GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Interestingly, the Bassmaster Elite Series has never been to Georgia’s famous spotted bass factory, Lake Lanier. But when the four-day tournament begins here Thursday, several anglers will be back in familiar territory.
Carl Jocumsen of Queensland, Australia, is one of the anglers who were competing on the FLW circuit last year during a March tournament on Lake Lanier, when the winning weight was 68 pounds, 4 ounces.
“I think it will take maybe a little more to win here this year,” Jocumsen said. “They’re even fatter and bigger this time. The lake is probably at its peak, I think. It’s fishing really well. There are giant spotted bass here, and there’s a lot of bait. And there’s a lot of different ways to catch them. You can do what you want, and you’ll still be able to catch them.”
As an example, Jocumsen mentioned that he’d caught his two personal best spotted bass during practice this week – both were pushing 6 pounds.
“One was in two feet of water,” he said. “The other was in 22 feet.”
Lake Lanier covers 38,000 acres. It has depths up to 200 feet. Typically, in the winter bass will be schooled in the depths. But water surface temperatures have climbed into the upper 40s and low 50s, and those deep schools are beginning to break up at the first hints of spring.
“The water is colder than when we were here last year,” said Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, S.C., who finished 26th in the FLW event last March. “But with that warming trend we had last week, I believe it broke up some of the deep schools. I haven’t been able to find what you would consider a wintertime school, where you catch a ton of fish and one on almost every cast. To me it seems like they’re scattered. It seems like they’re nowhere because there are so few everywhere.
“But it will probably take 16 to 18 pounds a day to win. You’re going to see a lot of 14-pound bags throughout the tournament.”
Part of that impression from the previous 2 ½ days of practice is because of the nature of practice itself, when you find a few bites and then leave to find another place where they’re biting.
“When you settle down and fish an area better than what you do in practice, you’ll get more bites,” said Scott Canterbury of Odenville, Ala., who finished 60th in the FLW event last year, but also has a second-place finish in the Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Lanier. “Somebody is going to catch them. It’s been a little tough for me to get a lot of bites, but there are going to be some really big bags of spots brought in.
“I don’t know if the largemouth will play or not. I haven’t fooled with them.”
Yes, there is a significant population of largemouth bass as well in Lanier. Typically, they will be in play for at least one angler in this tournament. However, it is big spotted bass that will dominate the weigh-in stage. Both bass species have a minimum length limit of 14 inches in this tournament.
“I think the winning weight will be real close to what it took a year ago (in the FLW event),” said Chad Morgenthaler of Reeds Spring, Mo. “It’s going to take that 3-plus-pound average to do it. I’m certain of that. I’ve seen enough of them this week that I think it’s going to take that. (Tuesday) it stormed pretty heavy, and they showed themselves.
“It’s a big pond. You can spread out. There are a lot of places to go. It’s up and it’s looking good. We’ve got dirty water. We’ve got clear water. You can catch them a lot of different ways right now.”
Daily takeoffs begin a 7:05 from Laurel Park, 3100 Old Cleveland Highway, Gainesville, Ga. Check-in time for the first flight is 3:15 p.m Weigh-ins the first two days will be at Laurel Park before moving to Coolray Field, 2500 Buford Dr., Lawrenceville, Ga., on Saturday and Sunday.