LIVE BLOG: Waiting for the Powderkeg to Explode on Lake Chickamauga
DAYTON, Tenn. — With two out of three periods officially in the books on Lake Chickamauga, the five biggest fish so far are: 7-9, 7-7, 7-1, 6-7 and 6-6. We have yet to see the first of the behemoth largemouth that this lake is famous for (except for a local angler who called in to the Dayton Boat Dock and Grill with a report of a 13-pounder … we have yet to see confirmation of that).
The proliferation of 1- and 2-pound fish is a sign of things to come: those are likely males up around beds, and that means that bigger females aren’t far behind. Translation: don’t be shocked if that 7-9 is eclipsed in Period 3.
3:15 p.m. ET – Only 15 minutes remain in Period 3 of Shotgun Round 1 and Dave Lefebre is on top of SCORETRACKER™ ahead of Aaron Martens. Lefebre has not been able to reel in a lot of big bass today (his buggest only 3-6) but he landed 34 bass in total, the most out of the group of 40 anglers.
2:44 p.m. ET – There are plenty of fish to be caught on Lake Chickamauga, that’s for sure. There are 10 anglers that have caught more than 20 fish in today’s Shotgun Round. However, while some are playing the numbers game, leader Aaron Martens continues to succeed with big bass. He only has 17 bass but is averaging 3-5 per bass, the highest in Group A.
2:27 p.m. ET – Justin Lucas has made a big move in the third period. Lucas has reeled in eight bass for 23 pounds in Period 3 alone, pushing his total to 46-12. He currently sits in fourth place.
2:11 p.m. ET – Dave Lefebre is now the leader in Group A with 49 pounds, 5 ounces. The Pennsylvania pro has caught 27 bass today, tied for the most in the group. Lefebre has used a jerkbait throughout the day but he has made most of his catches with a finesse worm.
1:40 p.m. ET – Aaron Martens has now secured the lead from Jordan Lee. Martens has 48-10 to Lee’s 46-0. We could possibly see multiple anglers go over 50 pounds in today’s round which is quite the impressive feat considering that only three anglers in the first two events topped 50 pounds in a round.
So far, there have been four anglers with bass that weighed more than 7 pounds while there are six bass over 5 pounds.
12:55 p.m. ET – Surprising to nobody, Jordan Lee’s name sits on top of the Top 10 as Period 3 gets underway:
- Jordan Lee 44-0
- Aaron Martens 44-0
- Mark Rose 41-13
- Dave Lefebre 35-15
- Dean Rojas 35-3
- Ott Defoe 34-2
- Bradley Roy 32-9
- James Elam 32-3
- Brandon Palaniuk 31-12
- Terry Scroggins 28-14
12:21 p.m. ET – There are a couple of names we haven’t seen near the top of SCORETRACKER™ much through the first three events, but who have had solid days today: James Elam has had a solid day so far, and currently sits in sixth place with 30-14 on 18 fish; Justin Lucas is in 16th place; Roy Hawk is in 18th; and Britt Myers is in the Top 20
11:54 a.m. ET – Jordan Lee has jumped Dean Rojas on SCORETRACKER™ in Period 2. Lee is now over 40 pounds on the day with still more than a period to go. Mark Rose just caught a 5-pounder and is right on the heels of Lee.
11:30 a.m. ET – Leader Dean Rojas has started to slow down after a red-hot first period. Rojas has only been able to catch one bass for 1-8 in the second period, shrinking the gap between himself and the rest of the field. Jordan Lee continues to stay consistent, he is now 3-3 behind Rojas for the lead. Mark Rose is close behind, just 10 ounces behind Lee.
11:00 a.m. ET – We just received an on-water report from Rob Newell where he gave us a look at some of the conditions the anglers are experiencing on the water. He said the water temperature is around 67 degrees while the air temperature is hovering around 65. The rain that the area received yesterday was a warm front rain instead of a cold front, which didn’t bring in heavy winds and colder temperatures. The challenge for the anglers is water visibility. Newell says the visibility is 12 to 18 inches right now. Good news is, the water level rising and pollen from the trees is not scumming up the water and the little pockets these pros are trying to fish.
