Dock talk about a tough bite seems to happen at every tournament. Then come the actual tournament, that talk ends up being just that, talk. It doesn’t look like that’s the case on Lake Dardanelle.
The Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. Plains Division finale, at least for the first morning, has been brutally tough. Of the dozens of pros our on-the-water crew talked with this morning, two had limits, one co-angler had a pair of small fish (though, his pro had none), another pro had two, and the rest had one or none.
A big reason for that is the conditions. It couldn’t be prettier above the water, as it’s all sunshine and a comfortable breeze, but the water itself is all jacked up. The current is the least it’s been in two weeks, yet still far above normal as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tries to deal with all the rains in recent weeks. That has the entire lake looking like your morning coffee, two creams. And making matters worse, most pros say the water has dropped nearly a foot since yesterday.
Yet, as tough as the bite was, there were signs fish could still be caught.
Zach King, who has made the Top 10 an impressive 10 times on Dardanelle at the Toyota Series and BFL levels, looks well on his way to another. He checked in with a limit in the 12- to 13-pound range, including a 4-pounder he caught right about the time our crew was getting off the water. Very unofficially in second, Theron Caldwell had a limit for about 12 pounds he caught cranking.
After that … not much.
Cody Arth was playing a great guide to his co-angler, Joseph Czekala, who had two in the box to Arth’s none. The two were working their way along emergent grass edges; a very common pattern that seemed to be working poorly for most.
Randy Blaukat was keyed in on the other pattern of cranking rock, which produced two small keepers early. Word is, the rock bite near takeoff had been banner in practice but had left anglers like Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit pros Greg Bohannan and Casey Scanlon with just one apiece. Though, Scanlon’s was a 3-pounder and he’d lost a 5-pounder.
Even with that quality, Scanlon was in the boat with most everyone else in thinking the sunshine would get the afternoon bite rolling, and he had plans to switch between the two predominant patterns the rest of the day.
Then there’s the wildcard of those who ran far up the river, as the furthest we went was just north of Shoal Bay (where it was clearly fishing small with all the boat traffic). Angler of the Year leader Andy Newcomb said he was going to run up, and we saw the man right behind him, Eric Olliverson, leave Shoal and run up, as well. Throw in anglers like Jason Lieblong and Hunter Baughman, who both are sticks known for fishing far up the river, and it will be interesting to see what that area produces come weigh-in at 2:30 p.m. CT.