The dock talk this morning at the Bainbridge Earle May Boat Basin for Day 1 of the Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. Southern Division finale on Lake Seminole was that things are tough, but there are enough fish trying to put the feed bag on that it should be interesting. So far, that holds true.
Our on-the-water crew checked on several anglers who were all over the spectrum of fish catches. While we didn’t stumble on anyone who took advantage of the shad spawn this morning, plenty of pros reported small limits by 9 o’clock.
One such pro was Brandon Classon, who had at least two fish over 5 pounds in the box and was working on a limit pushing 16 pounds. He was pleased with his start and hoping to cull a few more times once the sun got up this afternoon.
On the other side of the coin, local stick Matt Baty was one of the pros who was off to a rough start. Noting the lack of current today, Baty was fishless by midmorning, though if anyone can salvage a day on Seminole, it’s Baty.
DJ Ellis is off to the hottest start of the day with 24 pounds in the box by noon. Throwing everything from top to bottom, Ellis was working one area and playing crowd control in an effort to help keep the juice safe until tomorrow. He says the bite should pick up again this afternoon, so who knows what kind of bag he’ll bring to the scale, but he’s certainly off to a dynamite start.
From a technique perspective, plenty of moving baits are being employed. From vibrating jigs and spinnerbaits to lipless crankbaits and topwaters. There’s also a fair contingent of pros working channels and depressions on timber flats with big worms. All of it seems to be producing to some degree, which makes sense on account of the bass in Seminole being in various stages of the spawn.
With time still left before weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. ET, there are plenty of bass to be caught. Tune in to the action and see what Seminole can kick out despite the fishing being a bit “off.”