Young Pros Fall Short on Table Rock Lake
BRANSON, Mo. – Weather and water conditions played a big part in the Bass Pro Tour Stage Six Presented by TrueTimber all week long, and Wednesday’s Championship Round was no different. Strong storms and whirling winds during the Knockout Round left questions to be answered about how Table Rock Lake would respond come championship time. Those questions were given a rapid response by Mother Nature.
Tenth-place finisher Jordan Lee experienced just how quickly the Ozark conditions can change in mid-May. Lee started out his round near the shoreline trying to duplicate what got him to the Championship Round.
“It literally went from being glass calm this morning to wind blowing 20 mph,” Lee recapped. “I think the pattern that I found yesterday just hit a couple of good stretches too late because the smallmouth were bedding. I just couldn’t really find any more water because I feel like that pattern I found was kind of dying.”
Oklahoma pro Zack Birge made it clear over the last few days that he was chasing shade in the morning and wind in the afternoon. While Lee felt the brunt of the strong gusts, Birge’s area fell quiet, slowing down his bite in the process.
“I just had a lack of wind this morning,” Birge detailed. “I should have started in the same area that I had been in because there seems to be more wind that funnels through that area in the morning than when I moved to somewhere else.”
Jacob Wheeler was in his second Championship Round in the last three stages, and he also noticed a change in the scenery during his final day of fishing. Table Rock Lake is almost three feet above normal thanks to the recent rains the area has seen, and Tuesday’s mini-monsoon didn’t really help it recede.
Still, even with the higher water level, Wheeler couldn’t slow down and use it as an excuse to not catch any fish.
“I just tried to run around and try to catch up to Andy Montgomery since he had such a great first period,” Wheeler said of Montgomery’s 49-pound, 13-ounce first period. “I knew I had to find a group of fish, whether that be offshore, on a dock, or somewhere with a current. At a certain point, you have to stop trying to hit homeruns and you just need to get on base. That’s kind of where I was at in the middle of the third period, just trying to get something together.”
With the changing conditions, Wheeler pulled out an eclectic arsenal of baits and techniques to try and catch up to the leader and eventual champion Aaron Martens.
“I caught them on the shad spawn in the morning, on a buzzbait going down the bank, on a wacky worm, and on a fluke rig,” Wheeler listed. “A lot of fish were biting a lot of different ways. Each day I try to fish three or four different patterns with all different baits and I would get on something that seemed to work for me.”
Wheeler ended his day in fifth place with 35 bass for 55-11, close yet again to his first Bass Pro Tour win. Even though he didn’t walk away with the trophy, the Indiana native isn’t hanging his head because he knows that it’s just a matter of time.
“I love this format and I love fishing by the seat of my pants,” Wheeler said. “I really want to win one after being second in North Carolina and fifth here in Branson. MLF just really fits my style. Other than a rough time at Conroe in Stage Two, I’ve had a really good year. You’re going to have ups and downs, but you have to be able to adjust and I really think this format really fits what I love to do.”
Lee has already tasted victory on the Bass Pro Tour as the Stage One champion, but that was almost four months ago. You can’t win them all, and Lee knows that, so right now he’s happy with his third Top-10 finish this season.
“If you can make the final day, that’s where you want to be,” Lee explained. “I started off so slow and I made an adjustment to fish for smallmouth and then I started really catching them. I really started to get them figured out at the end there and that felt really good. I’m happy with my week.”
Zack Birge has been on quite the quiet little roll over the last three stages. He’s collected finishes of 13th, 14th and ninth in Stages Four, Five and Six, respectively. MLF NOW! analyst Marty Stone has gushed about how talented of an angler Birge is and how great he can become. Birge wants a win, but he’s not in any kind of rush.
“I’m not disappointed in my week at all,” Birge said. “I’ll get a win at some point. It’s hard out here, Top 10’s are hard to make. You have to have a perfect event from start to finish to even have a shot at making it. All I can do is put myself in a position to win next time.”