MORNING REPORT: Day 3 Storylines at Smith Lake - Major League Fishing
MORNING REPORT: Day 3 Storylines at Smith Lake
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MORNING REPORT: Day 3 Storylines at Smith Lake

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Saturday is shaping up to be a classic largemouth-versus-spotted bass battle on Smith Lake. Photo by Jody White. Angler: John Cox.
March 13, 2021 • Rob Newell • Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit

CULLMAN, Ala. – Things are lining up perfectly for one heck of a weekend in the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit event on Smith Lake. As with any Smith Lake tournament, we have a dandy spotted bass versus largemouth battle to monitor. In addition, the weather is looking stupendous for the Top 50 today. Here are few things that will be unfolding on Day 3.

Derby Free

Today will be a beautiful spring Saturday in North Alabama. Undoubtedly, there will be lots of anglers on the water taking advantage of the weather. The good news for the Top 50 fishing tomorrow is that there’s no indication that there will be a “huge local tournament” on Smith Lake this weekend.

Apparently, Lake Guntersville is getting a lot of the large-scale tournament heat from the Alabama hammers this weekend.

That’s not to say to say there won’t be a small local event or two, but given that 110 pros have been cut and there’s no planned major event on Smith, the lake should be fairly open for a springtime Saturday. 

What’s Wiggins Saying?

Smith Lake local Jesse Wiggins snuck into the Top 50 today with a 12-pound, 1-ounce catch yesterday. He starts the day some 6 pounds out of the Top 10. A little bit of his local wisdom goes a long way.

Wiggins says he wasn’t surprised at all by Smith’s sudden stinginess of spotted bass bites today.

“I’m sure some of those guys caught them on deep points yesterday and couldn’t get them to bite today – welcome to Smith Lake,” Wiggins says with a laugh. “This lake is notorious for that; I attribute it to fishing pressure. That’s why I don’t mess with those deep points. Those fish that live out there will burn you bad.”

Instead Wiggins has his eye on the prize of what could be possibly be in the next day or two.

“I’m afraid we’re a few days early, but there’s something that happens here about mid March that sets this lakes on fire,” Wiggins says. “I don’t want to say exactly what that is, but if it does happen in the next day or two, you’ll know it because multiple 18- to 20-pound limits of mixed bags will be brought it. These guys will think they are on completely different lake than Smith. March 15 is about THE day it begins, so we’re close.”

Hot Spots

John Cox is hot on the trail of largemouth moving up by the hour into warm, shallow water to spawn. But what about the spotted bass? What’s next for them as they move out of deep winter refuges to begin their spawning ritual?

Several anglers in the top 20 hinted that the next move for the big spots over the coming days is possibly onto floating docks to begin suspending under the dock floats, which act as heat sinks in the water. This is where they will “sun up” for a few days before moving onto beds.

Look Out Below

With hefty largemouths on the move to shallow water, you can bet that at least one veteran pro in the bottom 20 of the pack who has a lot of experience and nothing to lose will go all in on largemouths today and catch a huge bag to rocket into the top 10. Names like Chris Lane, David Walker, Brandon McMillan, Wesley Strader, Skeet Reese or Brett Hite all come to mind.