The bass are feeding up for winter so some big sacks are expected for the weigh-in at the Bass Anglers Invitational Trail (B.A.I.T.) Alabama IV Division tournament Saturday on Weiss Lake.

“We just held a B.A.I.T. Tournament Saturday on Weiss and there were some big sacks of fish brought in,” said tournament director Herbert Dodd. “First place was 23 pounds, second place was a young guy fishing by himself and he had 20.9 pounds. Third place was 19 pounds, We had 16 pounds and thought we had a pretty good sack of fish, but, dadgum it there were some big bags of fish brought in Saturday, and we got fifth place.”

Those hefty bags held some hefty fish, Dodd said.

“The big fish of the day was a little over 7 pounds and we had quite a few 5-pounders brought in. Fishing was good this past Saturday and I hope it will be just as good this coming Saturday. The weather is supposed to be about the same, so we should have some more big sacks brought to the weigh-in Saturday.”

Mark Stewart and Damien Willis, padded their lead in the points standings with the 23-pound bag for first place. The pair had 19.62 pounds in the first tournament Oct. 27 to take the points lead.”

Dodd said the fish are in shallow water, feeding up for winter.

“They are catching them mostly shallow, but some are also catching them right on the ledges. I understand that last weekend in another tournament a couple of 21-pound bags were brought in and they came off the ledges.”

Most of the fish are being caught on big crankbaits and spinnerbaits fished mostly around wood, he said.

“Fishing this time of year is a lot of fun, if you like to fish in cold weather. You don’t catch as many fish, but you catch a lot bigger fish. When you have 23, 21 and 19 pounds for the first three places in a tournament, that is pretty strong.”

Dodd said the good fishing should continue right on through December.

“In January it tends to drop off some, but there will be some strong bags brought in during December. If you want to go out and catch a big bass now is the time to be down there chunking and winding, for sure.”

B.A.I.T. Anglers across a number of states are competing for a chance to fish in the B.A.I.T. Classic to be held next October 11-12 on Lake Douglas in Tennessee, he said.

“The top 40 percent of these trails go to the Classic or you can fish all seven tournaments in your division. We run two divisions, winter and summer, in the Alabama IV Division. If somebody makes six tournaments in the winter division he can fish one in the summer division to qualify to fish the classic.”

The Alabama IV Division Winter Trail on Weiss Lake began Oct. 27, followed by a tournament Nov. 17. The rest of the season includes Nov. 24, Dec. 8, Jan. 26, Feb. 2 and Feb. 16.

 

Bass Anglers Invitational Trail (BAIT) – Alabama IV Division

Sat, Nov 24, 2012

Lake Weiss

Little River Marina

Herbert Dodd (Director) 706-578-2080 or Marvin McCullough (Assistant Director) 770-289-0971

www.baitinc.com