar 22-24, 2012

Lake Seminole

Bainbridge Boat Basin

www.flwoutdoors.com

by AnglersChannel