Two weeks ago Chris Lucas did not know what to expect for the first Anglers Choice Marine Team Tournament of the year on Virginia’s Smith Mountain Lake. A brutal winter storm hit the day before and there was a real question of how many teams would even be able to get to the lake.

But, despite the cold, snow and ice, 187 boats showed up for the first Virginia Division tournament of the year – and, despite the winter chill, the bass were hungry.

“We probably would have had 250 boats if a lot of our boats had not been snowed in,” Lucas said. “But the tournament went really well and it took a pretty good weight to win it. There were a lot of big fish weighed in – a couple over 7 pounds, a lot of 6-pounders and plenty of 4- and 5-pounders.”

Despite the winter storm, the day of the tournament at Smith Mountain it was 65 degrees and gorgeous, Lucas said.

“But that morning the ramp was iced and we had to put salt on it. But by the afternoon, they were putting on sunscreen because they were getting sunburned,” he added.

Now, with the first North Carolina Division tournament scheduled this Sunday on Falls Lake, Lucas has questions about how it will turn out, but he is encouraged by the response seen so far from anglers in both North Carolina and Virginia.

“A lot of our Virginia boats are going to Falls and we are getting a lot of calls from the Raleigh area, too,” he said. “I don’t know that we will have 187 boats, but I think we are going to have a pretty good sized tournament to kick off the Carolina side of the series this year. A lot of folks we have not seen before are coming to fish.”

As for the fishing, Lucas said he had no idea about what the bass are doing this first weekend of spring in Falls, but some of the fishermen have reported being very excited about fishing the lake.

“I had one guy call me and tell me he got a map of Falls. Some of the deepest water he found was about 20 feet, but there was a whole bunch of stuff down there to fish around, so I think it will be pretty good fishing.”

Beginning last year the Anglers Choice Team series was split into two divisions, one for Virginia and one for North Carolina, with four qualifiers in each division.

“What’s unique is that you can get four qualifiers in two weekends on Buggs Island,” Lucas said. “Make two trips and you have two qualifiers to fish for a boat. Then through the course of the season fish two more and qualify for the whole shooting match. You can fish six of the eight qualifiers in just four weekends the way the schedule is set up.”

The double qualifier weekends are April 5 and 6 and June 7 and 8, with anglers able to fish the Virginia Division qualifier on Saturday and the North Carolina Division qualifier on Sunday both weekends.

“Our anglers really like this opportunity because fishing a trail is an investment and it helps cut down on expenses for the fishermen,” Lucas said.

“The other aspect of out trail this year is that we are going to have two separate Classics, with a Ranger Boat for the winners on the Virginia side and a Triton for the winners on the North Carolina side. So, with the opportunity to fish both Classics, guys have two chances to win a boat.”

And, he added, about 80 teams so far have registered for the Bassmaster Trail to fish for the opportunity to qualify for the 2015 Bassmaster Classic.

The Virginia Division schedule runs March 8, Smith Mountain Lake; April 5, Kerr Reservoir; May 10, Smith Mountain Lake; June 7, Kerr Reservoir; with the Virginia Classic Oct. 4-5 on Smith Mountain Lake. The North Carolina Division runs March 23 on Falls Lake, April 6 on Kerr Reservoir; May 24 on High Rock; June 8 on Kerr Reservoir; with the North Carolina Classic Oct. 25-26 on High Rock.

“Anglers should note that this first North Carolina tournament is a Sunday event and we will be launching out of Ledge Rock. We had another ramp scheduled earlier, but some folks from down that way called and advised that it was not conducive to our tournament, so we had to switch to Ledge Rock,” Lucas said.

 

Anglers Choice Marine Team Trail NC Division

Sun, Mar 23, 2014

Falls Lake

Ledge Rock

Call Chris Lucas 276-358-0844

www.anglerschoicemarine.com