Right Place, Right Time

Another constant theme you've heard from the pros this week has been timing being in the right place at the right time. McClelland, who won the Sooner Run last year and lives an hour away in Bella Vista, Ark., knows this lake as well as anyone.

GROVE, Okla. — Another constant theme you’ve heard from the pros this week has been timing — being in the right place at the right time. McClelland, who won the Sooner Run last year and lives an hour away in Bella Vista, Ark., knows this lake as well as anyone.McClelland thinks the vast majority of bass are holding near rocky points at depths of four to 15 feet. And he thinks the fish are still there even when you’re casting right in the middle of them, but not getting a bite.He thinks that when the big gizzard shad, for whatever reason, move into these areas the bass go on a feeding frenzy. Whether it’s wind concentrating algae or sunshine causing an algae bloom, something causes the gizzard shad to concentrate in certain areas at certain times. Timing, timing, timing.

 Kevin Short moved from 13th place Friday to fourth place Saturday with the ultimate story of good timing. When the sun broke out briefly around 1 p.m. Saturday, Short was in an area near the dam, where the water clarity was a little better than most on Grand Lake.

 And in three casts Short caught a six-pounder, a five-pounder and a three-and-a-half pounder on a pearl colored Norman DD22 crankbait, which is a big lure and likely imitates a gizzard shad.”I could easily have weighed-in only 13 or 14 pounds,” said Short, who instead brought 21-8 to the weigh-in stand. “I was just in the right place at the right time.”

 Don’t, however, discount that as simply luck. You’ve got to be thinking and adjusting as the day progresses to put yourself in the right place at the right time.

 Editor’s note: ESPNOutdoors.com invited the University of Oklahoma bass fishing team to join coverage of the Sooner Run. The collegiate anglers will post a regular blog and appear on Hooked Up, the live Internet shows that air at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET on Sunday in advance of the live weigh-in. Bob Cobb, creator of Bassmaster Magazine and Bassmaster television, will be the special guest on Hooked Up.

 

Daily live weigh-ins and a realtime leaderboard will be at 4 p.m. ET. Please feel free to post comments to this blog via the ESPN Conversation feature at the bottom of this and every news page on this site.