by Dan O’Sullivan

April 27, 2019 – Centre, Ala. – Weiss Lake has become one of the more interesting events on the Alabama Bass Trail’s Northern Division schedule since it made its first appearance on it.  While the lake is known as the Crappie Capital of the World, Weiss features tremendous opportunities for both largemouth and Coosa River spotted bass.

As a result, one never quite knows what it will take to win here, there is always a chance of a bag loaded with each, or a mixed bag, and the weights can be impressive.  Then – as with any other fishery – the lake can surprise you with a change from day-to-day.  That was the result of the third stop on the ABT Northern Division schedule, when the weights fell slightly lower than expected.

The team of Chad and Ryan Hall brought an impressive 19.75-pound limit to the scales at Leesburg Landing, and never expected it to be the winning weight; but, it was.  The pair walked away with the $10,000 winner’s share of the purse and an automatic bid into the 2019 ABT Championship on Lake Guntersville.

To say they were surprised by the outcome was an understatement.  “We never expected that this weight would hold up to win,” they said.  “We figured that it would be worth a top 10 possibly, but this is the best trail with the best anglers in the state, and it means so much to be here.”

They said they caught big numbers of fish in the midlake area, but didn’t expect to have the weights they did.  “Practice was miserable, and we caught a bunch of fish, but didn’t find the weight to be good; today was much better for size,” they reported.  “We fished grass and docks shallow and caught somewhere around 40 fish on white swim jigs and flipping green pumpkin Sweet Beavers – it was a good day.”

Damien Willis and Tyler Kiker; winners of the Wheeler Lake event earlier this season, posted 18.64 pounds to finish the day in second place, earning the $5,000 runners up prize.  They said spent their morning running around looking for spawning fish, before stumbling onto a postspawn spinnerbait pattern that proved to be the ticket.  “We should have recognized it earlier, but we caught our big fish on a chartreuse and white spinnerbait at around eleven o’clock, and the light went on,” they said.  “We certainly wish we would have discovered it before, but this will give us good points in the standings, so we’re pleased.”

The “big fish” that Willis and Kiker landed did more than clue them into the pattern for the day, it also ended being the Mountain Dew Big Bass of the event.  The 6.27-pound largemouth anchored their limit and earned them an additional $500 bonus for catching the day’s largest fish.

The team of Payton McGinnis and John Davis caught 18.20 pounds and finished the day in third place, earning $4,000 in the process.

The Southern Division of the Alabama Bass Trail hits the water next at the Pickwick Lake on May 11.

The Top 10 Standings are below, for complete standings, visit: https://www.alabamabasstrail.org/tournament-series/wel-results/

Place	Team	Weight	Big Fish	Winnings
1	Chad Hall / Ryan Hall	19.75	5.74	$10,000
2	Damien Willis / Tyler Kiker	18.64	6.27	$5,000
3	Payton McGinnis / John Davis	18.20	6.18	$4,000
4	Phillip Dukes / Bailey Dukes	17.99		$3,000
5	Nolen Spencer / Jonathon Reese	17.87		$2,000
6	Bill Mayo / Walt Roberts	17.64		$1,500
7	Patrick Hailstones /  Michael Stevens Jr	17.58		$1,100
8	Benjie Seaborn / Johnathan Seaborn	17.55		$1,100
9	Lanny Guthrie / Chuck Hinton	17.42		$1,100
10	Billy Adcock / Darian Kyle	17.25	6.01	$1,100