Although Lake Seminole teems with heavyweight largemouth bass, there were dour predictions from the anglers who are competing here this week in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open No. 3 presented by Allstate. It’s all about timing, and October is generally not a good time to catch a lot of bass at Lake Seminole.
Randall Tharp of Port St. Joe, Fla., a favorite to win this tournament, said Thursday that the bass are currently scattered throughout Seminole’s abundant aquatic vegetation. You can catch a huge bass on any given cast, but you must stay on the move to find another bass that’s willing to bite.
Tharp weighed in a 17-pound, 8-ounce five-bass limit today, which has him in fourth place. Because Tharp failed to qualify for the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro via the Bassmaster Elite Series, he must win here to secure his Classic berth.
On Thursday, the first competition day, the fish proved to be stingy for most of the 166 pros and 166 co-anglers fishing in this tournament. Many of the pros failed to catch a daily five-bass limit and 26 of them did not catch a single keeper bass. Bass were even harder to come by for the co-anglers, as 75 of them failed to weigh-in a bass.
The tough fishing made leader Bobby Lane’s five-bass limit, weighing 20-6, even more impressive. The Lakeland, Fla., angler said he practiced only one day on Seminole. That was on Wednesday, the day before the tournament started.
“This place sets up good for a flipper,” Lane said. “I caught 15 to 20 bass today, and I have them all to myself.”
Lane is known for his ability to dig bass out of thick grass with a long, stout flippin’ rod.
Brandon McMillan of Clewiston, Fla., is close behind Lane in second place with a limit that weighed 19-14. McMillan was leading the Angler of the Year standings for the Bassmaster Southern Opens coming into this tournament. He believes today’s heavy limit will keep him high enough in the standings to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series tour in 2016.
The Top 5 finishers in each of the three Bassmaster Open divisions qualify for the Elite Series. Should McMillan win this tournament, it will help to finance his Elite Series dream.
Elite Series pro Kelley Jaye is in third place with 18-4. “I fished one bait in three different areas all day,” Jaye said. “I don’t have a lot of company because I’m fishing offshore.”
Marty Spears of Tallahassee, Fla., sits atop the co-anglers with a three-bass co-angler limit of 10-11.
The anglers who are leading after today’s weigh-in are wisely keeping quiet about where they are fishing and the lures and techniques that are working for them. They don’t want to tip their hand to their competitors.
However, it is likely that most of the bigger bass weighed in today were caught with a tactic called “punching.” The lure is a soft plastic crawdad, or some other creature bait, rigged Texas style (weedless) with a large hook. A 1- to 2-ounce tungsten bullet sinker punches the lure through dense grassmats to reach the bass lounging in open water below the mats.
Hollow weedless frogs and Texas rigged sinking worms also saw plenty of action today.
Drew Cook of Midway, Fla., is the big bass leader on the pro side with a whopping 8-5 largemouth bass. The pro who catches the biggest bass during the tournament earns a $750 Bass Pro Shops Big Bass award.
The big bass leader for the co-anglers is Eugene Stinson of Dry Branch, Ga., with a 6-10. If no co-angler catches a heavier bass before the tournament ends, Stinson will pocket the $250 Bass Pro Shops Big Bass award.
About 15 pros piloted aluminum boats today so they could run far up the Flint River and navigate rocky shoals to fish for shoal bass. Feisty shoal bass do not grow nearly as big as Seminole’s largemouth bass, but they are more willing to bite a lure, especially in October. All the leaders in this tournament caught largemouth bass.
