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Social media roundup Wheeler Lake Open

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Captions by
Shaye Baker
Alabama
The scene is set for the 2023 St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Wheeler Lake. We took a look around social media and checked in with a few of the anglers to compile a gallery of how practice has gone. One of the local hopefuls to Wheeler Lake, Sam George, shows off a good largemouth.
Bobby Lane, Blake Smith and others attended the Bassmaster Legacy Night at Fairview Baptist Church this week.
Clay Dyer spoke, and it was no doubt an awesome night of inspiration and fellowship.
There have been some beautiful sunrises in the mornings, like this one captured by James Niggemeyer.
But Steve Kennedy shows us a shot of the summer storms that have rolled through the area in the afternoons as well.
This is a screenshot from a video of a shad spawn on Greg Hackney’s Instagram. It does not do the video justice, so we recommend you go take a look for yourself at one of the best videos we’ve seen of a shad spawn in quite a while.
The shad are spawning all over Wheeler, even out offshore on the shallow shell beds and bars. The bait is hard to see below the surface, but the birds definitely give them away from the air.
A rare site in north Alabama, Trevor McKinney shot this pic of an alligator.
Cranking shellbeds will catch big ones on Wheeler this week. Here’s a shot of a muscle shell from Trevor’s cousin, Trey McKinney.
Tom Frink’s fishing partner, Scout, is fresh and ready to start the day.
As is the case for the anglers though…
… long hours spent graphing in the hot sun can be a bit of a bore and exhausting for a pup.
Here’s a shot of some of the flooded bushes on Wheeler which hold shallow water bass and spawning shad.
No doubt this bite felt good for Andrew Upshaw. At least for the first couple cranks of the handle before the fish started spiraling through the water, a dead giveaway that an angler has hooked a drum and not a bass.
Another solid thump undoubtedly for Ish Monroe.
Ish got one of the right bites too though.
Fish are in all three phases here, with some looking healthy like this one from Trevor McKinney.
This one from Joey Nania looks good too. The healthier bass are either pre-spawn (of which there are still reportedly a few), or post-spawn and feeding back up.
There are some giants in Wheeler, like this one from JT Thompkins.
This one from Brad Luethener is a good illustration of the immediate post-spawn bass that are still shallow, fresh off the bed and looking for a bite to eat.
Upshaw caught this bass that appeared to be trying to pass a Senko, but upon further inspection, was suffering from a lamprey attack. These parasitic fish are often found hanging off other fish on the Tennessee River.
Wheeler has a good population of big smallmouth bass too. Matt Henry (currently 2nd in AOY) shows us a nice one.
Clark Reehm with another nice smallmouth. Based on what the anglers are reporting, expect smallmouth to play a big role here this week.
Hugh Cosculluela with another disappointing bite.
But one of the right ones too.
Blake Smith with a chunky largemouth.
Smith also on a mixed bag, with smallmouth and largemouth on his offshore area.
We anticipate seeing bass caught from right on the bank all the way to the main river channel.
Smith is relying, at least in part, on a finesse swimbait…
… rigged on a Buckeye Swimbait Jig Head. A great offering for the heavily pressured bass.
Joey Nania is one of the Opens EQ (Elite Qualifier) anglers who signed up to fish all 9 Opens in an effort to qualify for the 2024 Bassmaster Elite Series.
Nania is sitting in 18th after four events and he’s also on a solid mixed bag.
And not to be outdone, Opens EQ angler Trey McKinney introduces us to the third member of the trifecta…
… a nice spotted bass. There are big bass of all varieties here on the Tennessee River. The tournament starts tomorrow morning. Tune in to see who can crack the code on Wheeler Lake.

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