These are by all accounts three of the best bass fisheries in the country. Alabama’s Lake Guntersville, South Carolina’s Santee Cooper Lakes and Tennessee’s Chickamauga Lake are ranked in the top 10 of almost everyone’s list. When this Covid-19 revised schedule came out, several Elite Series anglers acknowledged that fishing during the fall transition would be tough, but thought Chickamauga would be better than the other two.
However, after three days of practice this week, those predictions had flipped. Everyone knew this event was going to be the most difficult of the season. It’s a timing thing. And it’s right place/wrong time at Chickamauga.
As you can see in the chart below, Chickamauga is proving stingier than Guntersville and Santee Cooper. Far stingier. The word “brutal” was uttered often at Friday’s Day 1 weigh-in. And when only 29 five-bass limits are brought to the scales in this 85-man field, you can understand why.
But, in a way, that makes this tournament even more interesting. These guys do this for a living. And someone is going to figure out a little something to exploit on the way to a $100,000 first-place payday.
| Day 1 | Guntersville | Santee | Chickamagua |
| Date | 9/30 | 10/8 | 10/16 |
| 1st Place | 19-5 | 25-8 | 19-6 |
| 10th Place | 15-3 | 16-2 | 13-0 |
| 20th Place | 14-5 | 14-7 | 11-0 |
| 40th Place | 11-9 | 12-10 | 8-9 |
| Big Bass | 8-6 | 7-9 | 6-9 |
| Total Bass | 346 | 349 | 270 |
| Total Weight | 934-13 | 952-12 | 653-4 |
| Ave. wt/bass | 2.70 | 2.73 | 2.42 |
| 5-bass limits | 46/85 | 59/85 | 29/85 |
| Limit % | 54.1 % | 69.4% | 34.1% |