    Fog delay affects day one; weather causes cancellation Saturday
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (April 2, 2009) - Lake Dardanelle was the second stop on the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament trail last weekend. Fishing hasn't been up to par on this lake in recent months, so anxieties were high going into day one. The water has been low, but the fish were in the pre-spawn and spawning phases, so anglers were hoping for the best. |
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"It was a very good tournament, and I was pleasantly surprised," Reese said of his sixth-place finish. "I didn't expect that, because I honestly didn't know if I was even going to be able to catch a bass going into the first day."
Reese was fishing upriver in an area he found during practice that yielded only a few small bites. However, on day one, after the first hour of fishing, he caught a limit and was quite surprised.
"I was fishing back water creeks and ponds, getting into some area with riprap," Reese explained. "I was stoked when I realized I was going to catch more than I thought. I was frustrated too, though, because I had the opportunity to have more than 20 pounds on day one, but I lost a ton of big fish. I'm not used to that, so that was frustrating for me."
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Even with lost fish on Thursday, Reese weighed in 15 pounds, 13 ounces and was sitting pretty heading into day two. With three main baits, Reese was ready to tackle day two, hoping for a chance at the cut - not knowing he would actually need a top 12 to survive.
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"I was throwing the Lucky Craft RC 2.5 in Chartreuse Perch, flipping a black and blue jig and throwing a green pumpkin Crazy Lake Chigger Craw," Reese said. "I would throw the RC on rock jetties and riprap upriver and was fishing it on 20-pound fluorocarbon with my glass rod."
Reese brought in 13-9 on day two, putting him in the top 12, and when day three rolled around, he was certainly glad.
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"It went from all the anglers fishing on day two and was cut down to the top 12 after they canceled Saturday," Reese said. "Obviously it didn't hurt my feelings at all, because that guaranteed me a spot in the top 12."
Reese relaxed on Saturday, and fished the same patterns on Sunday to bring in 13 pounds, 6 ounces and finished sixth with a total three-day weight of 42 pounds, 12 ounces.
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Reese talked about his tournament on Lake Dardanelle just after practicing for his next tournament on Wheeler Lake, and he wasn't feeling too hot about the upcoming tournament.
"I don't have warm fuzzy feelings about Lake Wheeler right now," Reese said. "I am mostly filled with frustration and anger towards it. I haven't figured them out yet, and I don't like not having a game plan. But we'll see what happens."
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Ashley was not available for comment at the time of the article, but as day three approached, he was fishing a good tournament with a day-one weight of 10 pounds, 3 ounces and 16 pounds, 14 ounces on day two. He sat in 20th as day three loomed ahead, but didn't get the chance to revisit Lake Dardanelle as day three was canceled. He finished his tournament in 20th with a two-day weight of 27 pounds, 1 ounce.
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"Obviously losing day three didn't work to my advantage, but I'm not alone," Swindle said. "I felt like I could have continued moving up if I would have the chance to fish again, but with the fog delay and not fishing on Saturday, it was a very short tournament for me. I fished the best I could."
In practice, Swindle switched between fishing a shallow crankbait, flipping, and casting a Texas-rigged 8-inch lizard. Bites were coming on all three, but it was nothing to write home about. He knew he wasn't in the places to win, but he believes he fished a good tournament for a 39th-place finish.
"I was throwing the Lucky Craft RC 1.5 a lot in practice, as well as the BDS 2," Swindle said. "I was getting bites on them both, but my best bite came on the lizard while I was fishing around stumps. I would make long casts, throwing it on 15-pound fluorocarbon, to stumps trying to catch fish that were spawning."
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After the tournament began, however, most of Swindle's game plan went out the window. He wasn't able to visit any of his cranking fish on day one because of the delay, so he went straight to casting the lizard to catch five keepers. Swindle admitted it could be classified as a boring tournament by his standards, as he didn't vary much from his one main pattern.
Swindle brought in 10 pounds, 10 ounces on day one and employed the same techniques on day two to bring in 12 pounds, 2 ounces. He did notice and learn one thing however about these fish on Lake Dardanelle. The key was to keep the bait moving.
"The fish didn't want the bait sitting still," he said. "I was fishing in about 10 inches of water, so I'd throw the lizard, reel it in slow and the fish would take hold and run away with it. It was boring, based on how I'd normally attack this particular lake or these types of situations, but things change. I went to Arkansas with high expectations, but none of them came true. It was a little weird."
Swindle finished 39th with a total two-day weight of 22 pounds, 12 ounces. While practicing for his next tournament, directly after the tournament on Dardanelle, Swindle said it could be the same deal on Lake Wheeler, too.
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"The fish aren't doing what I thought they would here [Wheeler], either," Swindle said. "The key is going to be that areas are going to fish really small because the river has been so muddy because of the current. The fish aren't very active, and they're not biting. That will push everyone into the creeks, and it will get crowded really quickly. I'm planning on throwing the RC 1.5, CB 001, the Slender Pointer 97, casting a jig and a lizard. That is the plan right now."
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"I thought I could catch them a little better than I actually did," Jordon admitted, "but I did have a really good first day. Now on day two, the fish moved, and I didn't really have anywhere else to go."
Jordon knew where the fish went, but with anglers fishing all around him, he didn't want to move in on someone else's water, so he went searching again on the second day of competition.
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"I am not sure what made those fish move," Jordon said. "It could have been the fishing pressure, or it could have been the fact that the water moved up, but all I know is that they left. I should have moved around more on day one, but I didn't. And I knew where the fish went, but instead of moving in on somebody's water, I bypassed it and kept on going."
Jordon brought in three fish on day two, weighing in 6 pounds, 10 ounces, moving him back to 45th. He was fishing with a soft plastic jerkbait on spawning flats and in back water, but wasn't able to try for redemption and his tournament ended on Friday afternoon with a total weight of 21 pounds, 8 ounces.
No matter the outcome, Jordon always has a good attitude, and he is leaving this one behind and moving on to the next tournament on Lake Wheeler. He was catching a lot of fish in practice, but admitted a lot of people were and knows it might be hard to catch the big ones.
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"I was fishing around rocky banks, like channel swing banks, with the RC 1.5 [custom color], looking for pre-spawn fish," Omori said. "I was in the first flight of the day, so because of the delay, I didn't have much time to fish. I knew I needed new areas on Friday."
While fishing the RC 1.5, which was what Omori used to catch most of his fish, he was using a 7-foot cranking rod and a baitcasting reel with 20-pound fluorocarbon.
Omori decided to fish spawning pockets on day two, which proved to be a good decision, but the damage had already been done on day one. However, Omori brought in 9 pounds, 15 ounces on day two and finished his week in 78th.
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"I can't go back and change anything now, so I have to move on and look forward to the next one," Omori said. "Lake Wheeler is fishing different for me than it did last year, but practice was okay. I think maybe a jig and a Lucky Craft LVR might work best on this lake.
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