Counting on current
Moving water is a determining factor at Gaston
SOUTH HILL, Va. – It’s no big secret, current makes bass bite. Yesterday, Joel Richardson of Kernersville, N.C., cashed in on a feeding frenzy initiated by moving water to take the tournament lead at the Stren Series event on Lake Gaston.
Richardson would love to see current run again on Gaston today to protect his lead, but he’s afraid it will not happen.
“They don’t normally run water here on the weekends,” Richardson said. “And the weekend bite can get pretty darn tough.”
But one thing that could possibly change that is the rain that’s been falling in the South Virginia region the last couple of days. Sometimes extra water means extra water movement from dams.
“I’ve got some other back up stuff that’s not as current driven, but to some extent I think a lot of this lake’s overall bite is relies on current,” Richardson added.
Second place pro Dave Lefebre, who trails Richardson by a pound, agrees. Lefebre is fishing a buzzbait and swimming a Tabu jig around grass beds in Gaston’s major creeks. And while it would seem that current would not play as big as a factor for his fish, he says it does.
“I’d like to believe that where I’m fishing is not current related,” Lefebre noted. “But I’m afraid it is simply because each day something has changed at about noon to make my bite much better and that’s usually about the time they start running current. I don’t think it’s coincidental – I think current helps the fish bite in this lake no matter where you’re fishing.”
“So we’re all kind of in the same boat when it comes to counting on the current,” he added.
The day-three weigh-in of the Stren Series Northern Series event on Lake Gaston will begin Saturday at 4 p.m. from Americamps Lake Gaston Resort located at 9 Lakeside Lane in Bracey, Va.
Saturday’s conditions
Sunrise: 7:04 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 63 degrees
Expected high temperature: 67 degrees
Water temperature: 73 degrees
Wind: NE 5 to 10
Day’s outlook: rainy, cloudy, cooler