In his only day of practice last Saturday for the inaugural 2011 Carolina Anglers Team Trail series on Lake Murray this Saturday Randall Driggers managed to catch only one fish – a 3-pound bass – not a good omen for the opener for Driggers who, with his partner, Josh McGregor, dominated the Lake Murray spring series in 2010.

“This has been the most severe winter weather we have had in quite some time so I was only able to practice that one time last Saturday,” said Driggers who will be fishing without McGregor on Saturday because of a schedule conflict. “With not much practice because of the cold weather all I can do is go out and do what I like to do and hope for the best.”

Driggers and McGregor averaged 17 ½ pounds per tournament in the CATT spring series on Lake Murray last year and won more than $6,000.

“We had a phenomenal year last year,” Driggers said. “Things just seemed to go our way. We put in a lot of time and stayed with the fish. In a bunch of those tournaments we did not always get to catch the fish the same way – we changed when the fish changed.”

It was also a great year for CATT on Lake Murray, said CATT director Brett Collins.

“We paid back more than $37,000 at Murray last year, the largest amount of cash we have paid at Murray since we started there,” Collins said. “That’s because the number of boats has picked up. Last year we have over 40 teams at a couple of spring qualifiers.”

Collins said bass fishing also picked up considerably last year despite the loss of aquatic grass in the lake.

“We had one winning weight over 30 pounds last year so Lake Murray still has some big bass in it, even with the grass missing. This should be a very good year on Lake Murray.”

Fishing has been tough so far this year, Driggers said, because of the extreme cold, the clear water and a lack of rain.

“I don’t feel like the fish have pulled up yet. Last Saturday I was fishing 45-degree water and doing the things I like to do – I jig a lot and crankbait a lot – and I was only able to catch that one 3-pounder cranking.”

He said he plans to do the same thing Saturday. Collins said weights have picked up in recent tournaments on the lake and he hopes the warmer weather this week will help the fishing Saturday. Driggers agreed that the warming trend this week can only help, along with heavy rain towards the weekend.

“I can only hope this weather we have had this week will spur them to pull up close where we can catch them. Last Saturday was behind the front and there was a high pressure system,” he noted. “I think a little bit of warm weather and the rain will help the bite.””

The rain and cloudy skies will be a big help, he said.

“I looked at the weather and they are calling for a chance of rain Saturday, partly cloudy and the temperature won’t be so bad. That type of weather favors you to catch fish on Lake Murray more so than sunny weather.”

 

Carolina Anglers Team Trail – Murray Division

Sat, Feb 5, 2011

Lake Murray

Dreher Island State Park

www.catttrail.com