AnglersChannel

New Southern Pro Am Series To Hold Very First Tournament Sunday On Toho Chain

“My son and I and a couple of other guys are doing the series,” said tournament founder Bill Huffman. “We just got tired of some of the same old routines at tournaments. Everybody wants you to be a member, so you have to pay club dues. I thought, why make someone have to be a member if they are already fishing your series anyway and helping to popularize it?”

Huffman said that since a lot of tournament series keep a lot of the money instead of giving it back to the fishermen, the Southern Pro Am plan is to provide a better payback with no membership.

“All you have to do is make the top 40 to qualify for the championship,” he said. “We also let people sign up at the event, which most series don't do anymore. In this economy some guys are tight on money, going from paycheck to paycheck, so if they get the money they can sign up the morning of the tournament.”

The tournament series in Florida this year starts off on Toho this Sunday, the moves to the Harris Chain of Lakes Feb. 19, followed by Lake Okeechobee March 18, on to Lake Istokpoga April 1, back to the Harris Chain April 29, then Okeechobee May 20, with the final qualifier on the Toho Chain of Lakes June 10.

“Right now our championship is scheduled July 28-29 out of Roland Martin's Marina on Lake Okeechobee, but if there is low water that time of year our backup plan is to hold it out of the Camp Mack River Resort on the Toho Chain,” Huffman said.

The goal of the series, he said, is to expand into Georgia and Florida next year and the Carolinas the following year.

“Each state will have it's own division with anglers qualifying for a true Southern Bass Championship in the Southeast,” he said. Entry fee for each tournament will be $150 per boat, with $100 paid back that day. Part of the rest will include $10 for the big bass fund, $7 for that day and $3 for the championship big bass, and $20 for the championship purse.

Huffman said fishing should be very good for the inaugural tournament this weekend on the Toho Chain.

“I've been checking some fishing reports and it looks like some big fish will be weighed in. I think it will take an 8-pounder or more to win big fish and I think it will take 20 pounds just to get into the top five.”

He said anglers have been catching bass on “rubber worms,” from 6- to 8-inch worms up to big 10-inch worms, both Texas- and Carolina-rigged.

“I think there will also be some fish caught on topwater baits early in the day and we are also starting to see some spawning fish moving up shallow, so sight fishing might be an element this weekend,” he said. “It looks like the weather will cooperate, too, with temperatures in the mid 70s for highs and mid 50s for lows.”

Southern Pro Am Tournaments Open Team Bass Series

Sun, Jan 22, 2012

Toho Chain

Camp Mack's River Resort

Call Bill Huffman at 941-735-4471

www.spabass.com

by AnglersChannel

Texas Bass Couples Looking For Good Fishing On Lake Amistad In First Tournament Of Year

“I talked to pro angler Keith Combs, who grew up and guided on Lake Amistad before hitting the tournament trail, about the fishing and he is looking for a good topwater bite there this weekend,” said Busbee who serves as West Region tournament director with his wife, Pam.

“This time of year there will be a good shallow water bite and we will be looking at the 40-to 45-foot range for catching fish on a swim bait. Amistad is notorious for having a good swim bait bite,” he said. “Some will also be working a drop shot and jigs in the hydrilla beds to try to get a big bite.”

Busbee said the lake is about 8 feet low from full pool, but it is a very clear lake so anglers can actually catch spawning fish in 8 to 10 feet of water.

After fishing together in a number of couples tournaments over the years, Busbee and his wife founded the Texas Bass Couples Trail about seven years ago and it has grown from one region to seven in that period of time. In fact, the East Region will be holding its first tournament of the year on Brady Branch lake in east Texas this weekend, too.

“The others will follow suit and start back in February,” Busbee said. Each region will hold six qualifying tournaments and then the qualified teams will meet in the 2012 Championship Sept. 11-13 at Lake Bob Sandlin, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce in nearby Mt. Pleasant, Texas.

“Everybody who is a director has fished in the Texas Bass Couples before becoming a director,” Busbee said. “Many of them had a long drive to fish so they formed their own region.”

