Brandon Card now lives in Salisbury, N.C., but he was living in Knoxville last year. He had just finished ninth in the Bassmaster Classic on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville on March 8 when the Elite Series took a long pause in the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Card didn’t have anything else to do, so he spent a lot of time fishing his home waters, which just happen to be the site of this tournament.
“I fished Fort Loudoun a lot in March and April last year during the shutdown,” said the 34-year-old Card, who is in his 10th season on the Elite Series. “I wish this tournament was in March. I know where they’re going to be then, but they’re not there yet.”
Well, maybe some of them are there now. Card has a limit, which includes a 5-pound, 10-ounce big bass of the day so far. His unofficial BassTrakk second-place total is 13-10 at 10:30 a.m.
“I’m going to have confidence in my areas this week,” Card said Wednesday. “I know where they’re going to be moving to in the areas I fished last March and April. With a couple of days of warmer weather, I’m hoping it will pay off.”