'keowee Limit' Will Be Needed For First Fish The Fall Tournament Of Second Half Season
The second half of the Fish the Fall Team Trail kicks off Jan. 29 on Lake Keowee and points leaders Brian and Mike Tidwell have a bullseye on their backs, said tournament director Dennis Landrum.
“They are under the gun and they have quite a few chasing them,” said Landrum, “because they have won the points championship the last two years in a row.”
But it might take more than one tournament to chase them down because the best finish the Tidwells have had this season was also on Keowee – first place. They started the current season off with a fourth place finish in September on Lake Hartwell, took first on Keowee in October, and followed that with a seventh place finish in November on Lake Greenwood and 10th in December on Lake Russell.
After the Jan. 29 tournament on Lake Keowee, the second half of the season will include Feb. 25-26 on Lake Hartwell, March 26 on Lake Murray and April 23 on Lake Jocassee. The Fish the Fall Championship will be held May 20-21 on a lake to be selected by a drawing later in the season.
Landrum said the second half of the season is highlighted by the fact that Carolina Lunker Sauce and U.S. Reels have come aboard as sponsors of the trail.
He said he is planning to split the season next year so there will be a first half points champion, a second half champion and an overall points champion.
“We have 62 teams and we are averaging 50 to 55 boats per tournament with payouts running around $9,000 per tournament,” Landrum said. Each team pays a $200 membership fee and the entry fee is $200 per tournament.
“I look for it to take 13 to 14 pounds to win the Keowee tournament next week,” Landrum said. “It's been tough up there the last couple of weeks with the temperature dropping. The water temperature is running from the high 30s to the low 40s. The temperature dropped 7 or 8 degrees with that cold spell that came through last week.”
Landrum said it will take a “Keowee Limit” to win the tournament.
“Whoever has four small fish will need a 3 1/2- to 5-pound kicker fish. That's what we call a Keowee Limit. You have to have a kicker fish to win at Keowee.”
The name of the trail has an interesting history, said Landrum, who bought the trail three years ago.
“I think the name of the trail came from 'Fish the Fall, Winter and Spring',” he said. “The trail, which is the largest team trail in South Carolina, is not run in the summer when it is to hot, so it came up 'Fish the Fall' and that is what it is.”
Fish The Fall Team Trail
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Lake Keowee
South Cove
Fat Stringers Expected For First Greene Boat & Motor Trail Tournament On Lake Wylie
You can expect some nice stringers to be weighed in the first tournament of the year for the Greene Boat & Motor Tournament Trial on Lake Wylie next Saturday, according to tournament director Brett Collins.
“Lake Wylie has been producing 15- to 17-pound limits lately,” Collins said. “South Fork is popular now with the warmer temperatures there and the jerkbait bite should kick in pretty soon.”
Lake Wylie has two hot holes, the Allen Steam Station, located on the North Carolina side of the lake east of the South Fork Catawba River, and the Catawba Nuclear Station, located on the South Carolina side of the lake near Big Allison Creek. Because of the heated water discharge from the nuclear power plants, Lake Wylie is known as a particularly good bass lake in the winter.
“The water level is where it usually is this time of year so we look to see some good limits caught,” Collins said.
The Greene Boat & Motor Trail schedule includes the trial opener Jan. 29 out of South Point Access on Lake Wylie; Feb. 19 out of Pinnacle Landing on Lake Norman; March 5 out of Buster Boyd Bridge on Lake Wylie; April 23 out of Pinnacle Landing on Lake Norman; May 21 out of Dutchman Creek Marina on Lake Wateree; and June 4 out of Whittenburg Access on Lake Hickory. The 2011 Greene Boat & Motor Championship will be held Oct. 8-9 out of Pinnacle Landing on Lake Norman.
“We dropped lake Murray and added a qualifier at Hickory hoping to add local teams who would want to enter the championship on Lake Norman in October,” Collins said.
