CLARKSVILLE, Va. — The vexation of going to the well once too often has bitten many a tournament angler, but Daniel Gray defied that angling axiom and closed the deal at the Old Milwaukee B.A.S.S. Nation Mid-Atlantic Divisional on Buggs Island Reservoir with a 3-day total of 28 pounds, 11 ounces.
Hailing from Butler, Pa., Gray placed sixth on Day 1 and then took over the lead on a tough Day 2 after plucking two bass — both weighing 4-1 — off a spot where he had caught a 5-pounder in practice. The key area was a sandy bar extending off a clay bank right outside a small creek.
After trying other areas in the morning, Gray returned to his key area around mid-morning on Day 3 and caught a couple more keepers that sealed his victory by a 1-pound margin.
Texas pro Tom Redington sacked up 24-9 on day two and rose from fourth place into the lead. (Photo by Colin Moore)
27.Jun.2014 When the bass go into attack mode, so does Tom Redington. The Royse City, Texas, pro hammered a 24-pound, 9-ounce limit today at the Walmart FLW Tour event on Kentucky Lake presented by Evinrude and hosted by Henry County Alliance.
According to Redington, a midday front that swept across the area with high winds, rain and rumblings of thunder motivated bass to line up just how he likes them on the Tennessee River’s famous ledges. The result is Redington taking the tournament lead into the weekend with a two-day total of 46 pounds, 15 ounces.
“This ledge fishing is awesome,” Redington says. “There are fish all over the place. I ran a lot of new water today. Yesterday I had to work for them. I went to my best schools and caught one or two. When the storms rolled in, it was hammer-down time. The schools were in attack position, and they bit like they were supposed to.”
So what does “attack position” look like? For starters, it’s something that pros see on their depth finders. And it’s difficult for most of them to explain, but the best in the business – like Redington, Randy Haynes and Scott Martin – can recognize it when they see it. If they don’t see it, they don’t take time to fish.
Redington says that to him, when bass show up on his sonar in a pile, like a stack of hay, rather than appearing to be lined up “flat” across the ledge, that’s his cue that they’re in attack mode.
The only logical move to make is to go into attack mode himself. Today, Redington’s attack lasted almost two hours.
“You have to capitalize when the fish are going,” Redington says. “Yesterday I used a lot more finesse. Today, it was full throttle with big baits – power fishing.”
We had a great tournament this past weekend. We has 25 boats come out and it was a great night to fish (dodged the storms). Congrats to Bradshaw/Bradshaw for finishing in 1st place with 16.20 lbs, John Cole finished 2nd with 16.08 lbs and had big fish with a 5.04 lb largemouth, and Nicely finished 3rd with 15.34 lbs. Congrats to all who fished. Our next tournament is a club tournament on July 19–20, 2014 from 8 PM to 8 AM. Hope to see all our club member there. Thanks.
This blog finds itself a few weeks late, but I have been pretty busy the past several weeks. I’ve still been trying to play catch up from being gone to Douglas for a week, and then we took a family vacation to Charleston last week. The week after I returned from Douglas, I had 2 tournaments on Kerr Lake. One Saturday and one Sunday. If there is one thing I have learned over the years at Buggs Island, it is to fish the bushes if the water is in them. The one exception being early in the year, but since it was June, I knew where they would be. The first willow tree I flipped into during practice yielded a bite that I shook off. I fished a few more and got a few other bites, so I decided to look out deep. There were some fish out there too, but I knew that the shallow fish would win. The first stop I made on Saturday was a little section of bushes where I caught a good one in practice. We immediately put a 3lber in the boat and several shorts. We moved along to the next few bushes and caught a 2.5lber and then another 3.5lber. By 7:30, we were looking pretty good. I ran to a spot that I had a bite in during practice, and I lost another 3.5-4lber. For some reason the night before, I didn’t retie my spook. It was on braid, and I really hadn’t thrown it a lot. The fish bit, and my line broke. That’s a stupid mistake on my part and one that should never happen. I can tell you it won’t happen again. We ended up with our limit, but still had a couple we needed to get rid of. I went to a little rockpile that the fish use when they are moving out, and my partner hooks a good one. Unfortunately, it came up and threw the crankbait back at us. It too was another one about 3.5lbs. Continuing to jump back and forth from shallow to deep, we never were able to cull up a lot. We ended the day with a little over 12 lbs and missed getting a check by 1 spot. With a little luck, we would have had over 15lbs and been in