10:38 a.m. ET – Aaron Martens just reeled in a 1-9 bass and then had to initial his name on a sheet of paper given to him by an official. That is a new rule that the anglers just decided on. Usually, the anglers would just have to initial their scorecard at the end of their round. Starting with this event, the anglers will have to confirm the weight of every catch with their MLF official. We will be seeing a lot of signatures today, that’s for sure.
10:07 a.m. ET – We just got an on-water report from Rob Newell as he caught up with leader Dean Rojas. Newell said Rojas told him that he did not want to take the time to sight fish today. So far, it’s been the right choice for Rojas as he has caught 33 pounds, 11 ounces in the first two-and-a-half hours of fishing. He leads Jordan Lee by 5-15.
9:45 a.m. ET – MLF NOW! analyst Marty Stone told me yesterday that some guys are just really on a hot streak right now. In that group, he included Ott DeFoe and Jeff Sprague. He was right. Both of those anglers are inside the top three and both have caught over 24 pounds of fish in the first period.
DeFoe, a Tennessee native, is coming off of a Bassmaster Classic win and a Top-10 finish in Stage Three while Sprague has made the Top 10 in all three stages of the Bass Pro Tour (only one of two anglers on tour to accomplish that feat).
9:25 a.m. ET – Only about 30 minutes remain in Period 1 of Shotgun Round 1 and we’ve already seen some impressive weight totals. Dean Rojas, Ott DeFoe and Jeff Sprague are all over 20 pounds of fish in less than two hours of fishing.
We have seen a couple of bass over six pounds hit SCORETRACKER™ with more to be expected as the day goes along. The morning bite has been impressive so we will see how the rest of the day shapes up for these 40 anglers in Group A.
8:55 a.m. ET – Beside the 3-pound largemouth Casey Ashley is holding in the photo above, you’re probably noticing one other thing: water color. Your eyes are not deceiving you: Lake Chickamauga has some dirty water in it, thanks to the deluge that fell throughout the final day of practice yesterday.
That translates into two things: 1). Anglers will likely be unpleasantly surprised to find some of their shallow spawning areas colored up, and; 2). Much of the action will likely occur south of Dayton. A quick poll of the anglers hinted that the Hiwassee River area might be blown out, and that spots around Hamilton might be more in play. We’ll keep our eyes on where anglers locate themselves throughout the morning.
8:45 a.m. ET – Aaron Martens has been on a tear the last 40 minutes. The California pro has caught four bass for 14-7 including a 6-7 that has given him the lead. Martens has caught his fish using a chatterbait and a spinnerbait, which is different that the rest of the field. Whatever he is doing, it seems to be working.
8:30 a.m. ET – The majority of the anglers are having success in Period 1 using soft plastics to catch their bass. Jordan Lee, Brett Hite, Ott DeFoe, and David Walker are just a few guys who have made the soft bait work for them.
Ott DeFoe has found some docks that have pushed him to the top of SCORETRACKER™. A 4-6 and a 1-14 on back-to-back casts have pushed DeFoe to the top of the leaderboard.
8:15 a.m. ET – Ott DeFoe has been on a hot streak lately, and that looks like it’s going to continue in his home state of Tennessee. DeFoe is currently in second place behind Jordan Lee with 10 pounds, 3 ounces. Terry Scroggins now has our big bass of the day with a 7-9 that he just reeled in with a wacky worm.
8:00 a.m. ET – Greg Hackney has now jumped into the lead thanks to a 4-pound, 7-ouncer followed by a 2-15 in a four minute span. Hackney is attacking the banks currently, flipping near some wood.
There was plenty of rain yesterday in the Dayton area, but the water level on the lake remained lower than what some anglers were expecting. Kevin VanDam posted a video on Instagram yesterday during practice, showing how the rain water came rushing down from the hills and had washed out some of the roads along the banks of the lake.
7:45 a.m. – Jordan Lee is off to an early lead on top of SCORETRACKER™ with a total of two bass for 4 pounds. Lee has used soft plastics to start that have proved the right choice. Temperatures are in the mid-60s currently and the cloud cover is expected to remain throughout the day with a slight chance of rain all day long.
7:30 a.m. – Luckily for the anglers, the air temperatures are predicted to be the warmest we have seen so far on the Bass Pro Tour. With highs today cresting near 80 degrees, MLF NOW! analyst Marty Stone said the water temperature should range from about 62 to 72 degrees. Stone also said that we should expect to see fish in pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn mode.