“We had 223 boats in the first tournament (on Smith Mountain), 224 in the second tournament (on Kerr Reservoir) and it dropped to to 167 in the third tournament (also on Kerr), which is typical because we split the state in half. We go to one half three times in the East and stay in the western part three times during the season,” Lucas said.

In order for anglers to get in the four required tournaments, he explained, they go to the first one in the West and the first one in the East and then pick their other three tournaments on waters closest to them.

“Early indications for this tournament look like we are going back to 200 boats again. We had 130 boats pre-registered as of Tuesday morning, so this should be another big tournament. I don’t know but some people say we are the second largest amateur trail in the country on average.”

Lucas said there is still plenty of time to register for the tournament. Anglers can register at Anglers Choice in Martinsville, Va., until 12 noon Friday and Lucas will have open registration at the dock from 5 a.m. to about 6:45 a.m. on Saturday.

With half the tournaments already fished, there is a group of teams sitting atop the points standings, but Lucas warned that with three tournaments left the points championship is still anybody’s game

“We award 300 points per tournament, so the top guys don’t have anything concrete with three tournaments to go. Those guys who are middle ways back could easily have a good day and the top guys could have a bad tournament and then it doesn’t take long to catch up in the points.”

At the midpoint of the season, Travis and Daniel Towe are atop the points standings, but four other teams are close behind. Randy Redden and Gary Payne are second, Ryan and Wayne Mace are third and two teams are tied for fourth: Mark Cooper and Steve Roberts and Tyler and Zach Meadows, both only 42 points behind the leaders.

Lucas said anglers should have no trouble catching fish Saturday about any way they want to fish.

“A lot of the fish have gone to biting at night, but there are still a lot of fish being caught during the day, too. There are reports of some fish still spawning, so there are fish up shallow and some out deeper,” he said.

“There should be a topwater bite early and then anglers can get out and fish the docks and off the points. Some fish will move back on the deep brushpiles, so there will be a variety of ways to catch fish.”

The weather likely will also play a major role, he added. Saturday is supposed to be sunny with temperatures running 79 to 80 degrees.

“But we got hammered Monday night and the night before with rain so the lake will be up and there is a lot of flooding on Smith Mountain Lake right now. There will be colored water in the creeks and tributaries and clear water down the lake, so there will be every possible gamut you will want to fish. It should be a good tournament,” said Lucas who predicted it will take a five-fish limit at 18 to 20 pounds to win Saturday.

An added wrinkle to the tournament Saturday, he added, is the appearance of NAPA Auto Parts. The company will have a big display tent and give away product.

 

Anglers Choice Marine Team Trail

Sat, May 19, 2012

Smith Mountain Lake

Parkway Marina

Call Chris Lucas 276-358-0844

www.anglerschoicemarine.com