“The Greene Trail will consist of six qualifiers this year instead of seven and a team only has to fish four qualifiers to be eligible to enter the championship,” said Collins, adding that a team can use a sub and count the sub toward the four qualifiers to be eligible for the championship.
“This will make it a little easier to qualify,” Collins said.
The points champions will win $1,000 and second place in points will win a Minn Kota trolling motor. Membership is $15 per angler and entry fee is $120 per team in advance, $130 the morning of the event. Payback will be one in every six places. There will also be an optional $20 entry fee for big fish, with 100 percent payback for first and second big fish.
Collins pointed out that there will be several contingency opportunities, including Stratos 2X, Bass Cat Quest program and the Nitro Tournament Rewards program.
Collins said the trail paid out more than $40,000 in 2010, the first year of the trail, and hopes to increase the total payout with more entries this year.
“We averaged between 35 and 40 teams in 2010 and look for more new teams to join up this year. First Place at the Championship last year took home over $6,000 with only 25 teams entered in the Championship,” Collins said.
Greene Boat & Motor Tournament Trail
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Lake Wylie
South Point Access
Swindle Swings Big Bag To Lead Bassmaster Open On Kissimmee Chain
Roland Martin got off to a good start in his first BASS event since coming out of retirement. The star angler put 18 pounds on the scales and sits in 8th place.
Gerald Swindle leads the 193-boat field with 30-13. Trevor Fitzgerald is close behind with 29-15. Terry "Big Show" Scroggins is in 3rd with 25-5.
Fishing was slow for most today as high skies dominated. The big waves of huge females have not shown in the shallows as many had hoped. Obviously, a few guys found them. Tomorrow will be a different deal, though, with wet windy weather. Look for the leaderboard to change.
Yours truly got in on the action in the co-angler division. With 9-07 I trail leader, John Avalos and his 12 pound, 4 ounce 3-fish limit. I am currently in 4th.
I enjoyed a wonderful day on the water with Mike Hall who guides on the Potomac. If you're headed that way, call him at 571-236-1918 or email [email protected] - tell him Vance sent you.
Mike and I owed huge THANK YOU to Tony Dante who gave us a ride to weigh in when Mike's motor wouldn't crank. I had a good limit and we were running out of time. Tony got us there with all of 30 seconds to spare. Thanks Tony!
Prefishing Fun With Ac.com Insider Vance Mccullough
AnglersChannel.com insider Vance McCullough had a fun and productive practice day ahead of the Bassmaster Southern Open on Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Central Florida.
Could The 2011 Bassmaster Open On Toho Be Won On A Strike King Red Eye Shad?
AC Insider Robby Byrum takes a detailed look at the STRIKE KING Red Eye Shad-a bait that could be worth lots of moeny this weekend on Toho and throughout the year!!
Some Practice Notes From The Bassmaster Open On Lake Toho
As fog lifted from Lake Toho's surface this morning, I stood conversing with Roland Martin who has come out of retirement to fish the Southern Opens this year. "I just thought it would be fun," said Martin.
I had fun this morning when I found a group of bass that choked down the Strike King Red Eye Shad. Fishing has been very tough here lately - Florida bass do not like cold snaps - so I felt really good about the 10 bites I got, including one that weighed about 5 pounds. Under these conditions that's good enough to make Roland say "Son!".
I enjoyed the day in a G3 bass boat from Kissimmee Boat Rentals which operates out of Big Toho Marina. Imagine hopping a flight or just driving down to Lake Toho, parking the truck and, 10 minutes later, you are mobile on one of the best bass factories in America. No monthly boat payment, no maintenance issues, just show up and enjoy! Trust me, it's that easy. Vacationing in the area? Sneak away for a day and catch some fish.
Water in one pocket reached 64 degrees by late afternoon. Moon is full tomorrow. Might we see a wave of bass beds across the shallows? A lot of folks expect so. If so, the fish will have to move up fast because there weren't many fanning beds out there today.