Busbee said the main theme of the tournaments, while super competitive, is to have fun fishing.

“We've tried religiously to set things up so folks will have a good time. A lot of guys fish with their mothers, some fish with their daughters and some with their wives or girlfriends. It's just a family atmosphere.”

Teams pay a $35 membership fee and the entry fee per tournament is $85. The payback is 80 percent to one in every five teams. Directors keep 20 percent to cover expenses, Busbee said.

If there are 25 boats in a tournament, first place pays $642, second $315 on down to fifth place, which pays $125. Money for the championship is $125 and Big Bass pays $125. If there are 50 boats, first place jumps to $900 and places are paid down through 10^th place, which gets $115, and the championship and Big Bass money are both doubled. With 75 boats first place is worth $1,250 and payback goes through 15^th place at $100, with $375 for championship Money and $375 for Big Bass.

The Angler of the Year team in each region earns free entry fees for the region the following year, Busbee said.

“We enjoy some stiff competition, but it's all in fun. And we try our best to be an asset to the fishing community.”

Texas Bass Couples

Sun, Jan 15, 2012

Lake Amistad

Call Tommy & Pam Busbee, 325-647-4116 or 325-217-8522

www.texasbasscouples.com

by AnglersChannel

Cold Fronts, High Water Hampering Kissimmee Bite For Tampa Pro Bass Tournament

“It's depending on the weather again,” Taylor said, noting that a cold front is moving across the area the first part of this week. “Kissimmee is tough when cold fronts hit.”

And the high water left from heavy summer rains is not helping matters either, he said.

“There is a lot more water than normal this time of year. We had a bunch of rain a number of days in a row back in the summer that filled up everything. It's still pretty high, about three feet higher than it should be this time of year.”

Before the cold front this week anglers were catching fish outside the grass lines on Senkos, Rat-L-traps and spinnerbaits, Taylor said

“Kissimmee is a real good flipping lake but the flipping bite had been off. This time of year flipping is kind of tough anyway,” he said.

While the colder winter weather seemingly has stalled the bite some, Taylor said a good hard cold snap is needed to put the fish in the mood to move shallow and start preparing for the spawn.

“The fish should start migrating back to the shallow water pretty soon,” he said. “It's really kind of strange. You need a cold snap to trigger the fish but we have not had that yet so the big movement so far is not doing a whole lot. They are catching some fish outside the grass, but they have not moved all the way in yet. You can go shallow and catch some small fish, young buck bass.”

Even with the economy down and anglers having to pick the tournaments they can afford to fish, Taylor said the Tampa Pro Trail continues to do well on the Kissimmee Chain, East and West Lake Toho and Lake Istokpoga.

The 30-year-old trail is the longest running trail of its kind in Central Florida, said Taylor who bought the trail with his wife 17 years ago. He said there is a core group of about 35 to 38 teams who fish regularly and over the last four or five years the tournaments have averaged 43 to 47 boats.

“Actually, last month at Istokpoga was our biggest turnout in three years. We had 53 boats, which is a good turnout for that lake and we think Kissimmee should be about the same this Sunday. We always draw really well on Kissimmee,” he said.

“We have a lot of faithful anglers who hang with us even in this down economy,” he said. “We don't make any money with the trail. We do it because of the people who are in it. The anglers who fish with us are good people. We have no problems and no headaches.”

The Tampa Pro Trail starts in October and fishes up to May, with the annual classic in June. Anglers qualify for the classic by finishing in the top 30 in points or by fishing six of the eight tournaments.”

The membership fee is $25 per angler and the entry fee per tournament is $70, which includes $10 for big bass.

“Each tournament we pay back at least the top three finishers, top five if we draw more than 35 boats, and a big bass pot. At the end of the season we pay back the top two points teams. Our accumulated classic fund for the season is paid out at our two-day classic in June,” Taylor said

With three tournaments already in the book for this season, Taylor noted that Rich Fitzgibbon and Jeremy Cannon have staked a solid claim to the points title, leading the tied second place teams of Bobby Wooten and Richie Upchurch and John and Wendy Taylor by 15 points.