the top 5. Tough to swallow, but that’s the way it goes. You have to forget about what could have been and focus on what’s next. Sunday began a little slower than Saturday. I started in the same areas I did on Saturday, but we only managed 1 keeper bite. The first deep spot I stopped on, I caught a 2.5lber. I thought maybe the fish had moved out, but it was still hit or miss. The original plan was to go run new water, but when I got that deep bite, I changed my mind. My game plan should have never changed. We continued to jump back and forth from shallow to deep and had a limit of maybe 11lbs. With too little time left, I pulled into some of the new water I was going to flip, and I caught a 3lber. I culled and we had to run to weigh in. We should have never tried to fish behind ourselves. When it comes to flipping, I am VERY thorough, and don’t leave much behind. I feel very confident that had we continued to fish new water, we could have had 15lbs or so. As it stood, we finished 15th out of 175 boats and got a small check. 15lbs would have again been in the top 5. The moral of the story is, to not fish behind yourself during a 2 day event. Ever wonder why you caught them good the day before the tournament and didn’t during the tournament? Maybe you too were fishing behind yourself. There are of course exceptions to this, like when the fish are out deep, but when the fish are shallow, be careful not to get caught up in fishing the same locations. Fish the same pattern, just in a different location. This is why the guys that spend more time on the lake consistently cash checks. They know hundreds of spots where a pattern will work, while some only know a handful. Next time you go to the lake, go to an area that you don’t normally fish and learn some more about it. You will reap the benefits next time you need to run a lot of water.
I have never been to the movie Titanic, have never have seen even parts of it, I know how it ends.
I am the last person to try a newfangled gadget and television info-mercials never get a second glance, most of the time, although I do like the Endura buff KVD endorses. Feel the same way about most stuff he talks about. Hard to beat success, I guess.
Although I have seen most of the new baits each year, new electronics and state of the art rods and reels I am usually the last guy to go overboard on any of them. Do I like them, you bet. Would I like to try them, yes sir. But overwhelmed, never.
Alabama doesn’t mess around with anglers cheating in bass fishing tournaments. Another angler, Steven Macon of Pell City, Ala., was arrested and charged by the Pell City Police Department. He allegedly was caught on video by the Alabama Game and Fish officers on a tip, taking a fish out of a basket under a dock and putting it into his livewell then later bringing it to the scales at the D&S Tournament at Riverside on Logan Martin on Tuesday, June 17 in a one fish, big bass tournament. Local eyewitnesses confirmed that as soon as he put the bass on the scales, G&F and Alabama Marine Police stepped in and made the arrest. He was taken to the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office for booking.
Brett Hite is having one of the hottest seasons in recent memory in professional bass fishing, and he’s turning up the heat on the field at the final stop of the FLW Tour on Kentucky Lake. He had 5 bass that weighed 24 pounds, 14 ounces Thursday to take the day-one lead.
Right behind Hite in second-place is pro Randy Haynes of Counce, Tenn., who weighed in five bass for 22 pounds, 11 ounces. Haynes was the winner of the Rayovac FLW Series tournament held on Kentucky Lake just one month ago.
Virginia takes team lead at Mid-Atlantic Divisional
Mid-Atlantic Divisional
Competing in sweltering heat, Pennsylvania’s Daniel Gray starting seeing double, as in a pair of 4-pound, 1-ounce bass that pushed him into first place with a two-day total of 18-6.
CLARKSVILLE, Va. — Hallucinations are not uncommon for sweltering hot conditions like those plaguing Day 2 of the Old Milwaukee B.A.S.S. Nation Mid-Atlantic Divisional on Buggs Island/Kerr Reservoir. However, when Daniel Gray starting seeing double, it was a good thing — good, as in a pair of 4-pound, 1-ounce bass that pushed him into first place with a two-day total of 18-6.
The angler from Butler, Pa., caught only those two fish today, but with temperatures reaching 95 degrees and productivity down across the board, his 8-2 weight was actually among the day’s better sacks.
“It was tough today,” Gray said. “Yesterday, I had a limit by 11 a.m. Today, I caught these fish in the last hour. I fished yesterday’s pattern today and it was totally different.
“I was running around, trying to figure it out all day. I pulled into this one spot, got a bite and lost a 2 1/2-pounder. On the next cast, I caught one of my fish and about 15 minutes later, I caught the other one.”
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