This tourney could be tougher than anticipated.
Stay tuned.
Bassmaster Open On Kissimmee Chain Could Be "off The Chain"
Bassmaster Open on Kissimmee Chain - Practice underway; underwater
Rain dumped on Central Florida today - and on the anglers who practiced for the upcoming Bassmaster Southern Open on the Kissimmee Chain.
Air and water temps are trying to climb to that magic mid-60's range that will bring swarms of big female bass to the beds with the full moon on Wednesday. Tourney begins Thursday. Bright sun will result in some monstrous bags at the weigh-in stage.
But, as always in Florida, the winter weather is likely to change as the week progresses and another round of showers should roll through sometime during the competition. If so, look for the Strike King Rage Toad to play a big role in the fortunes of those who do well.
Stay with us at AnglersChannel as we cover this event all week!
Cold Weather Just Fine For Fishers Of Men Open On Lake Keowee
Last year the Fishers of Men Upstate Division opening tournament of the year had to be postponed because of severe winter weather, but this year the winter storm came a week early and everything should be ready to go for the Division's first open tournament of the year on Lake Keowee Saturday.
“This open tournament is a predecessor of our first Upstate Division event on Lake Keowee,” said Tournament Director Rodney Floyd. “It's a good way to get new folks to come out and see what Fishers of Men is all about and hopefully draw a little bigger crowd to the regular tournaments in 2011.”
Floyd said participation fell off slightly in 2010, mainly due to the poor economy, but he is hoping for it to pick back up this year.
“There is a little bit of travel involved with Fishers of Men. Guys are still fishing tournaments, but most are focusing on one or two lakes near their home. But we are getting new people calling us, so we hope to see our division start growing back this year.”
With plenty of snow and ice still covering much of the South Carolina upstate, fishing will be cold Saturday, but that will be okay, Floyd said.
“Before this front came through I talked to some folks and fishing was kind of tough, but Keowee is a winter lake. Some say the colder it is the better the fishing is. If you can stand to be out there you can catch the fish down deep.”
Those who fish the FOM Open on Keowee and sign on for the regular season will find plenty of incentive with more sponsors stepping up and expanding the payout program, he said.
“I think the biggest attraction of Fishers of Men for a weekend angler is that there are some good payouts,” said Floyd who noted that Skeeter and Yamaha have signed on as national sponsors this year and Markel Insurance has launched a points reward program for FOM anglers, providing $10,000 to the national points champion team and $5,000 to the runner-up points team.
Participants must get a boat insurance quote from Markel Insurance prior to competing in their second tournament, and then compete in at least 5 Fishers of Men Team Series tournaments with 30 or more competing teams. Points awarded at the Regional Championships this fall will be added to the team's regular season best five finishes for their final points total.
But the main attraction for fishing Fishers of Men, Floyd said, is the Christian emphasis at the tournaments.
“I hear over and over from our anglers that they fish this trail because of the attitudes of the people involved. The anglers see and understand and appreciate what is going on through Fishers of Men on a much bigger level than just the competitive side.”
Floyd said that in the regular season on the Friday night before a tournament there is a meeting of anglers usually at a local church. However, this is an open tournament and there will be no pre-tournament meeting and anglers do not have to be members of Fishers of Men. They can just show up at the ramp on Saturday morning and pay their $120 entry fee before fishing.
Following Saturday's Open tournament, the Fishers of Men Upstate Division schedule will include tournaments Feb. 5 on Lake Keowee, March 5 on Lake Russell, April 2 on Clarks Hill, April 30 on Lake Greenwood and June 4 on Lake Hartwell.
For details, call Floyd at (843) 283-1230 or (843) 756-3719, or email him at: [email protected].
