MERCURY KEYS TO VICTORY: Heavy Hitters Anglers Hitting Lake Palestine at the Perfect Time for Big Bites

TYLER, Texas – After a year of reschedules and location changes, the Bass Pro Tour is finally descending upon Lake Palestine in East Texas, this time for 2022 General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops. Thirty-two Bass Pro Tour pros will take on Lake Palestine April 9 through 14 to try to become the third-ever Heavy Hitters champion along with 2020 champion Jordan Lee and 2021 champion Alton Jones.

Lake Palestine Overview

Located just southwest of Tyler, Texas, Lake Palestine is a reservoir with more than 25,000 surface acres, 135 miles of shoreline, and more standing timber than almost any other lake the Bass Pro Tour field has fished in their careers.

Mercury Pro Team angler Jeff Kriet has fished one tournament on Palestine in his career—an old Red Man tourney back in his 20s. He knows from that little experience and everything he’s read that Palestine hasn’t changed much in the 20 years since then.

“I know this lake is going to be pretty hard to get around on thanks to the standing timber,” Kriet said. “If there’s any question in my mind about a path to take, I’m going to idle. I’m not going to get in too big of a hurry and screw up my boat.”

Mercury Pro Team angler Fletcher Shryock will take on Palestine in Group A on Saturday morning. His thought process is similar to Kriet’s, but Shryock is also considering how the timber will affect his decision making when it comes to finding and fishing new areas or playing it safe.

“I might opt to start fishing in some spots where I know I’ll be able to move around more on the first day,” Shryock predicted. “I feel like you could spend a lot of time getting back into a place where you think the fish are. Well, if they’re not there then you just wasted a ton of time for no payoff. I think that’s kind of the gamble you have to think about on this lake.”

Timber isn’t the only cover the Heavy Hitters field will have to navigate. Kevin Hatcher is a local hammer on Lake Palestine and has fished these waters since he was 10 years old. He’s seen the lake go through some transformations over the years, but there’s a recent change that may help the 32 MLF pros in their hunt for big bass.

“There’s very little grass in the lake, especially now that they’ve sprayed the giant Salvinia on the north end,” Hatcher recapped. “I thought that would hurt the fishing, but it actually might have helped. Instead of hiding in the grass, the fish are now having to head toward the bushes. That will help some guys find some fish a lot easier, I think.”

A Local Hammer’s Perspective on Palestine

Hatcher lives on Lake Palestine and has fished tournaments there since he was old enough to drive. By his accounts he does “does pretty well” whenever he fishes there. He’s won his fair share of tournaments including a large number of Top 10s, including one last month in which he placed seventh with his partner, Patrick Fuller.

Hatcher was disappointed that REDCREST 2021 was unable to take place on his home lake last February thanks to an historic freeze. However, he believes that the 32 pros will be hitting his home lake at just the right time for big bass.

“I think the guys are getting here at a great time,” Hatcher confirmed. “I fished a tournament last weekend where the top three spots were all guys with 20-pound bags. I’m looking forward to seeing these guys knock it out of the park.”

Palestine has the capability to produce big bass, but the question a lot of the anglers have as they begin to practice: Are fish prespawn, spawning, or postspawn? Hatcher has some opinions on that.

“The spawn is definitely still going happening on the north end, where it usually starts earlier than everywhere else on the lake,” Hatcher detailed. “But now the whole lake should be spawning, so wherever guys go they’ll be able to catch spawners.”

Palestine may not be as well-known as a Lake Fork or a Sam Rayburn, but that doesn’t mean that this east Texas gem can’t produce bigguns on-par with the rest of them. Hatcher’s experience tells him that he wouldn’t be surprised to see a few double-digit bedding fish caught this week.

“I’ve seen five-fish bags get over 30 pounds this time of the year,” Hatcher said with confidence. “With where the spawn is right now and a full moon coming on, these guys are here at a great time to catch big fish. I had a buddy catch a 10-pounder this week sight-fishing a bed in the afternoon. They’re everywhere and big, you’ll just have to find ‘em.”

History Shows Us to Expect Big Bites from Palestine

A little over a year ago a 13-pounder was caught on Palestine. That mammoth was caught by Daniel Ramsey in January 2021. Ramsey was able to donate that fish to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s Toyota ShareLunker Program.

“If a bass weighs over 13 pounds and is caught between December and April, TPWD will come pick that fish up from the angler, and spawn it with other fish in the ShareLunker program,” said MLF Fisheries Management Division manager Steve Bardin. “Once the fish is spawned, it is returned to the lake where it was caught, and a portion of the offspring are put back into the lake with it.”

Since the ShareLunker Program started charting fish from Palestine in 2013, it has added 27 entries: three 13-pounders, one 12, three 11s, five 10s, eight 9s and seven 8s.

Big Money Bass or Battle for Cuts?

The pros will be faced with a strategy choice at Heavy Hitters: Should I fish for the big-money bass ($25,000, $50,000 and $100,000) or try to win the event (and it’s $100,000 payday)? Those two things may seem to go hand-in-hand, but anglers may have to end up choosing between one of those two options and not both.

“For me, I’m going to go out there and try to catch the biggest fish every day,” Shryock explained. “It’s not going to do me a lot of good to catch 3-pounders all day. I’m looking to catch me a $25,000, $50,000, or a $100,000 fish.”

The anglers who catch the biggest bass out of Group A and Group B’s Qualifying Rounds will each win $25,000. During the Knockout Round, that prize for big bass increases to $50,000. Finally, the angler who catches the biggest bass of the Championship Round walks away with $100,000. The winner of the entire event also wins $100,000.

While Shryock may be focusing on one big bite, Kriet is taking a different approach to his game plan for Heavy Hitters.

“You’re not going to catch 30 fish a day here, it’s just not that kind of lake,” Kriet said. “However, that doesn’t mean I’m just going to focus on one big fish a day. I’m going to try to be making every cut I can. The more days I’m out there, the bigger the payout becomes and the better my chance becomes at catching one of those big-payout bass.”

While both strategies have their potential benefits and pitfalls, both Shryock and Kriet can agree that there are big fish to be caught in Lake Palestine, and they are showing up at the perfect time to do so.

“I think we’re hitting this lake at a really good time to catch big fish,” Shryock said. “I felt as though it was setting up well last year for there to be some massive fish caught, but I feel even better about it this year because we’re doing this in April and not February.”

“I think those big-money fish are going to be between the 7- to 10-pound range,” Kriet predicted. “This is the time of year where those giants are a little bit easier to catch, and I think we’re here at the right time to put up some big numbers.”

General Tire Heavy Hitters Presented by Bass Pro Shops begins on Saturday, April 9 and continues through Thursday, April 14. Watch the MLF NOW! live stream on MajorLeagueFishing.com, the MLF app or the MyOutdoorTV app every day of competition from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT.