BAINBRIDGE, Ga. – When the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Southern Division heads to Lake Seminole, the postspawn and summer bite should be heating up. A tournament lake with tons of history and some breathtaking scenery, Seminole has big bass both deep and shallow, and sometimes feels like a step back in time as the lake and its backwaters wind through the swamps and rivers along the Florida-Georgia line.
What to expect
Experienced on the lake, Landon Tucker has high hopes for this event. Last year’s Toyota Series event was held about a week earlier, and it took huge weight – the top five all averaged more than 22 pounds a day.
“It’ll be full postspawn I think,” said Tucker. “They spawned pretty hard a couple weeks ago. They’ll be out in the trees; there might be a couple on ledges. It’s going to take some weight. A guy I know had about 28 there Saturday in about 3 hours.”
When it comes to Seminole, Tucker loves it because of the challenges the reservoir offers.
“I love the grass, I love the trees,” he said. “I don’t care about bouncing my boat off the trees. It’s intimidating for people who don’t know it, but I’ve been there my whole life. There’s so many different things you can do.”
Baits to bring
Obviously, a minnow and a Coike will be key players for offshore fish at some points in time. But offshore bass there can also fall for a crankbait or a Carolina rig, and you don’t absolutely need LiveScope to fish in the timber in Spring Creek.
“Before ‘Scope, we used to do it all the time with an a-rig or old-school big worms,” said Tucker. “You can still catch ‘em in the trees without it.”
What will it take?
Last year, multiple pros caught 27 pounds or better at least one day of the event, and the weights were astronomical. But that was with full days of forward-facing sonar, not just three hours as is the case this year.
“It’ll be a smashfest I think,” said Tucker. “That three hours we get will be very key. But if you get a school of them in the trees, you can do it pretty quick.”
This year, Tucker thinks that 22 pounds a day, which works out to 66 pounds total, ought to put you where you need to be to win.