Fishers of Men SC Upstate OPEN
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Lake Keowee
Mile Creek
2011 Product Preview with Great Outdoor's David Hendrick
David Hendrick from the Great Outdoors joins us to preview some hot new crankbaits that are flat out catching fish early in this 2011 season............
2011 Tournament Season Preview With Guy Eaker
BASS and Elite Series Pro Guy Eaker helps us preview the 2011 Professional Tournament season-including his big time support of the PAA!!
2011 Bait Preview with Bass Pro Guy Eaker Part Two
Bass and Elite Series Pro Guy Eaker continues his preview of hot baits for 2011............
2011 Bait Preview with Bass Pro Guy Eaker Part One
Bass and Elite Series Pro Guy Eaker takes us through some of the hot baits going into this 2011 season!
Ac Exclusive: Ryan Newman One On One
Ryan Newman joins us from his offices in Statesville, NC to re-cap and talk about the success of his 5th Annual Ryan Newman Foundation Tournament on Lake Norman this past weekend...
Sportsman's Warehouse 2010 December Report
Sportsman's Warehouse Fishing Manager Justin Kijak showcases some great cold water/weather baits that will have success over this Holiday season....and of course, they are all in stock right now at SPORTSMAN'S WAREHOUSE!!
Coutdown to Blastoff 2010 Week 30
Robby B helps us on Week 30 with some great tips and baits to throw over the Holidays in this especially cold weather-you may be suprised what he says!!
2010 Ryan Newman Tournament Preview
AC Pro Staffer Rob Digh gets us all ready for the 5th Annual Ryan Newman on Lake Norman this Sat....he highlights 3 baits he thinks you must have to catch enough quality to crack the 16 Plus LB mark-which is what he thinks it will take to win the new NITRO Z-9 awarded to the winner!!
2011 Ranger 620 VS Walk Around
Ranger Rep George Liddle takes us on a great tour of the brand new Ranger 620 VS and all the new features that make this one heck of a new boat!!
2010 Ranger Product Knowledge FLW COO Kathy Fennell Part 2
FLW Outdoors President of Operations Kathy Fennell continues her speech on why things are really looking up not only at FLW Outdoors, but for most of the Industry as well-
2010 Ranger Product Knowledge FLW COO Kathy Fennell Part 1
FLW President of Operations Kathy Fennell speaks about some of the major impacts that the Wal Mart partnership will bring as well as her upbeat feel regarding 2011
2010 Ranger Product Knowledge Tour Forest Wood Video
Ranger Founder Forest Wood Speaks about all the change and positive signs he see's moving fwd into 2011-
TBF of SC 6 Man Team Tournament on Clarks Hill Results
Clarks Hill lake was the site of the last regular points tournament of the year for The Bass Federation of SC. This tournament was of significant importance because it would decide the points champions for the year as well as the top finishers to make up the state team and represent South Carolina at the Southern Divisional next spring.
Clarks Hill has been very stingy lately in giving up big bass but a few showed up this day that would be a deciding factor. The abundant vegetation is usually of importance here and was to many. However some of the top finishers reported fishing shallow rocky areas with success. With water temps in the lower 60’s the sun warming these areas may have been a factor. There is also a great deal of shad moving into these shallows. The day started with air temp at 30 degrees. One of the first frosty mornings of the year.
Pat Whaley of Lexington would come out on top in the boater division. His 5 bass limit included a 4.78 lb. largemouth that was caught in the last hour of the day. A last stop at some riprap with a crank bait proved to be a good decision. Pat would not only win this tournament but also take the Angler of the year title by a mere 2 points.
Second place with 4 bass was John Sturkie of Swansea weighing in at 8.60 lbs. John also caught the big bass of the tournament at 5.77 lbs. Third place was Calvin Hewitt with 8.08 lbs. fouth Matthew Teets at 6.23 lbs. and rounding out the top five Robert Rikard with 5.55 lbs.
