PRATTVILLE, Ala. – Much-needed rain fell on a thirsty South yesterday, including the Alabama River area, host to this week’s The Bass Federation Southern Divisional Championship. While the rainfall was needed and appreciated, it did little to remedy the low-water problem that has haunted the river for weeks.
High water or low water, river fishing in the dead heat of summer can be tough, period. Much like last week’s TBF Central Divisional in Mississippi, this could shape up to be a tournament where locals have a bit of an advantage.
“The Alabama boys say they’re going to bring in about 15 pounds, but I’m not scared,” said contender Matt Gurgacz of Deltona, Fla. “I think we’re going to bring in about 7 pounds overall, but that’s just my guess. Others may have 8, 9 or 10 pounds.”
While Gurgacz said the bite on the Alabama River is tough right now, he did say the way to fish here at the moment is deep.
“Hopefully the fish will be big enough to do something,” he said. “I caught a lot of small fish (in practice). I hope that rain yesterday helped us out.”
By small, Gurgacz didn’t mean short fish – he was catching a lot of keeper bass that weighed around a pound.
“I can’t find that really big bite yet,” he said. “I was catching them deep, and I found fish. I think you can catch about anything deep.”
Logistics
This week’s three-day Southern Divisional features 12 competitors from seven states – Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. Six of each state’s 12 competitors are competing as boaters, and six of them are competing as co-anglers. Boater contenders fish out of their own rigs and are expected to share front-of-boat fishing time with their co-angler partners, who are chosen at random each day. Each state decides which of their team members are entered as boaters and which ones will compete as co-anglers.
On the line for state-team contenders is a slot in the 2008 TBF National Championship, as the No. 1 finisher from each state will qualify for that event as a boater and the runner-up will qualify as a co-angler. Each state team as a whole is also competing for tournament cash awards, which are given to the states, not individual anglers. The state with the heaviest cumulative catch over three days will earn the top cash award.
There is also an overall weight contest, with the angler catching the most weight of any competitor this week earning a $500 Wal-Mart gift card as the Castrol Maximum Performer.
The tournament began Wednesday and runs through Friday, and competitors take off each morning at 5:30 a.m. CDT from Cooters Pond, located at 1844 Cooters Pond Road in Prattville. Daily weigh-ins will also be held there beginning at 2:30 p.m.