BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – When talking with one of the 56 anglers taking part in the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro, Feb. 20-22 on Lake Hartwell, you can expect to hear the words “big” and “everything” a lot. Serving as a border between Georgia and South Carolina, the lake has 56,000 surface acres and 962 miles of shoreline. That makes it one of the Southeast’s largest and…

JASPER, Texas - Sam Rayburn lived up to its reputation as a big-fish factory at the season-opening 2015 Cabela's Texas Team Trail event, kicking out 14 limits over 20 pounds and nearly a 30-pound limit to the winning duo of Cory Rambo and Rusty Clark. Equally impressive was their first-place payout of a Ranger Z119C powered by an Evinrude outboard, valued at $42,000, thanks to a record right at…

The Texas Team Trail, which already has the highest team tournament payouts in the State of Texas, kicks off the 2015 tournament season Saturday at Lake Sam Rayburn bigger and better than ever before, said Tournament Director Mike Hastings. “We are building on great momentum and we are super excited about this year,” Hastings said. “We have revised our field size to accommodate more anglers.…

Roy Hawk's knowledge of Havasu should be helpful in Rayovac Western Div tournament The bass in Lake Havasu are in between the winter and spring mode right now, said veteran tournament angler Roy Hawk, but the full moon next week should speed up the process and send more fish shallow just in time for the Rayovac FLW Series Western Division opener on the lake next Thursday through Saturday.……

After four or five days of nearly spring-like weather, the temperature is going to drop back to normal winter conditions Friday and Saturday, with some rain and wind in the forecast for Lake Murray – just in time for the Tomahawk Team Trail Championship. And that's just fine, said tournament director Gettys Brannon, who is a manager at the Tomahawk Fishing Shop in Columbia, because that…

With a select few anglers dominating tournaments on Kissimmee entries began to fall in recent years as other anglers felt they had little or no chance of winning, said Charlie Wynperle, who has started a new tournament trail – the Kissimmee Bass Series – out of Camp Mack's River Resort. Wynperle launched the series, which kicks off Sunday, after Ted and Maxine Meyer decided to end the Camp…

Sean Dunn and Jeremy Beatenbaugh won the first tournament Dec 13 on Sinclair The blast of Arctic air that blanketed Georgia this week will definitely have an effect on the second Berry's Tournament of the 2014-2015 season Saturday, said tournament angler Pat Fisher of Dacula, Ga. The question, he said, is whether the frigid temperatures will affect the fish or the fishermen more.…

The race for the points title in the Denver Marine Monster Bass Invitational Winter Trail could see a major change in the last regular tournament Saturday on Lake Norman. “This is a double points tournament and we have Scott Beatty and Drew Montgomery tied for first place,” explained tournament director Scott Hyder. Beatty and Montgomery have 1195 points each, Hyder said. He is also…

Athens, Ala. (January 6, 2015) - American Bass Anglers (ABA) announced today that Abu Garcia has signed a multiyear sponsorship agreement with American Bass Anglers. Introduced in Sweden in 1941, Abu Garcia has emerged as a premium global fishing brand, producing some of today’s most advanced fishing gear. Abu Garcia is the official and exclusive Rod and Reel of American Bass Anglers and…

Lake Okeechobee is in prime shape for the season opener of the Walmart BFL Gator Division season Saturday, said Juan Ruiz, points champion for the division in 2014. “I expect a lot of limits, probably a half dozen, maybe a dozen bags from 19 pounds to the high 20s. I figure it will take high 20-pound bag to win it,” said Ruiz who took the points title over Mike Keyso Jr., by 3 points in…

Andy Wicker of Prosperity, SC 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…

Professional Angler Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, SC Brandon Cobb fishes the FLW Tour and in 2015 he will also fish the B.A.S.S. Southern Opens, but when he just wants to go catch fish and have a blast at it you will find him on South Carolina's Lake Greenwood. And the Christmas season and beyond is a prime time to be on the lake near his home, he said. “This time of year through January…

Brian Huskins and David Winters Brian Huskins and David Winters won the last Lake Wylie Fall Qualifier Dec. 13 to tie with Gene and Payton Webster for the Carolina Anglers Team Trail Fall Points title and both teams will fish free in the Wylie Fall Final Saturday. “I've won the points the last two or three years in the Fall series,” said Winters, who also won the points in the CATT Spring…

The bass are not jumping into the boat at Smith Mountain Lake, but when you get a bite, it's a good one, said Brandon Reynolds who teamed with his brother-in-law Ben Reynolds to win the points title in the Carolina Anglers Team Trail Fall series. “The Fall Final Saturday should be a good one,” Reynolds said. “We are getting six or seven bites a day, but we average weighing in 15 to 16 pounds…

Fishing should be great and entries should be up for the 4th Carolina Monster Bass Winter Trail Tournament on Lake Norman Saturday, said tournament director Scott Hyder. “The tournaments have been going good and entries are picking up,” Hyder said. “We should have 25 to 30 boats this Saturday.” Fishing success has been picking up, too, he said. “Fishing should be great this weekend. Two…

BRANDON WILLIAMS & DEREK LILLEY WON THE NOV 29 CATT TOURNAMENT ON WYLIE Look for the Alabama Rig to play a major role in the third Carolina Anglers Team Trail Fall Tournament Saturday on Lake Wylie. “The fish are suspended over and under the bait and all they are doing on Wylie is the Alabama Rig,” said Brett Collins, CATT owner. “The jerkbait is working, too, along with the Shakey…

While December is normally a down time for bass tournaments, Rich Gerken is hoping a lot of tournament anglers around the South Carolina Midlands will be looking for some action and enter the 5thAnnual Mr. Lake Murray Bass Tournament Saturday, Dec. 6. “We've never fished a bass tournament this late in the year,” said Gerken, president of The Bass Federation of South Carolina which is holding…

The opening tournament of the Carolina Monster Bass Winter Trail on Lake Norman last Saturday has the misfortune of being scheduled at the same time as the 2015 Carolina's Bass Challenge Classic, which meant that a lot of anglers who might have fished the Monster Bass tournament were otherwise occupied. “We had 12 boats Saturday, but a lot of guys were fishing the CBC Classic, but we are…

Fishing should be very good for the 221 teams that have qualified to fish the Carolinas Bass Challenge Classic on Lake Norman Friday and Saturday, said tournament director Brett Collins. “Some of the guys say they have been catching bags in the 13- to 14-pound range on various lures, mostly shallow fish.” The CBC Classic will cap another outstanding year for the series held in North and…

Whether the fishing is just good or is excellent the competition level in the Toho Marine Elite One-Man Trail Classic on Lake Tohopekaliga this weekend is guaranteed to be outstanding. “The top 30 anglers for the year are going to fish in the Classic and we have definitely got some of the best fishermen in Florida fishing our trail,” said tournament director Jimmie Murphy. Murphy said the…

Will Treadwell and Byron Kenney, members of the University of Georgia Bass Fishing Team Things did not go well at first when Will Treadwell and Byron Kenney hooked up as a team for the University of Georgia Fishing Team. “We struggled the first couple of tournaments,” said Treadwell who, like Kenney, had fished with another teammate before this year. “We got a new boat and took off the…