In the Co/Angler division Kenny Grimes would take the win. Kenny has led the points race all year and sealed the deal with a four bass bag of 8.09 lbs. It included big bass for this division at 2.86 lbs. Second was Tom Rubbo weighing five bass at 6.88 lbs. third Bryan Beaudrot 6.14 lbs. fouth Terry Thomas 5.71 lbs. and fifth DJ McEachern 4.21 lbs.
TBF of SC has announced it’s schedule for 2011 and it can be seen at www.tbfofsc.com and are welcoming new members to join.
Countdown to Blastoff 2010 Week 28
Robby B joins us this Thanksgiving Week to preview the Toys for Tots on Clarks Hill as well as the 5th Annual Ryan Newman coming to Lake Norman on Sat, Dec 11th!!
Sportsman's 2010 Nov Product Preivews with AC Pro Staffer Dearal Rodgers
AC Pro Staffer Dearal Rodgers gets you ready for the next 3 weeks on Clarks Hill with some key BAITS that he thinks you will have to have to be competitive-live from Sportsmans Warehouse in Columbia, SC!!
Countdown to Blastoff 2010 Week 27
Robby B helps us go through some great upcoming Tournaments on Clarks Hill as well as the 5th Annual Ryan Newman Foundation Tourney going out of Blythe Landing on Lake Norman on Sat, Dec 11th!!
Tom's Marine Tt Championship
Champions Pete Ling and Bobby Cardwell of Knoxville, TN win the 2010 Championship and take home a brand new Ranger Z118! Tournament Director Richard McMaster helps us wrap up one great year and one great weekend!!
Anglers Praying For Warmer Weather Before Bassmaster Classic On Lay Lake
Everybody knows Randy Howell has a strong Christian faith and the Elite Series angler says he has been doing a lot of praying lately.
Not for a win in the Bassmaster Classic on Alabama’s Lay Lake next weekend, but for the rain to stop and the weather to warm up a little
North Carolina native who now calls Springville, Ala., home.
“We’ve had extremely cold weather here. We’ve had a lot of rally cold rain and that is what has been killing the lake more than anything.
“It rained three inches here the other day and the temperature was 43 degrees while it was raining. It flooded the lake out, made it dirty and muddy – and muddy, cold water is a lot harder to fish than muddy warm water,” said Howell who is busy this week preparing for the Classic.
“I’m down here on my boat, working, putting blue LED lights in the boat, getting my tackle ready and trying to get prepared. And I’m praying the weather will warm up and the rain will stop – a big, big prayer.”
Weather forecasters say Howell’s prayer may be answered – but probably not in time for the Classic.
The first official practice day for the Bassmaster Classic is this Friday, a day when the forecast on Weather.com calls for “rain/snow showers” in the Birmingham area, including Lay Lake. The high is predicted to be 38, the low 29, and the chance of that slushy precipitation occurring is 40 percent.
By Feb. 17, the final practice day, highs should be 52 and skies partly sunny (although low temperatures Feb. 17 might be in the low 30s). But even one or two sunny days may be too little, too late, to heat up a Lay Lake largemouth bite.
“I think it definitely is going to depend on the week before the Classic, the week of the event” Howell said. “It’s going to have to warm up tremendously that week to make the lake rebound at all.”
The problem is that water temperature which has been hovering in the low to mid-40-degree range, he said.
“If it makes it up to 50-52 degrees or more it won’t be so bad, but if it says in that 40-degree range it can be really challenging.”
Strategy for Howell and the other fishermen will depend greatly on the weather over the next week and a half, he said
“The lake is full of fish, including big Florida strain bass which are the most affected by the cold. The spotted bass bite in the cold, so they will be the target fish if the water stays cold.”
Although there will be some shallow spotted bass, if they become the primary factor during the classic, he said, fishing will primarily be deep with Shakey Heads, football jigs and other deep water tactics.
“I’m hoping I don’t have to do that,” Howell said. “I’d rather fish fast and shallow, but who knows if we will be able to do that. It’s just up to the Good Lord above.”
