Small (mouth) Distraction

My focus has been a little split for the past couple of days. It's something that sometimes happens when a big tournament is going on. And it's especially likely to occur when the pros are catching whopper smallmouths. I find myself spending too much time peeking at BASStrakk, the Bassmaster blog, the FLW Twitter feed, pros' facebook pages and more, wanting to know what the fish are doing and who is catching them and of course wanting to see photos of big brown fish.

I suppose it's somewhat of a vicarious fishing thing.

This week it's been a double whammy because the Elites are fishing Lake St. Clair at the same time as an FLW Rayovac Series event is going on at Erie, out of Sandusky. The fishing has been good, and they are catching a lot of big fish. Adding intrigue, friends are in major contention in both tournaments, and on the BASS side, the Angler of the Year race and Bassmaster Classic qualifiers continue to take shape.

I'm still getting my writing done. It's just taking longer than it should. I'd write more here, but I need to check on the weigh-ins!

Gunning for Gunterville Classic Bid

Chris Lane, B.A.S.S. Photo by Seigo Saito

Watching the Bassmaster Classic played out on his adopted home waters of Lake Guntersville would be seriously difficult for Chris Lane, so the 2012 Classic champion is doing everything in his power to keep that from happening.

Going into the final event of the Elite Series, which is going on this weekend, Lane's place in the Angler of the Year standings made his Classic bid iffy at best. A great finish and stumbles by others could get him in based on AOY points, but his only sure way to get a Classic bid would be to win at this weekend's event at Lake St. Clair. Halfway through, Lane has bumped his place in the standings up to 34th place, which puts him right on the edge and could make him the last angler in or the first angler out. Lane doesn't want to count on that, though. He'd much rather notch the win and lock in his place, which is very much within reach halfway though.

After two days, Lane is in fourth place, three pounds behind leader Aaron Martens. He has brought a 5-12 smallmouth to the scales both days, and apparently has one spot that holds some absolute giants. He didn't stick with his big-fish spot terribly long today because he doesn't get nearly as many bites there as he does in other places, but he suggested on stage that he might go for broke and really stick it out there tomorrow, looking for five giant fish.

Although Lane grew up in Lakeland, Florida and learned to fish in the Sunshine State, he moved to Lake Guntersville in 2009 and has really built an identity there, creating an Guntersville App, guiding and establishing Chris Lane Outdoor Adventures Resort at Lake Guntersville.

Lane knows as well as anyone else that February fishing on Lake Guntersville with a field of the nation's top pros will be an absolute largemouth slugfest, but if he wants to be part of the action, he needs to spend two more days slugging it out for Detroit smallmouths!

Pro Congratulations

Bass fishing legend Larry Nixon added to the story this weekend by topping the field in the FLW Tour Open on Lake St. Clair with a four-day catch of 84 pounds, 11 ounces. FLW Photo by Brett Carlson.

Wow. A lot happened in the pro angling world this weekend while I was stomping around in Smokies streams.

On the FLW side of things, Larry Nixon added yet another win to his storied career by topping the field in an FLW Tour Open at Lake St. Clair. Nixon, who had won once before on the same waters, took the title in convincing fashion, topping second place finisher Bill McDonald by more than 6 pounds.

On the B.A.S.S. side, Boyd Duckett took the trophy at Lake Oneida, edging out Randy Howell by only 6 ounces. Most importantly to Duckett, the win earned him qualification for the 2013 Bassmaster Classic.

Because Oneida was the final stop of the season for the Elites, it also settled the Angler of the Year and Rookie of the Year races and the post-season field and secured Classic spots for several pros. Congratulations to B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year Brent Chapman and Rookie of the year Brandon Card and to all the post-season and Classic qualifiers.

Detroit Decisions

All eyes will be on Joe Balog, a Great Lakes expert who lives by Lake St. Clair, when Balog brings his fish to the B.A.S.S. Open scales on Thursday.





You can bet there's a lot of noodling happening now on the waters closest to Detroit. Pros are currently practicing for a B.A.S.S Open that begins on Thursday. Any bass tournament out of the Motor City begins with the basic decision about whether to fish St. Clair, massive Lake Erie or the Detroit River, which connects the two waterways -- a decision impacted by where pros get the most bites and catch the biggest fish during practice and by the weather outlook.

Anglers who are unfamiliar with these waters must first find stuff they like and then decide what strategies make the most sense. However, decisions aren't necessarily easy for the pros who know these waters best because an angler's two best areas might be 75 miles from each other. Weather is a factor in any bass tournament because it affects fish behavior, but the forecast has an extra big impact on Great Lakes fisheries because it dictates where a pro can and cannot run or fish effectively and the practicality of moving from one spot to another during a day.

Big-water specialists like Joe Balog, who won a 2006 Northern Open on Erie and who now calls the St. Clair area home, enjoy advantages that stretch way beyond knowing how the fish behave and where they go on these waters (although that knowledge is important, too). They know how to run big water and how to set up over offshore structure and fish it effectively, even when the lake is rocking.

I haven't looked at the 5-day forecast for Detroit, but in truth what it says now about Thursday may have little to do with what actually happens. The pros may have have to take one final peek up a flagpole on Thursday morning and then decide which way to point the boat!

St. Clair Smallmouth Bass

Limited computer access and lots of running have caused me to miss some timely reports. Some stuff warrants noting, though, even if it is after the fact. A good example is the fun day that Nathaniel and I spent with Doug Cummings of Fine Line Guide Service on Lake St. Clair a couple of weeks ago.

Nathaniel and I always enjoy a day on St. Clair with Cummings, who always seems to know exactly what's going on with the lake's hefty smallmouth bass. YUM F2 2ubes and Mighty Bugs were the day's top producers, but we also caught fish on XCalibur Square Lip crankbaits and Rattle Baits. The Xr50 Rattle Bait is Cummings' go-to lure for St. Clair smallmouth bass, and he keeps a couple of them rigged and ready at all times.

We caught a bunch of smallies, with several in the 4-pound range, plus plenty of overzealous rock bass an a couple of small pike. Nathaniel also had fun battling a couple of big drum, but you can read that for yourself on his blog.

Tour De Bronze Continues

Travel that begins early tomorrow morning is mostly a personal trip - driving to Michigan with the whole crew in the van to visit family. However, it's hard for me to go to Michigan and not spend a day or two fishing, so I'll spend one day in a creek, casting for trout with Jim Bedford, and one day on Lake St Clair, targeting smallmouth bass with Doug Cummings.

I'd be hard pressed to select a single favorite kind of fish to catch, but smallmouths would be way up there on the list, which might explain while I've already fished for them in Tennessee and Wisconsin this year, and why I have summer smallmouth trips planned in Michigan, Maine, Virginia and Arkansas.

Michigan report to follow!