Last year when Dearal Rodgers was planning strategy for fishing the FLW Tour tournament on Lake Hartwell he made a key error in judgment – something he is determined not to repeat next weekend when the Tour returns to Lake Hartwell for the first major of the 2012 season.

“Last year the tournament was in mid-March and I felt like bed fishing would not be something I could do to win the tournament. Well, it did not win the tournament but bed fishing did give some guys a head start. I won’t let that happen again. If the bass are on the bed, I am going to be fishing for them on the bed,” said the second-year pro from Camden, S.C.

In fact, even though the tournament is almost two weeks earlier this year, there very likely will be some fish on the beds. It has been a mild winter and a lot of fish are already moving into position to spawn.

“The tournament starts on the day of the full moon, so that is definitely something to consider,” Rodgers said. “There very possibly could be fish on the bed and I feel there probably will be.”

Rodgers visited Lake Hartwell twice before the cutoff to check out the lake and the fishing and found the water level about 8 feet low – 5 feet lower than when the FLW Tour was there last March.

“I was there right before the cutoff a couple of weeks ago and the water was pretty warm for this time of year, like everywhere in the state. I saw temperatures as high as 57 degrees,” he said. “I also saw a lot of local anglers were fishing the stained water up in the creeks so there are definitely some fish that have moved back already.”

All the factors are coming together to create a situation where anglers will have a lot of choices, said Rodgers who was the FLW Co-Angler of the Year in 2009 and won the Forrest Wood Cup as a Co-Angler on Georgia’s Lake Lanier in 2010.

“You can almost look for what you want. If you like fishing dirty water you can do that. If you like fishing clear water you can do that. If you like fishing bedding fish you can do that,” he said, adding that he has not decided on a strategy yet.

“I’ve not really decided what I want to do. I would like to go against the grain, but sometimes that can equal disaster, especially if the fish are biting, which they should be.”

And there are other factors that lake conditions to consider, he noted.

“The wild card is that Alabama Rig. Nobody knows how effective that thing is gong to be yet. I am going to throw it. I threw it some when I was there and got some bites on it. I think it will be a factor for sure, it is just so realistic in the water.”

Rodgers finished 59^th in the points last year, but figures he had a pretty good start for a rookie.

“Obviously, I had a lot to learn, but I’ve had to learn my whole career and I just tried to get better each year.”

Two major changes in his life make him think he will be prepared to improve tremendously this year – a change in jobs and a major new sponsor.

“Last year I felt like I ran out of steam toward the end of the year. I had some summertime tournaments where I could have benefited from pre-practice, in the last three tournaments, but I could not do that because I had run out of vacation time at my job,” he said. So, he left that job and started his own company with his wife.

“I am in the same business, the environmental drilling business, but I am more in control of my schedule since I own the company. Hopefully, that will make a difference. Already I can feel some of the pressure is off because if I need to take a couple of hours off for something fishing related I can and that makes a big difference.”

And now Sportsman’s Warehouse is on board as his major sponsor.

“I have been a customer since they opened in Columbia, S.C., and that is a great store. They have fishing tackle that you can’t find anywhere else and their camping and hunting equipment is amazing.”

Rodgers said that in addition to carrying the Sportsman’s Warehouse sponsorship into competition in the FLW tournaments, he will be working with the company of what products to add for local sportsmen.

“My goal is to help people catch more fish. As a kid that is what got me into fishing – somebody took me fishing. Sportsman’s Warehouse has the same goal. They want people to enjoy the outdoors and to provide them with the products that will help them do that,” he said.

“Having Sportsman’s Warehouse as a sponsor takes some of the financial pressure off me and my family. It allows me not to be so concerned about my financial situation while I am fishing and that will help a lot.”

 

FLW Tour Major #1

Mar 8-11, 2012

Lake Hartwell

Portman Shoals Marina

www.flwoutdoors.com