LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. — It doesn’t take much for things to change on a river. So, even though conditions have been relatively stable ahead of the second Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Buckeye Division event on Ohio River out of Tanners Creek, anglers can take one look at the forecast and know things are about to change.
What to expect
Anglers are never going to mistake the Ohio River for fisheries like the Upper Mississippi near La Crosse or the St. Lawrence. That said, it’s been fishing extremely well this year.
Just look at the Buckeye Division season opener, where it took almost 15 pounds for Chris Wilkinson to win. Sean Wieda finished second with almost 14 pounds, and he said the river has been fishing that way much of the spring.
“The river has been fishing strong this year, with many tournaments taking 10-plus pounds to win,” Wieda said. “That BFL was exceptional.”
Whether or not that trend continues this week will depend a lot on what happens Friday. The forecast is calling for some significant rain in the area, and that is definitely going to change some things.
“If the forecast holds true, anglers won’t know until they get out there the morning of the tournament how much of an impact the rain will have,” Wieda said. “It could completely wash out some creeks while leaving others alone, and we won’t know.”
As daunting as that sounds, the rain could also bring two significant opportunities.
The first would be raising the water enough to allow access to untapped backwaters. Considering Wieda believes the tournament will be won in off-the-beaten-path backwaters fishing for late-spawning and postspawn largemouth, that could be a huge player.
The other wild card is if the local rains boost the main river’s flow a bit, which would make smallmouth on current breaks and rock a player on the upper stretches.
Baits to bring
With cover-choked backwaters being the most popular spots on the river, Wieda said anglers definitely need to bring buzzbaits, flipping jigs and their favorite soft-plastic creature baits. However, it’s important to have a backup plan of crankbaits and spinnerbaits for anyone looking to try to tap into the sneaky smallmouth bite on the main river.
What will it take?
Wieda would love for the rain to open up some backwaters, as that might bump up the weights closer to what pros saw in the earlier BFL. However, even if that doesn’t come to fruition, he still figures with how well the river has been fishing this year, a pro is going to need to bring in at least 10 pounds to contend for the win.
“We’ll see what the rain and forecast holds, but it should be a great event,” Wieda said.