Just talked to J.T. Kenney, the man under the magnifying glass for Toho prognosticators. He says, “I think they’re done spawning,” and that he’s “not catching them too good.”

Normally, I’d take that to mean exactly the opposite of what he said since the anglers tend to play it pretty close to the vest on the front end of tournaments. Unless you’re Scott Suggs at last year’s Cup, you just don’t go around telling people that you’re on good fish. Keeps the flies off, as they say.

Problem is, J.T.’s one of the straightest shooters out there. He knows how this game is played from a P.R. standpoint, so when nosy reporters come poking around he’s always more than willing to offer at least some unvarnished truth. Bottom line: I tend to believe him when he says he’s not catching them. From what I’ve seen so far, he’s not the only one; the weather just hasn’t allowed the bass to spawn like everyone thought they would.

On the other hand, Kenney’s probably had this tournament circled as “one I should win” since the schedule came out last year, so even he might be prone to the odd white lie at practice this weekend.

Dunno, I might be overthinking this one. Man, this fantasy-fishing stuff can drive a person to distraction.

In any case, I’ll drag the camera over to the lake later today and talk to Kenney and his other half, Chad Grigsby. We’ll see what the dynamic duo has to say on tape.