Seminole roulette
Final day of fickle week begins
BAINBRIDGE, Ga. – One day a hero, the next a zero. Perhaps no other lake in the country defines that manic pattern quite like Lake Seminole in Georgia.
The list of ups and downs for pros fishing the Stren Series event on the southwest Georgia lake this week has been numerous, starting with Mike Jackson, of San Mateo, Fla.
Currently in third, Jackson caught four bass for 21 pounds, 7 ounces on day two and then zeroed on day three.
Pro Curt Fannin’s week started out with a dud on day one with 1 pound, 6 ounces and then turned into dynamite on day two when he sacked 20 pounds, 13 ounces. The Kentucky angler is now in fourth place.
Local angler Troy Arthur, currently fifth, zeroed on day one and then caught 20 pounds on day two.
And the list of pros who have been up and down this week continues through the top 10 anglers.
Only two anglers, Clint Brownlee of Tifton, Ga., and Frank Jordan of Bainbridge, Ga., have managed to avoid Seminole’s pitfalls so far this week, each posting solid weights each day, which is exactly why they are first second going into the fourth and final day of the Stren event.
Brownlee currently enjoys an 11-pound, 6-ounce lead, but he knows that means nothing given Seminole’s volatile productivity. Anyone in the top-10 can pop a huge 25-pound sack from Seminole today to grab victory at the last minute.
As for Brownlee, he plans to return to the upper stretches of the Flint River, which has provided a consistent shoal bass bite for him this week.
“I love it up there,” he said before takeoff this morning. “That’s my kind of fishing; swift-water river fishing is my strength. Hopefully it will produce again.”
The day four weigh-in of the Stren Series event on Lake Seminole will begin Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Wal-Mart SuperCenter in Bainbridge, Ga. The Family Fun Zone opens at 2 p.m. and families and children are welcome to attend the free festivities.
Friday’s conditions
Sunrise: 7:30 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 36 degrees
Expected high temperature: 68 degrees
Water temperature: 50 to 55 degrees
Wind: E 5 to 10
Day’s outlook: sunny and warmer