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Bobby Lane Jr. Lakeland, FL 5 20-06 200
Day 1: 5 20-06
2. Brandon McMillan Clewiston, FL 5 19-14 199
Day 1: 5 19-14
3. Kelley Jaye Dadeville, AL 5 18-04 198
Day 1: 5 18-04
4. Randall Tharp Port St. Joe, FL 5 17-08 197
Day 1: 5 17-08
5. Chad Grigsby Maple Grove, MN 5 17-04 196
Day 1: 5 17-04
6. Drew Cook Midway, FL 5 16-11 195
Day 1: 5 16-11
7. Timmy Reneau Del Rio, TX 5 16-07 194
Day 1: 5 16-07
8. Clent Davis Montevallo, AL 5 16-04 193
Day 1: 5 16-04
9. Hunter Shryock Newcomerstown, OH 5 16-03 192
Day 1: 5 16-03
10. Jim Murray Jr Arabi, GA 5 15-09 191
Day 1: 5 15-09
11. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, FL 4 15-09 190
Day 1: 4 15-09
12. Derek Remitz Grant, AL 5 15-02 189
Day 1: 5 15-02
13. Trevor Fitzgerald Belleview, FL 5 15-01 188
Day 1: 5 15-01
14. AJ Slegona Jr Walker Valley, NY 4 14-07 187
Day 1: 4 14-07
15. Jade Keeton Killen, AL 5 14-00 186
Day 1: 5 14-00
16. Kyle Monti Okeechobee, FL 5 12-08 185
Day 1: 5 12-08
17. Al Cleghorn Fitzgerald, GA 5 12-07 184
Day 1: 5 12-07
18. Josh Douglas Mound, MN 5 12-04 183
Day 1: 5 12-04
19. Tim Frederick Leesburg, FL 5 12-01 182
Day 1: 5 12-01
20. Wade Leblanc Gonzales, LA 4 12-01 181
Day 1: 4 12-01
21. Kyle Fox Lakeland, FL 5 12-00 180
Day 1: 5 12-00
22. Rob Jordan Flowery Branch, GA 5 11-09 179
Day 1: 5 11-09
23. Darrell Davis Dover, FL 4 11-09 178
Day 1: 4 11-09
24. George Kapiton Inverness, FL 4 11-03 177
Day 1: 4 11-03
25. Jesse Tacoronte Orlando, FL 5 11-02 176
Day 1: 5 11-02
26. Scott Luster Prattville, AL 5 11-01 175
Day 1: 5 11-01
27. Rich Howes Oviedo, FL 4 11-00 174
Day 1: 4 11-00
28. Scott Holland Leesburg, GA 5 10-13 173
Day 1: 5 10-13
29. Brett Preuett Monroe, LA 5 10-12 172
Day 1: 5 10-12
30. Drew Benton Panama City, FL 5 10-11 171
Day 1: 5 10-11
30. Brooks Forsyth Hester, LA 5 10-11 171
Day 1: 5 10-11
32. Blake Nick Adger, AL 5 10-10 169
Day 1: 5 10-10
33. Mike Jackson San Mateo, FL 5 10-05 168
Day 1: 5 10-05
34. Guy Eaker Sr. Cherryville, NC 5 10-04 167
Day 1: 5 10-04
35. Jeff Cloud Lubbock, TX 5 10-03 166
Day 1: 5 10-03
36. Mike Kernan Wylie, TX 5 10-02 165
Day 1: 5 10-02
37. Skylar Hamilton Dandridge, TN 5 10-01 164
Day 1: 5 10-01
37. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 5 10-01 164
Day 1: 5 10-01
39. Gary Riffle Paris, TX 5 09-15 162
Day 1: 5 09-15
40. Alton Jones Jr. Lorena, TX 5 09-13 161
Day 1: 5 09-13
40. Lonnie Oneal Valdosta, GA 5 09-13 161
Day 1: 5 09-13
42. Ott DeFoe Knoxville, TN 5 09-11 159
Day 1: 5 09-11
43. David Kilgore Jasper, AL 3 09-11 158
Day 1: 3 09-11
44. Joey Nania Cropwell, AL 5 09-06 157
Day 1: 5 09-06
45. William Shipes Williston, SC 5 09-04 156
Day 1: 5 09-04
46. Danny Lavoie Franklin, GA 3 09-04 155
Day 1: 3 09-04
47. Ed Loughran Mechanicsville, VA 5 08-13 154
Day 1: 5 08-13
48. Kenta Kimura Livingston, TX 4 08-11 153
Day 1: 4 08-11
49. Chad Morgenthaler Coulterville, IL 5 08-09 152
Day 1: 5 08-09
50. Bill Weidler Bessemer, AL 2 08-06 151
Day 1: 2 08-06
51. Jimmie Murphy Ocala, FL 2 08-05 150
Day 1: 2 08-05
52. Vu Au Tucson, AZ 3 08-02 149
Day 1: 3 08-02
53. Shane Powell Midland City, AL 2 08-02 148
Day 1: 2 08-02
54. John Cox Debary, FL 3 08-01 147
Day 1: 3 08-01
55. Todd Auten Lake Wylie, SC 3 08-00 146
Day 1: 3 08-00
56. Cody Detweiler Orlando, FL 5 07-15 145
Day 1: 5 07-15
57. Brandon Cobb Greenwood, SC 5 07-14 144
Day 1: 5 07-14
58. Tyler Carriere Youngsville, LA 4 07-10 143
Day 1: 4 07-10
58. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 4 07-10 143
Day 1: 4 07-10
60. Eric Silverstrim Indian Mound, TN 5 07-07 141
Day 1: 5 07-07
61. Scott Canterbury Springville, AL 3 07-02 140
Day 1: 3 07-02
62. Jeff Holland Winter Springs, FL 2 07-00 139
Day 1: 2 07-00
63. Gerald Swindle Warrior, AL 4 06-12 138
Day 1: 4 06-12
64. Britt Myers Lake Wylie, SC 3 06-12 137
Day 1: 3 06-12
65. William Blanton Fayetteville, NC 5 06-11 136
Day 1: 5 06-11
66. Bill Kisiah Slidell, LA 2 06-08 135
Day 1: 2 06-08
67. Clabion Johns Jr Covington, GA 4 06-05 134
Day 1: 4 06-05
68. Lane Wright Loganville, GA 3 06-05 133
Day 1: 3 06-05
69. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 4 06-04 132
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