“It’s my first trip to Kentucky Lake so it’s going to be an experience like all the rest of them have been,” said the Maiden, N.C., pro who, while a rookie on the Elite circuit, has a lot of experience in FLW Outdoors tournaments. “Most of the BFL All Americans that I made were on lake where it was my first time there.”

In those All American championships Williams finished in the top 20 all four times, with two top 5s – 5th in 2013 and 3rd in 2012. He has fared nearly as well on the bigger stage this year in the Elite Series and at midway of the season finds himself ranked 3rd in the Rookie of the Year standings.

He won the Bassmaster Southern Open Series standings in 2014 to qualify to fish the Elite Series this year. And, although a rookie on the Elite circuit, he won the Bassmaster Weekend Series Championship in 2008 to qualify for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic.

Although April was not a very good month with finishes well down in the standings at Guntersville and on the Sacramento River in California, Williams finished 16th at Lake Tohopekaliga in March to start the Elite season and then surprised everyone – including himself – with a 5th place finish at Lake Havasu in Arizona in early May.

“The season has gone pretty well,” Williams said. “I have had two good events where I have been in contention. If not for one bad day in Texas with a mechanical issue on my boat, I probably would have had a shot to win there. And I was just one or two bites away at Havasu.”

Ironically, he said, his best practices were at the two sites where he did not do well in the tournaments.

“On the California Delta I was on so many big fish it was unbelievable. I could not wait for the tournament, but when it started my fish went South. I could not figure out how to catch them.”

Havasu was where everyone sat up and took notice, however.

“Havasu scared me to death. It has no history at all, nobody knows anything about it. You could literally see fish swimming 15 to 20 feet deep. Initially I thought the tournament would probably be won by a drop shot or finesse fishing.”

But in practice, he discovered the fish were just like bass back home. They would hide under any cover they could find.

“They would bite, too. They were not shy at all, like you would expect in clear water,” said Williams, who weighed four daily limits for a total of 62.14 pounds to take 5th place and move into 3rd in the ROY standings.

So, while he has never been on Kentucky Lake, the mystery of the fish there does not faze him, he said.

“Anytime I go somewhere that I don’t have any history I do my best,” he said.

That could play into his favor for the Kentucky Lake Elite, but the familiarity he gains in practicing for and fishing the Elite tournament next week could set him up with just enough experience to do well in the 2015 All American which is scheduled just two weeks after the Elite tournament.

“Hopefully I can find them pretty good next week during the Elite tournament and have some fish to go back to in the All American,” he said.

 

Bassmaster Elite Series

Jun 3-7, 2015

Kentucky-Barkley Lakes

www.bassmaster.com