The early bird may get the worm but the angler who catches the early fish will probably win the American Fishing Tour South Carolina Division tournament on Lake Murray Sunday.

That’s the opinion of local angler Andy Wicker of Prosperity who will fish the AFT-SC series this year, and that, said Wicker, is how he plans to fish Sunday’s tournament.

“If Murray is like it has been the last two or three years, the big fish on Murray don’t abide by the same rules as bass on other lakes,” said Wicker who was a primary angler on the Clemson University Fishing Team while he was earning his engineering degree. “A lot of times water temperature is a big factor on when the big females move up shallow. They move up when you get a little warming trend in February or March.”

But that does not necessarily apply to the big females in Lake Murray, Wicker said.

“The big fish on Murray are not on the same calendar as in other lakes. By the end of January and into February they start biting. It does not matter what the weather is, when those big ones decide to move up they move.”

But that is later in the month. How about this first weekend of January 2015?

“I don’t know about this weekend, but usually this time of year is when they are starting to transition a little more into pre-spawn,” he said. “I expect a big crankbait bite and docks will come into play. They could still be on a spoon, and I am sure a lot of people will catch some doing that. It might be won that way. But I am going to go look for fish in the creeks and will be throwing crankbaits and jigs on docks and rocks.”

Wicker said he will be counting on those early fish in the shallower water.

“To win that tournament it seems like you have to be a step ahead of them. You’ve got to be fishing for them before they even get there,” he said. “You’ve got to catch the early fish to win the tournament.”

Usually Wicker fishes the ABA Weekend Bass Series and he won consecutive Angler of the year titles in 2013 and 2014 in the WBS South Carolina Division, but this year he is also fishing the ABA American Fishing Tour S.C. Division 96 series because the National Championship will be held on Lake Hartwell.

“Normally my dad (Steve Wicker) fishes the S.C. AFT Division,” Wicker said, “but I want to qualify for the national companionship so I am fishing it, too. We each have our own boat so we will be fishing against each other this year.”

Wicker will also fish the ABA Weekend Bass Series, the Carolinas Bass Challenge, some of the FLW Outdoor BFLs, and some Carolina Anglers Team Trail tournaments this year. Having the national championship slated for Lake Hartwell has boosted interest and increase entries in the Division 96 tournaments this year, said tournament director Phil Morris.

“The most I ever had was 34 entries on Lake Greenwood, but I had 35 entries on Clarks Hill this year. I am managing a lot more people because the national championship is bringing in more and more,” Morris said.

 

American Fishing Tour – South Carolina Division

Sun, Jan 4, 2015

Lake Murray

Dreher Island State Park

www.americanbassanglers.com