RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — By now, anyone paying attention knows that there’s a lot of water moving around in the south-central United States lately. Naturally, the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Plains Division event on Lake Dardanelle is this week’s victim.
A major reservoir on the Arkansas River, Dardanelle is fully in the path of recent Oklahoma flood waters, and as recently as Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was rolling over 100,000 cfs through the dam. The event will not be entirely contested among picnic tables, but moving, muddy water will absolutely color things, and it could make the more stable lower end of the lake even more important than it might have been otherwise.
The lay of the lake
A past winner on Dardanelle, Zach King knows a thing or two about the fishery, and he’s typically a master at dissecting the backwaters – something that may be less helpful than usual.
“It’s totally different now. Most of the time when I’m getting back there, they’re spawning,” he said. “When the water comes up on the upper end, the water really spreads out. You don’t have that perfect spot. You’re going to have to run around a bunch to catch them. If you go up the river, you’re going to have to slow down, because it is muddy. And that Oklahoma mud is red clay mud. But there’s fish out there to be caught.”
Currently, Dardanelle is a much better-looking fishery than it has been in the past, as there’s a lot more grass than in recent years. Cody Santel is pretty adamant that the place looks fantastic.
“This is like South Barkley but loaded with grass,” said the Kentucky pro. “It’s shallow – there are lily pads everywhere, there’s milfoil, the bank is loaded with water willow. Every cast, you feel like you’re going to catch a fish. It looks awesome.”
However, the extra water in the system has definitely spread things out, and just because a place looks great doesn’t mean it has catchable bass.
“Grass is going to come into play early on a frog,” said King. “And I know the brushpile stuff is going to come into play on the lower end. Shoal Bay is pretty clean, and Illinois Bayou is pretty clean and around the State Park. I’m going to say most of the Top 10 are going to come from the bottom end, maybe 80 percent of them. Unless something happens and the water falls out.”
As a non-local, Santell has run into the same issues as King: There’s simply been a lot of change up the river.
“My wife and I drove down here a couple weeks ago and spent two days more or less running around to get a feel for the place,” he said. “I thought it was helpful, because I identified the section of the lake that I like, because I really like rivers and current. But when I came back, the stuff that I was fishing was blown out, and I wasn’t able to reconnect with those fish.”
Santell pegged the winning weight at 18 pounds a day, and King thinks about a 56-pound total will get it done. Both would be higher than usual for Dardanelle. If the water begins to fall out during the event, and anglers capitalize, it could be even better.
“It’s definitely been fishing good,” said King. “I’m curious to see how the water is going to play out, if it is going to fall out. If it falls out, it’s going to be a really, really good tournament – everybody will catch them. Right now, upriver, you can miss ‘em by 10 foot.”
Santell (sort of) leads an interesting Angler of the Year race
Heading into the final event of the Plains Division season, the 7 Brew Angler of the Year race is obviously of high import. Currently, Brad Jelinek has the points lead, and by a solid margin. However, a scheduling conflict has him out of the picture for this one, so Santel holds the lead that will matter.
A city worker for Paducah, Kentucky, he’s in the midst of a great season.
“This is the first year my work schedule lined up – the days off just worked out,” he said. “I’ve made really good decisions all year, it’s been a blessed year. Those last two tournaments, I was around fish. I identified patterns during the tournament; it really worked out. I just had a good finish in the BFL last weekend; hopefully I can ride a bit of momentum and make good decisions on Dardanelle.”
Santell is on top with 495 points, and Cole Breeden is right behind him with 486. As was the case at Grand Lake, Breeden will be flying with little to no practice in this event – real life has him busy as a bee. With 479 points, Connor O’Connor is also in striking distance, as are a few others, but you need to go all the way down to ninth place to find a local (or semi-local) in the form of Greg Bohannan. Considering the conditions, this could be an interesting AOY race to watch.
On the co-angler side, Chase Johnson is on top with 512 points, and Ben Mathis and Freeland Peterson are both right behind him with 509.
Follow along
Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public daily at Lake Dardanelle State Park at 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. CT. This event is hosted by the Russellville Tourism & Visitors Center. You can follow along with all the coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.