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| 3 | Kelly Jordon | |
| 9 | Skeet Reese | |
| 18 | Gerald Swindle | |
| 34 | Takahiro Omori | |
| 56 | Casey Ashley |
MONETA, Va. (April 30, 2009) - Lucky Craft pros competed in the fourth regular season BASS tournament of 2009 this past weekend on Smith Mountain Lake. Pre-spawn and spawning fish surprised some anglers, but two Lucky Craft pros found a way into the top 12 at the Blue Ridge Brawl.
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"I was fishing spawning pockets and creeks," Jordon began. "I wasn't fishing anything main lake, and I was fishing for the fish I found in practice on the first day. All four days were primarily sight fishing days for me. I could cast the swimbait while I was looking around [for bed fish]."
Jordon weighed in a large bag on day one - 20 pounds, 9 ounces - and was hopeful the rest of the tournament would be as fruitful.
Jordon, like many others, thought the trip to Smith Mountain Lake was still a little too early in the year for the fish to be on beds. With the water temperature only in the 50s, Jordon was somewhat puzzled as to why the fish were already spawning. Normal spawning water temperatures are at least 60 degrees or more.
According to the Texas resident, there were many fish on beds on Smith Mountain Lake, but after a cold front moved in on day one, the fish backed off the beds and didn't seem to replenish. It seemed as if the fish were going in reverse.
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"After day one, a lot of the fish were leaving and there weren't any new ones to move in," Jordon said. "We were all left to scramble around. I didn't see any big ones on beds after that. I saw a lot of cruising fish, but I couldn't catch them."
Jordon continued sight fishing for the remaining three days bringing in 11 pounds, 1 ounce, 12 pounds, 11 ounces and 13 pounds, 14 ounces for a four-day total of 58 pounds, 3 ounces. The Texas resident finished third.
"I credit a big part of my success this week to my Oakley sunglasses," Jordon added. "Being able to see the fish is key, and I know how important it is to use the best tools you can get."
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Coming off a bad tournament on Lake Wheeler, Jordon was pleased at his third-place finish on Smith Mountain. He was looking forward to this event.
"I certainly would have liked to win," Jordon concluded. "But it was a great event, and I fished the best I could. Third is definitely better than finishing fourth. It was a good tournament."
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The California native was predominantly sight fishing, running from pocket to pocket and point to point. Reese would find largemouth in the backs of pockets and smallmouth on the points.
In addition to sight fishing, Reese was also throwing an Osprey swimbait around docks and points. When there was wind, he would concentrate on the points and without wind, he caught them around docks.
Most of Reese's fish, however, were bed fish, and Reese explained how to approach these finicky fish.
"Bed fish are like people," Reese said. "They all have different personalities and being able to work towards understanding the fish is what makes it so interesting. You don't fish for them all the same way. Some are easy and some are hard. They all want a different presentation or a different bait. It makes sight fishing pretty challenging."
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With 15 rods on his deck all weekend, it was obvious Reese encountered a variety of personalities. He was throwing everything from a dropshot to a giant worm, with swimbaits and jigs in the mix, too.
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After four days of fishing, Reese had a final total of 53 pounds, 5 ounces, putting him ninth overall and sending him into Lake Guntersville, the site of the next BASS tournament, with confidence.
"I have mixed emotions about what the bite will be like on [Lake] Guntersville," Reese said. "I'm not sure if it will be post spawn enough for it to be an outside bite of if there will be enough pre-spawn or spawning fish. Coming up with a game plan is tough, but my guess is that it will be post spawn most of the time."
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Swindle used several Zoom soft plastics to catch his fish, including the Zoom Finesse Worm, Zoom Critter Craw and the Zoom Super Hog.
"I really couldn't catch fish any other way but sight fishing," Swindle said. "I dropshotted the finesse worm on 8-pound line for a lot of the smaller fish I caught on beds. I could catch them most of the time within a few minutes. The key was to stay far away from them, not letting them see the boat, and make long casts.
"For the bigger fish, I used the Critter Craw on a shakey head or the Super Hog on a 5/16 weight on 20-pound line," Swindle added. "I kept it simple, and I didn't have a lot of rods on my deck."
After weighing in 13 pounds and 9 ounces on day one and 11 pounds, 7 ounces on day two, Swindle tried to cast a lure more the third day. However, after several attempts with little success, he made the switch back to sight fishing.
"It was kind of a simple, boring tournament," Swindle admitted. "All you could do was look around and catch them."
