JEFFERSON COUNTY, Tenn. – Day 1 of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech Stop 4 Presented by Phoenix Boats on Douglas Lake has dawned crisp and clear. Maybe one of the last weeks of the year without sweltering summertime weather, the pros have a tricky situation ahead of them. Historically low for this time of year, Douglas isn’t fitting neatly into any box. That said, there will be plenty of bass going into the box, as everyone reports that the bite is great, even if it isn’t easy to catch big ones.
So, fire up MLFNOW! and get ready for a lot of fish catches. And when a big one bites, it’s going to really matter.
Low water changes the look, maybe not the event
The winner of the 2013 BASS Nation Divisional Championship on Douglas, Samuel Fish has had this one circled on the calendar.
“Thirteen years ago, when I was here this time of year, the water willows were in the water,” Fish said. “All year, I’ve been anticipating, probably like everybody else, that I’d come up here and flip bushes. It expands the lake, you’ve got your offshore guys, and then guys that go up shallow and do their thing. Now everybody is kind of condensed.”
According to Ott DeFoe, who has probably forgotten more about Douglas than Fish will ever know, betting on some bush flipping should have been safe.
“It’s a really weird scenario going on right now,” said the owner of Tennessee’s most famous garage. “The lake is at 976, normal pool, where they keep it in the summer, is between 990 and 992, 994 is truly full pool – that’s 18 feet above where we are. I can’t remember it being at this level at this date – I can’t remember it. I certainly haven’t fished at this level at this time of year in a really, really long time. It’s exceptionally low for this time of the year.
“Typically, by early May, you’ve got bushes starting to get enough water in them to play,” DeFoe added. “Then, there’s a lot of flooded vegetation usually by that time, that’s grown up over the spring. So, the banks are exceptionally bare for this time of year.”
It doesn’t seem like the shallow fishing should be good, with very low water and very bare banks. Coupled with the reputation that Douglas has as a deep lake, and the expectation that big spoons and crankbaits will do damage, it seems grim for the grinders. But, Fish, DeFoe, and plenty of other excellent anglers are planning to catch some bass shallow, maybe a lot of bass.
“There is a little bit of cover in the water, and you can definitely catch fish doing that,” Fish said. “I believe this is going to be a good mixture. I think the offshore guys will catch them, but I believe the shallow guys will catch fish as well – there’s a lot of fish to be caught up shallow.”
DeFoe thinks that the shallow bite is actually going to be pretty robust – and probably as much of a player as the deep game.
“The majority of the bass that cross the scales may be caught in less than 10 feet,” he said. “I kind of feel that way. There will be guys that sit on a hole all day and catch 20 or 30 or 40 fish, deep, where a guy fishing shallow, maybe he catches eight, maybe 15. But, of everybody’s five fish that go across the scale, there will probably be more caught shallow.”
What to expect at the scale
When it comes to winning weights, don’t expect a slugfest. A catchfest, absolutely, but right now, 5-pounders are solid gold.
“If you catch 17 three days in a row, you walk away with it,” DeFoe said. “16 a day, I think, does it very much. It’s really hard to have a 3-pound average.”
Fish is on the same page.
“I’ve heard the rumors of some big fish being caught in practice,” he said. “But, for me, it’s more trying to catch a better quality fish – trying to catch 3-pounders. Fishing how I’m fishing, I’ve got to go through numbers to get to 15 pounds.
“It would not surprise me to see a 20-pound bag, it really wouldn’t,” Fish added. “Whoever can average 15 1/2, maybe 16 a day, is probably going to be who wins. I figure it will take less than 50 to win.”
Of course, as in any event, there’s a wild card. This time, it might be Keith Poche, whose boat will allow him to get farther up the French Broad or Nolichucky than anyone else.
“I believe there’s an X-factor in this tournament,” Fish said. “Poche, he’s got the equipment to go where we can’t. Today, I went as far as you could go in a glass boat, and I saw him way up there. That’s the X-factor for me. There was really good quality up there, but, the only problem is, with the lake being so low, there’s not a lot to fish. I put it in the back of my mind, if I make it to Sunday, maybe I’ll go up there.”
Can Poche fish his own water, maybe his own river, and beat 138 other pros? Almost for sure – he’s done it before. Will he? That’s a lot harder to say, but it could be a fascinating storyline to follow on MLFNOW! as the weekend develops.
Follow along
You can follow the action at Stop 4 Presented by Phoenix Boats at Douglas Lake during all three days of competition, May 8-10, on MLFNOW! and stay locked to MajorLeagueFishing.com for on-the-water galleries, daily stories and more.