If the weather changes dramatically and the water warms up, the largemouth bass will start to move to the shallow areas, he said.
“That’s when the bigger bite really comes on. The pre-spawn females will move up and get in 1 to 2 feet of water and you can flip them out of the grass,” he said. “That’s what everybody will be looking for, but it definitely will depend on the water temperature.”
Howell has qualified for eight previous Bassmaster Classics, two of them on Lay Lake. He finished 34th on Lay Lake in 2002, but his second highest finish in a Classic was in 2007 on Lay Lake when he was 13th.
“The 2007 Classic was about the same time of year, but the water temperature was 52-56 degrees then. Right now it is 10 degrees colder that that,” he said.
“But I am still excited about it and staying positive. I’m just hoping that stuff will start to work out during the time it needs to.”
Lay Lake
Birmingham, AL
Hite Looking For "right Group Of Fish" In Elite Series On Lake Dardanelle
It’s late March, the water temperature has warmed up to the high 50s-low 60s, and the bass in Arkansas’ Lake Dardanelle have moved up to spawn, so you’d expect the fishing to be easy for the Bassmaster Elite Series Diamond Drive tournament starting Thursday.
But, you’d be wrong.
“I’ve talked to a lot of the other pros and most are kind of saying the same thing,” said 1999 Bassmaster Classic Champion Davy Hite of Ninety Six, S.C. “The fishing is a lot tougher than I thought it would be.”
Normally when bass move up to spawn they come ready to eat and ready to fight anything that disturbs their spawning area, but for some reason the Dardanelle bass have not responded like normal fish this year.
Elite Series pro Clark Reehm, who lives just a few minutes from the boat ramp on Lake Dardanelle, said local tournament anglers are not even catching a lot of smaller fish for some reason. He added that the pros who have been to Dardanelle in the past might rely on 40 to 50 fish caught a day, but the bounty won’t be that plentiful in the Diamond Drive.
“Granted this is the Elites, but if the fish aren’t there, they aren’t there. Even the short fish – usually you catch 20-50 short fish, and it doesn’t seem like people are catching even that many.”
While Hite said he has been catching a good many fish in practice this week, most of them are small bass.
“This is a good lake and I’ve had some success here in the past,” said Hite, who won the Arkansas CITGO Bassmaster Elite 50 Pro tournament on Dardanelle in 2005 with a whopping total of 58 pounds, 9 ounces.
“I found those fish during the tournament,” he said, adding hopefully, “so, maybe tomorrow.”
Hite’s game plan in the tournament is to just go fishing.
“I think the better fish are up shallow where I’ve been catching a lot of smaller fish. I’m going to change baits and see if they like something different from what I’ve been throwing,” he said.
He’d love to repeat that success and get back into the Angler of the Year race, a title he’s won twice in his career.
“We’ve only had one tournament and I did not have the kind of tournament that I wanted in that first event,” said Hite, who finished 81st two weeks ago on Lake Amistad on the Texas-Mexico Border. “But, hopefully I can do better here. This is more my type of shallow water fishing and a lot of those fish last week were caught out extremely deep.”
Jason Williamson of Aiken, S.C., won the Lake Amistad Elite tournament and is leading the Bassmaster AOY Points race going into the second tournament of the year. Williamson bagged more than 68 pounds of bass the last two days of the tournament to surge into first place for the title with a four-day total of 96 pounds, 6 ounces.
“A South Carolina boy won it, but he was doing something totally different than what he is used to fishing and what I am used to fishing, but he found the right group of fish and that is what it is all about,” Hite said.
Now, he’s hoping to find that “right group of fish” this week on Lake Dardanelle like he did four years ago and repeat that 2005 Arkansas win.
Diamond Drive
Bassmaster Elite Series
Lake Dardanelle
Russellville, AR
Mar. 26-29, 2009