Swindle finished his tournament on Saturday with a total, three-day weight of 38 pounds, 10 ounces.
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Much like fellow teammate Jordon, Swindle also mentioned the key to this tournament for him was a pair of good sunglasses. According to the Alabama resident, Oakley has created some sunglasses that are bright yellow, almost green in color, and perfect for conditions on Smith Mountain Lake, especially in the morning.
"In the morning here, you have about an hour where you can't see jack," Swindle said. "The sunglasses really helped. They probably gave me an extra 30 minutes of fishing time in the morning because I could actually see."
Swindle was pleased overall and is ready to move on to Lake Guntersville where he imagines it will take an average of 24 pounds a day or more to win.
"I think it's going to be a good tournament," Swindle concluded. "I think it's going to be an offshore deal, because most of the bedding will be finished. There will be a lot of fish in the 8- to 12-foot range and big spinnerbaits, crankbaits and jigs will be key."
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"I saw a lot of fish on beds," Omori said. "A lot of good fish, and I committed to sight fishing on Smith Mountain Lake. But most of the fish, after day one, were gone. They either left or were caught."
Omori sight fished, like most of the other anglers, for most of the tournament. In addition, he threw a Pointer 78 in Ghost Minnow a few times, but had to switch back to a Senko fishing for smallmouth on day two.
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Omori weighed in a 12-pound, 10-ounce bag on day one, 12 pounds, 6 ounces on day two and 10 pounds, 14 ounces on day three for a total, three-day weight of 35 pounds, 14 ounces.
"I ended up with an okay finish, but in tournaments like this, where you see so many big fish, you expect more," Omori said, disappointed. "But I think I came into this tournament sitting around 35th in the points. I think I'll be okay as far as the Classic is concerned."
Omori thinks Lake Guntersville, his next BASS tournament, will be fun and he is expecting a lot of big fish.
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"I ended up catching two on the swimbait on day one, then one on a spinnerbait and one off a bed," Ashley said. "When I got to my areas that I had found in practice, all the fish were gone. I don't know if someone caught them or if they just left. I don't know what the deal was, but it wasn't my deal, that's for sure."
With four fish weighing 12 pounds, 11 ounces on day one, Ashley tried again to catch a limit with the swimbait on day two. He was able to bring in five fish on Friday, but the bag weighed 9 pounds, 15 ounces, and Ashley wasn't able to find any big fish.
Ashley noted the big difference between this year's tournament and the tournament he won two years ago on this same lake.
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"The two-month time difference from the tournament in 2007 to this year was key," Ashley said. "The fish were in the early summer pattern then and they were feeding in the day time. It was a whole different deal. The fish had already moved all the way out of the spawning pockets."
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Even with a 56th-place finish, Ashley was in good spirits. After a 2nd-place finish a few weeks ago, he is still in good standing in the points and he can't complain about his season. He is also looking forward to Lake Guntersville.
"I did well on Lake Guntersville last year, so I kind of already know how the grass is laid out. I should have an advantage. It may be a spinnerbait, crankbait and swimbait deal, and topwater might come into play, too. You know I'll try it."
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"We knew the fish would be on the beds real hard here," Clunn said. "The only thing that saved me was the cold front that hit the day before the tournament started. Usually when a cold front hits like that, it'll cause the big fish to back off and feed a little bit, because they know they're getting ready to work really hard."
Clunn brought in 15 pounds, 4 ounces on day one burning a 3/4-ounce spinnerbait. He was fishing in off-colored water in practice and did well with the RC 3.5 last year, but he had to stick with the spinnerbait this year because the crankbait bite wasn't working for him this time around.
Clunn's weights dropped a little on days two and three as he weighed in 10 pounds, 7 ounces and 9 pounds, 6 ounces, respectively. He had to fish beds on day three because the water was calm.
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"Earlier in the week, the bed fish would move out ahead of me as I came down the bank with the spinnerbait," Clunn said. "On day three, the fish didn't move so I'd run across the top of them, swing around and catch them. I don't mess with the skittish ones. It's hard for me to figure them out. The [bed] fish have to be pretty suicidal for me to catch them."
Clunn, like many Lucky Craft pros, is looking forward to fishing Lake Guntersville.
"I'll be able to fish the way I feel most comfortable fishing," Clunn concluded. "I'm looking forward to it, but ultimately I just have to go fish. As long as I can fish a full tournament and don't have to contend with cancelled days, I think I'll do well."
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