“they have done really well and been pretty consistent all year,” Taylor said of Fitzgibbon and Cannon. “They are good fishermen and they have fished with us for the last four or five years.”

Tampa Pro Bass Tournament Trail

Sun, Jan 8, 2012

Kissimmee Chain

Camp Lester Fishing Camp

Call John and Wendy Taylor (727) 789-0525 or (727) 403-6861

home.roadrunner.com/~tampapro/index.html

by AnglersChannel

December Winners Hoping For More Of The Same For Berry's Team Tournament On Lake Sinclair Next Saturday

Matt Henry and his partner, Justin Kimmel, caught the winning limit in the Dec. 10 tournament of the Berry's Team Tournament Trail on Georgia's Lake Sinclair and he is hoping the strategy they discovered that day will take them to the winner's circle in the second tournament of the year next Saturday.

“In December four of our fish came on a Shakey Head and the fifth one we caught on a jig,” said Henry who founded his college fishing team at Georgia State College in Milledgeville. “And every one of those fish came after lunchtime.”

Henry said they put two fish in the boat all morning while fishing a pattern they developed in practice. That did not work for them in the tournament so they made adjustments at midday.

“Within an hour we had 16 pounds in the boat and we caught one more in the last 45 minutes to put us on top. All our fish came in about 10 feet of water.”

Henry and Kimmel, a singer and guitar player, primarily in Christian music who recently published his first CD and is developing a new CD, weighed in 18.92 pounds to win $3,500 in the December tournament.

“It seems like fishing should be fairly similar next Saturday,” Henry said. “It all depends on the weather. There will be a cold snap Monday and Tuesday and then it will warm up again into the 60s. They are staying close to shallow water so they should fish very similar.”

Although Henry had not had a chance to get on the water and check things out he planned to take a buddy fishing this Friday.

“He's just back from being deployed in Afghanistan. Hopefully, we will find something out that won't change too much before the tournament,” he said.

Bobby Berry, who founded the trail with his two sons, said he hopes to have 100 boats again on Jan. 7.

“In December, we had 116 bots, just three boats less than the year before and about 15 less than the year before that. We are down some, but Thank God we are doing better than most tournament series.”

Berry said 15 new teams fished the December tournament, which is positive for the series.

“Hopefully, we will get those back for the next tournament and also some of the old ones who were out Christmas shopping in December,” he said.

The Berry’s Tournament Trail is somewhat unique in that all eight of the tournaments, plus the season-ending classic, are held on Oconee and Sinclair. Four regular season tournaments are held on Oconee and four are held on Sinclair, with anglers having to fish at least five tournaments to qualify for the classic, which means they have to fish both lakes at least once.

“It equalizes things,” noted Berry who started the series on Oconee and Sinclair when local anglers tired of driving all over Georgia to compete in bass tournaments. Most of the participants in his series are all local anglers.

And the classic itself, which will be held June 2-3, will start off on Lake Oconee on the first day and move to Sinclair for the second day.

“We will hold a barbecue after the classic on Sunday and feed everybody,” Berry said.

Entry fee for the Berry’s tournaments is $160 per team, with 87.5 percent payback to one in every six boats. Berry said he encourages a family atmosphere at the tournaments and welcomes children to come and fish and to help return the weighed-in fish to the water.

“We have a lot of excellent fishermen and a lot of good people fishing with us,” Berry said. “It’s a pleasure to conduct a tournament where everybody enjoys it.”

Berry's Team Tournament Trail

Sat, Jan 7, 2012

Lake Sinclair

Little River Park

Call 770-787-6179

www.berrysbass.com

by AnglersChannel

Fish Biting So Well Anglers Want Smith Mountain Lake Winter Trail Extended A Month

We caught them on crankbaits, spinnerbaits and a couple on a Carolina rig,” said Van Der Veer. “Our best fish came on crankbaits in 10 to 12 feet of water and our biggest fish was right at 5 pounds.”

Van Der Veer will hold the last December tournament in the Winter Trail on Saturday and the series has gone so well that anglers are asking for more, he said. The Trail ran every Saturday in December except Dec. 24, and is scheduled to run every Saturday in January, but Van Der Veer said he might be able to extend it into February since the anglers want it.

