Today we moved one pool down from Weiss Lake and fished Neely Henry, which is amazingly different from Weiss for being on the same river and so close. It was my first visit to Neely Henry, so I enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about it.I spent the morning with Heath Smith, a tournament angler who grew up fishing Neely Henry. A firefighter from Gadsden, Ala., Smith hopes to make a career out of professional bass fishing and has a well thought out plan for working his way into the full-time pro ranks. For now, he's fishing the BASS Southern Opens and making a serious study of tournament bass fishing. Smith also understands that there's a lot more to building a solid career in tournament angling than an ability to catch fish, and he's working hard to build industry relationships and learn all he can about all sides of the industry. From what I saw this morning, Heath Smith is a name to remember and one you'll be hearing more often in the future.
