Expect Heavy Weights when Bass Pro Tour Arrives on Smith Lake

CULLMAN, Ala. – Fresh off of MLF Bass Pro Tour competitions on the big-bass waters of Florida and Texas – and another tournament on the largemouth Mecca of Toledo Bend, Louisiana – Jesse Wiggins has a stout prediction about how the Bass Pro Tour Stage Five on Lewis Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama might go.

“We’ll catch more weight (at Smith Lake) than we did in both Florida and Texas,” Wiggins says. “No doubt in my mind, it’s going to take more weight to win at Smith than any event we’ve fished so far.”

Bold words, for sure, but you’d be wise to take them to heart: Wiggins lives in Cullman, grew up fishing Smith Lake, and has earned three of his five tour-level Top 5 finishes (including two wins) on this arm of the Black Warrior River system.

“I think my daddy was fishing Smith Lake and had to leave to go to the hospital when I was born,” Wiggins jokes. “I don’t remember not fishing that lake. I’m chompin’ at the bit to fish that lake (in the MLF format), because there’s going to be a ton of fish caught. I think the weights will surprise people.”

Wiggins won the two most recent BASS Central Opens on Smith Lake, claiming victory in 2016 with 34 pounds, 2 ounces on 10 fish in a two-day/five-fish-limit format, and winning again in 2017 with 39-15 on 15 fish. According to Wiggins, those numbers won’t get it done when the 80-man Bass Pro Tour field arrives on Smith during the early-spring (April 30-May 5) competition window.

“I won’t feel safe with anything less than 35 pounds a day,” he admits. “That time of year, the weather shouldn’t affect us much, and everybody will catch a bunch of fish. I doubt a guy will make the cut if he doesn’t catch 35 a day.”

Prolific Numbers of Spotted Bass

Jordan Lee – who also lives in Cullman – confirms Wiggins’ prediction of heavy weights, pointing out Smith Lake’s impressive population of scorable spotted bass.

“Smith Lake has some pretty good largemouth, but it’ll probably be spotted bass that wins that event,” Lee says. “Fish are going to be post-spawn, so they’ll be skinny. It’s not going to be a big-fish tournament – a 3-pound spot will be a good fish for that time of year – but there are opportunities for everybody to catch a ton of fish. It wouldn’t surprise me if somebody caught 50 pounds.”

But Don’t Ignore the Largemouth!

Smith’s largemouth have also factored into previous tour-level events held here. MLF pro Dave Lefebre won an FLW Tour tournament on Smith in late March of 2015 with a mix of largemouth and spots (an event where current MLF pros Zack Birge, Andy Morgan, Ish Monroe, Luke Clausen, Wesley Strader and Anthony Gagliardi finished in the Top 15).

Birge anticipates that largemouth – while in much smaller numbers than Smith’s spotted bass – could positively influence SCORETRACKER in Stage Six competition.

“I don’t think anybody will win on largemouth, just because you can catch so many spots, but I absolutely think (largemouth) will play a role,” Birge says. “If you can catch three of four of those 3- to 5-pound largemouth mixed in with those spots, that’ll be a game changer.”

Smith’s Waters on Typical Spike

As of this writing on Feb. 26, the water level at Smith is on a straight vertical spike: 517.29 feet, which is more than 20 feet higher than it was on Feb. 9, 10 feet higher than its usual late-February level, and just shy of flood stage (flood pool is 522 feet).

Those numbers are disconcerting, but according to both Wiggins and Lee, dramatic changes in water level are the late-winter/early-spring norm on Smith Lake.

“It’s been raining pretty steady, and every inch of rain brings the water at Smith up about a foot,” Lee says. “If you get 8 inches of rain, the lake is liable to come up 8 feet in a couple of days. It’s pretty crazy how fast the water can come up, but that’s totally normal.”

Multiple Baits, Techniques will Work

Anglers will catch fish on a gamut of baits and techniques during the event’s late-April/early May competition window: skipping jigs or flipping wacky-rigs around docks, swimming jigs around flooded brush, winding small swimbaits for suspended schools, throwing topwaters … the options, according to Wiggins, are almost endless.

“That time of year, you can catch fish from 50 foot up to 1 foot – they’ll be in all depth ranges,” he says. “You name it, you can catch fish on it: topwater, worm, spinnerbait, jig. It’ll just be a strong post-spawn bite. And there’s no ‘hot’ section of the lake, so we’ll be able to spread out. Once a guy finds them, he’ll be able to catch ‘em and catch ‘em and catch ‘em.”