“A lot of the guys said they wanted to keep it going. I won't be able to do it the first weekend in February because I am on the board for Anglers Choice and that is the weekend for our open house, but we may be able to extend the series on into February if the weather holds out.”

So far, he noted, the weather has been very cooperative this year.

“For the next four weeks or so the weather is supposed to have temperatures in the mid-50s for the most part so the water temperature is probably going to stay fairly stable. It is still in the mid-50s so it may drop into the upper 40s, but that should only make fishing better,” he said. “I was checking our records from last year and by this time last year it was already in the lower 40s.”

With the water temperature holding in the mid-50s, Van Der Veer said a good jig bite is still going on, while some anglers are catching fish on crankbaits and spinnerbaits.

“The fish are in different stages and they are catching them from 5 feet out to 25 feet of water so there are still a lot of different styles of fishing that are good,” he said. “We've been averaging 15 to 20 boats a tournament and it's been taking 18 pounds to win. We weighed in one fish in our first tournament at almost 6 pounds and we've had a 4-pound, 11-ounce fish and a 4-pound, 14-ounce weighed in. We've had some really nice smallmouths brought in, with several over 4 pounds.”

A lot of limits are also being weighed, he said.

“We had one tournament with 16 boats and 13 of them weighed in a limit.”

The series, which is sponsored by Jiffy Automotive Service in Vinton, Va., which is owned by Van Der Veer, and by Anglers Choice Marine, the Bass Boat Superstore in Martinsville, Va., ran every Saturday in December except Dec. 24, and will run every Saturday in January. Entry fee is $40 with an optional big fish entry of $10.

Tournament details and rules can be found on the Anglers Choice website, www.anglerschoicemarine.com. Details are also available at www.basssml.com.

Smith Mountain Lake Winter Trail

Sat, Dec 31, 2011

Smith Mountain Lake

Smith Mountain Lake State Park

Call Phillip Van Der Veer at 540-580-9319

by AnglersChannel

Higher Water Level Keeps Bass Shallower On Lake Murray Through The Winter

“Since they started holding the water level higher in the winter months we don't seem to catch as many fish out on the main lake on the deep drops as we used to,” Lown said. “The fish seem to move in closer to the little bays and ditches and some even get back in the creeks now.”

December, January and February are generally considered the winter season on Lake Murray, he said, with the fall season still predominant in early December and the pre-spawn season starting to kick in by about mid-February.

The other factor that has changed bass fishing drastically – and not just in the winter – is the increased prevalence of blueback herring, Lown said.

“The fish feed on bait now so you don't catch as many on a jig or typical bottom type stuff that you would normally fish in the winter. You can still catch fish on a Shakey Head, but the primary bite on Lake Murray – and on all lakes with herring – is a baitfish bite.

“You can catch them in clear water early in the day, but I look for water that has a little more color to it, in the mid and upper lake. The fish seem to bite a little longer during the day back in the creeks there.”

When the water temperature drops down into the mid-40-degree range, Lown said the bass seem to suspend and can be caught fairly shallow on a jerkbait early in the morning on rocky points with the wind blowing on them.

“The jerkbait seems to work really good if the water temperature is below 47-48 degrees. From Bear Creek and the Shull Island area down to the dam the water is really clear, so you have to have the wind. If there is no wind, I don't bother to go down there.”

If the water temperature gets really cold, Lown said, some fish can still be caught on a jigging spoon – but you have to find them.

“You have to use your electronics to find the balls of bait. The last drop at the end of extended shallow points is usually where you locate the fish in 35 to 40 feet of water. You can find some fish close to the bottom around the bait.”

The primary tactics for bass on Lake Murray from December through February, with January normally the coldest month of the year, are crankbaits and jerkbaits, with some caught on a jig, Lown said. By late January, he noted, the larger fish will begin to move in and stage close to where they are going to pull in to spawn later. Those fish will continue to feed.

