Brent Chapman has been openly thankful on the weigh-in stage each day for his friend Randy Howell's advice this week. Chapman admitted he struggled in practice until Howell showed him where to key in on the Coosa River spotted bass.
So it made for an interesting scene when James Overstreet and I just arrived three-quarters of a mile above the second bridge at Wetumpka at Corn Creek Shoals. Howell boated over to Chapman, who was fishing down a bank here. As soon as Howell left, Chapman put a 3-pounder in the boat that gives him about 18 pounds for the day.
Chapman told us that this is one of the hot spots Howell showed him during practice. But it is not a place where he's spent much time this week. Chapman has concentrated farther upstream in the whitewater.
And he made it up there today, despite the lower water level. But Chapman got out after catching about 15 pounds.
"I don't know how the guys that are still up there are going to get out," Chapman said.
When Overstreet and I put in at the park in Wetumpka this morning, a local animal control officer told us to watch out for the "alligator warning" sign near the boat ramp. It's usually up on the bank, but he said the top of it would be just barely under water now.
Sure enough, we bumped it with the prop.
When we got back here a few minutes ago, the sign was 6 inches out of the water.