BRISTOL, Tenn. — No one needs to tell the people of Tennessee it’s been a wild winter. At the time of this writing, Corey Neece could look outside his window and still see 7 to 8 inches of snow on the ground.
So, when he says the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Volunteer Division season opener on South Holston Reservoir Feb. 14 is going to see some “straight winter patterns,” that’s a bit of an understatement. Still, expect plenty of healthy largemouth and smallmouth to hit the scales.
What to expect
South Holston is already a bit of an East Tennessee oddball in how deep, clear and cold the reservoir typically is year-round. Throw in the recent ice storms and snow that pummeled the area in January, and Neece figures the water temperatures may still be in the 30s or low 40s by the time this event takes place.
“This is the first time we’ve gotten this much snow around here since maybe 2017,” says Neece, who has finished third and second in the last two early-season BFLs on the lake. “So, I don’t know what that’s going to do.”
Fortunately, the forecast is calling for rain, which should clear out the snow by the event. Doubly fortunately, Neece says the runoff shouldn’t dirty up the lake; being as deep as it is (the lower end is more than 200 feet deep), it rarely gets dirty.
That should make it still a prime opportunity for forward-facing sonar, which has dominated on the fishery since its inception. That is, for the three hours it’s allowed, per the new rules.
“That new three-hour rule is going to make it hard on some people,” Neece said. “Anglers are going to have to go back to fishing old school. But it won’t impact the weights. It always fishes well.”
Baits to bring
Forward-facing sonar is going to do plenty of heavy lifting during the time it’s allowed in this event. That means jighead minnows and drop-shots will be big players.
That said, outside of that window, Neece expects a lot of anglers “straight-lining” like they used to – going down steep, channel-swing banks with jerkbaits, Alabama rigs, crankbaits and maybe even a float-n-fly.
“A float-n-fly used to be a big player here before forward-facing sonar,” Neece said.
What will it take?
While this event will have its quirks, Neece doesn’t expect much to change as far as weights. It typically takes 19 to 20 pounds to win on South Holston. And in terms of species, while he said the smallmouth population is good enough to win solely with brown fish, he expects the best bags to be mixtures of both smallmouth and largemouth.