“It's almost a pre-spawn period. You start getting some warmer days, especially in the latter part of February and the fish will start staging up on little secondary points. Sometimes there will be an early morning bite and, gradually if there are some warmer days, some fish will pull up on docks and start relating to cover around the banks.”

That movement towards the banks will happen even if colder weather prevails through the end of February, Lown said, because the fish instinctively begin their journey towards the spawn as the days get longer.

“The fish key in on the photo period. As it gets longer they know it and start moving in and staging close to where they are going to spawn,” Lown said. “I generally start looking in creeks, bays and short pockets off the main lake at that time. It is the same all over the lake, although the spawn usually occurs earlier down the lake in the clearer water and a little later in the upper lake where the water is a little dingier.”

Crankbaits come into play once the water temperature rises into the upper 50s and low 60s, he said, and some can also be caught during this period on a Shakey Head worked on secondary points.

by AnglersChannel

Haywoods Hope Pendulum Swings Back In Ryan Newman Charity Tournament

“The year before when we won the tournament the guys who finished second came back and won it last year – and we finished second,” said Christopher Haywood of Stanley, N.C., who won the 2009 tournament with his brother, Matt Haywood of Lincolnton, N.C.

The winners in 2010 were Jody Wright and Lester Elton who weighed in 16 pounds, 13 ounces while the Haywoods had 13 pounds 13 ounces. The Haywoods won in 2009 with 17.3 pounds.

“Last year we said we needed some rain and muddy water, and colder water,” Christopher said. “Neither happened and the weights did go down. Last year before we weighed in, I figured we did not have much of a chance. I figured it would take so much to win and we did not have that much.”

If the dynamic that has worked the last several years keeps going, however, the Haywoods could be poised to win again this year – an outcome Haywood said he would thoroughly enjoy.

“We will fish it as hard as we can and bring in what we have and see what happens,” he said.

But for the hoped for outcome to occur, he said, it would help to get some rain and colder temperatures.

“In tournaments on the lake the last few weeks it has not taken a whole lot to get in the money,” he said. “I hope they will be biting better by the time of the tournament.”

Haywood said he and his brother will stick with the bread and butter tactics that have helped them win on Lake Norman before – mainly working crankbaits around any structure that has water on it.

“We are fishing spots, throwing crankbaits around brushpiles. We've got a few boat ramps, and we fish rocks. Anything like that is good.”

The main thing about fishing the Ryan Newman Tournament, he said, is just being out there and mingling with all the celebrities. Among celebrities lined up for this year's seventh annual Charity Dinner and Auction on Friday, Dec. 9, are NASCAR’s Ryan Newman, team owner and 2011 Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart, plus drivers Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex, Jr. and Regan Smith, several professional fishermen and Nashville song writers Billy Montana, Kendell Marvel and others.

Anglers can enter for $150 per two-man team.  For an additional $50 anglers will be entered in the Big Fish contest. Early registration ended Nov. 29.

The first place team will win a 2011 Nitro® Z9 equipped with a motor and electronics provided by Bass Pro Shops. Other prizes include cash, Bass Pro Shops gift cards, trolling motors, GPS systems, depth finders, rod/reels, outdoor equipment, tackle boxes and more. Prizes totaling over $60,000 will be awarded to the top 12 teams.

BASS will facilitate the weigh-in with special guest emcees – four-time BASSmaster Champion Kevin VanDam and Outdoor Channel Host Mark Zona. The launch begins at 7:30 am. Registration will be held at Bass Pro Shops in Concord, N.C. on Thursday, Dec. 8, from 4 to 9 p.m. in the Fishing Department or at the boat ramp on Saturday from 5:30 to 6:30 a.m.

Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman and his wife, Krissie, established the Ryan Newman Foundation in January 2005. The mission of the foundation is to educate and encourage people to spay/neuter their pets and to adopt dogs and cats from animal shelters; to educate children and adults about the importance of conservation so the beauty of the great outdoors can be appreciated by future generations; and to provide college scholarship funding through the Rich Vogler Scholarship program to students interested in auto racing careers.

“Last year was our most successful charity event weekend ever,” Newman said in a letter to sponsors. “Over 500 guests attended the sold out dinner and 128 boats participated in the fishing tournament. The two-day event raised $312,000.00 for animal welfare and conservation.”

