DECATUR, Ala. – One day after almost every one of the 108 Elite Series anglers talked about how tough the fishing was, 100 of them caught five-bass limits on Day 1 of the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite at Wheeler Lake.
And they weren’t piddly limits, led by John Crews’ 20-pound, 7-ounce bag, followed closely by Casey Ashley’s 19-12, which included the big bass of the day, a 6-12. Twentieth place is 15-7, which is what many predicted would earn a $10,000, top 50 check for a two-day total.
“Today proved that practice is just bull***t,” said David Walker, who is in 19th place with 15-8. “We evidently don’t know what we’re doing when it comes to practice. The consensus was definitely, ‘What’s wrong with this lake. It’s just terrible.’
“I thought it was tough. I didn’t think it was one of the worst practices I’d ever had. But I was still convinced that if you caught 9 or 10 pounds a day you’d get a check. Boyd (Duckett) was telling me in the parking lot this morning that it’s only going to take (a two-day total of) 15 or 16 pounds to get a check, saying it was the worst he’d ever seen it.”
Granted, there’s a wide margin for error based on what happens in practice, when anglers are just trying to locate fish in as many areas as possible, and tournament time, when the idea is to catch as many as possible. But this was as margin of error as wide as the great outdoors.
“I had a horrible practice. Horrible,” said Gerald Swindle, who is in 11th place with 16-8. “I got to the point where I wasn’t getting a lot of bites. Even today I only caught seven fish all day.
“I don’t know if we underestimated what this place could put out, or guys sat on spots longer and ground it out. I don’t know, but the weights are tremendous. I was 100 percent convinced that 9 ½ pounds a day was a sure $10,000 check. I had practice days where I didn’t get eight or 10 bites, and that was from daylight until dark.
“Wheeler is still Wheeler. I thought they were gone, but they’re not.”
Brandon Lester did say Wednesday evening prior to the anglers’ meeting that he had one day practice day where he thought he could have weighed 17 or 18 pounds, but the other two practice days where tough. Lester weighed the fourth biggest bag of Day 1 with 18-7.
“So I lived up to my word,” he said with a smile. “It ain’t going to be easy. I know that. It took me all day to get mine, and it was a long time between bites. I had seven keepers today.”
Walker did mention Wednesday that fisheries change quickly this time of year, and the storm front predicted to move through the area that night might “reshuffle the deck.” It appears that’s exactly what happened.
“I think the fish pulled up and started biting overnight,” Swindle said.
And, gosh, did they bite.
“This was the best weigh-in in the history of Wheeler Lake,” said Walker. “I promise you. We’ve come here a million times. Always a few guys catch ’em. I’ve never seen it where 20th place is almost 16 pounds. That’s crazy. I don’t know what to make of it.”
However, now everyone knows what to make of practice: It’s bull***t!