Ryan Newman Foundation 6th Annual Charity Fishing Tournament

Sat, Dec 10, 2011

Lake Norman

Blythe Landing

www.ryannewmanfoundation.org

by AnglersChannel

Warm Water Should Make For Good Fishing In Old Salt Bassmasters Open Tournament

The four-tournament Old Salt Bassmasters Open Team Winter Series, which will hold the second tournament of the series Sunday on North Carolina's Belews Lake, is open to all anglers, not just “old salts,” said tournament director Jim Martin.

In fact, anglers don't don't have to be Navy men to be members of the Old Salt Bassmasters, said Martin, who explained that the club, a member of the Virginia Bass Federation, was formed by a group of anglers in their 50s and 60s about 15 years ago.

“It didn't have anything to do with fishing. It had to do with age,” said Martin, who at 73 is the oldest current member of the club who is still fishing regularly. But, even at his age, Martin was not one of the charter members, having been dealing with some physical problems at the time the club was formed.

“This four-tournament trail is a kind of money-making project for us. We send our top six anglers to the State Six-Man Team Tournament and pay their entry fees, motel accommodations and some on their gas expenses. We also send out No. 1 angler in the club as a boater and our No. 2 angler as a non-boater to the state Mr. Bass Tournament and pay their entry fees, motels and other expenses.”

The Winter Trail has been going for about a dozen years, he said, but the club also schedules a nine-tournament club series throughout the year, fishing at Kerr/Buggs Island, Gaston and Philpot in Virginia and High Rock, Mayo and Hyco in North Carolina.

“Through the Virginia Bass Federation we have regional tournaments and another fellow and I fish all of those. For the past four or five years I've qualified for the state, so I am still pretty active. I feel really fortunate, although this past year has been a struggle,” Martin said. Rotator Cup problems forced him to have surgery and he has had to fish with one arm, he said.

Belews Lake in Forsyth and Rockingham Counties is an excellent lake to fish in winter, Martin said, because the water is always warm due to the hot water discharge from the coal-fired electric power generating plant on the lake.

“That keeps the water temperature from the low 60s to the low 70s, even in the winter, so fishing is always pretty good,” Martin said. “You can catch fish from 2 to 3 feet deep all the way down to 50 to 60 feet deep.”

Although the water will be warm and some anglers will be fishing shallow, Martin said the majority probably will fish deep, working drop shots and jigging spoons over humps and deep ditches.

Entry fee in the Winter Series is $50 per team with an optional Big Bass Pot of $10. Payback is 80 percent of $50 and Big Bass is paid at 100 percent of participation. One place will be paid for every 7 boats entered. The limit is 5 bass, 14-inch minimum. A North Carolina freshwater fishing license is required.

After Sunday, tournaments are scheduled Jan. 8 and Jan. 22.

Old Salt Bassmasters Open Team Tournament Trail

Sun, Dec. 4, 2011

Belews Lake

Pine Hall Boat Ramp

Call Jim Martin at (276) 252-4138

[email protected]

by AnglersChannel

Excellent Largemouth Bite Expected For Airport Marine Fall Trail Tournament On Lake Jordan

“I don't think the spots (spotted bass) will dominate although it is getting time for them to dominate,”

Gerald said. “ The last tournament two weeks ago on Lake Mitchell they did dominate. Lowell Everett and Lawrence Curd won that tournament with 18 pounds and change. They had a 7-pound, 11-ounce largemouth and the others were spots. They took first place and also had big fish with that largehead.”

Gerald said most everybody who fished at Lake Mitchell weighed in spotted bass and he expects a lot of spotted bass to be caught this Saturday on Jordan, but the tournament probably will be won with largemouth bass.

“We've had some warm weather which turns the largeheads on and turns the spots down, so we will just have to see what happens Saturday.”

The unusually warm weather for Thanksgiving week has featured temperatures in the low 80s, he noted.

“It's supposed to be kind of cloudy and rainy on Saturday which is going to play into catching the largeheads,” he said. “The guys who swim and flip will probably do pretty good and that seems to give an advantage to the largehead fishermen.”

Gerald said participation the fall buddy trail seems to be picking up very well.

“We have been averaging about 35 boats a tournament. The payback is great and the classic is going to be huge. We already have about $5,000 in the classic, not counting the regular payback. This is always a big deal,” he said. “We should have a decent turnout down at Jordan. There was a tournament down there last week and a good many fish were caught.”

The trail began Oct. 1 on Lay Lake and will run through five tournaments before the Classic in January. The rest of the schedule includes: Nov 26, Lake Jordan, Bonner's; Dec 10, Lay Lake, Beeswax; and the Classic Jan. 7 on the anglers' choice of lakes.

Entry fee in the Buddy Trail is $100 per boat, with a one-time initiation fee of $50 per angler and an optional big fish entry of $10 per tournament. All proceeds will be paid back in full at the Classic in January. Anglers only have to fish one of the tournaments to qualify for the classic.

Gerald said next year's fall trail is going to be even better for the anglers.

“We have changed up next year’s trail to where I can't imagine anyone not fishing it,” Gerald said. “It's going to be on the Coosa River, Lakes Logan Martin, Lay, Mitchell and Jordan. The entry fee is dropped to $100 and we guarantee $3,000 payback every tournament, paying one in six, which is unheard of – and we may add more to that. The team of the year will get $1,000 in tackle from Rough & Tough in Chelsea, Ala.”

Airport Marine EZ Fall Buddy Trail

Sat. Nov. 26, 2011

Jordan Lake - AL

Bonner's Landing

www.airportmarinetrails.com

Call Flynn Gerald 205-678-9666

by AnglersChannel

Excellent Fishing Forecast For Smith Mountain Lake Winter Trail Tournament Dec. 3

“The water temperature on Smith Mountain Lake is hovering around 60 degrees so they should still find some fish back in the backs of the creeks,” Van Der Veer said. “There will also be some fish working their way towards their winter homes. As the water gets colder they will try to get in deeper water.”

Right now the fish are probably still feeding on shad, he noted.

“Most of the anglers I've talked to who have been out on the lake said they bass are feeding on shad and there is a tremendous amount of shad in the backs of the creeks. With the shad back there, the bass are back there, too.”

That action should continue until much colder weather, he noted.

“The water temperature will have to get in the lower 40-degree range for the shad to start dying off, so there is still some time before that,” Van Der Veer said.

The excellent late fall/winter fishing on Smith Mountain Lake is a major reason he started this tournament series, he added

“I think it is some of the best fishing of the year myself,” he said. “I really enjoy fishing this time of year and a lot of other people do, too. That is why I decided to put on something for winter type fishing.”

Van Der Veer said another winter trail that ran on the lake for several years disappeared, so he decided to put on a tournament series, promote it pretty heavily and see what kind of turnout he could get.

“So far, we've got a lot of phone calls and emails so we are expecting a pretty good turnout,” he said.

He plans to set up registration at 5:30 the morning of the tournament and is hoping no bad winter weather interferes with his plans.

“I am asking people to give me a call if show or ice is expected and then I can make a decision on whether to hold the tournament. First and foremost, I want to make sure the anglers are safe and won't get hurt getting to the tournament or while they are there.”

He said he hopes to establish an email list of regular anglers so he can email an advisory a day or two before each tournament.

“Hopefully, we won't have too much bad weather,” he added.

The series, which is sponsored by Jiffy Automotive Service in Vinton, Va., which is owned by Van Der Veer, and by Anglers Choice Marine, the Bass Boat Superstore in Martinsville, Va., will run every Saturday in December except Dec. 24, and every Saturday in January. Entry fee is $40 with an optional big fish entry of $10.

Tournament details and rules can be found on the Anglers Choice website, www.anglerschoicemarine.com.

Smith Mountain Lake Winter Trail

Sat. Dec. 3, 2011

Smith Mountain Lake

Smith Mountain Lake State Park

Call Phillip Van Der Veer, 540-580-9319

by AnglersChannel