Carden, Rutland Hoping Shallow Bite Turns On For Alabama Bass Trail Tournament On Lay Lake
Normally Coby Carden would be licking his chops at the prospect of fishing Lay Lake in June. After all the lake is practically his backyard and he grew up fishing the lake.
But, with the Alabama Bass Trail South Division coming to Lay Lake this Saturday, Carden said the lake is not fishing like it typically does this time of year.
“I am excited about it because this is when I do my best on the lake, but I just don’t have them figured out yet,” said Carden, whose teammate in the South Division is Chris Rutland.
“Typically, you can still be catching a lot of fish shallow. The spawn is over and a lot of fish have moved out, but you can always catch quality fish in the grass all year long,” Carden said. “But we had a warm up and then a cold snap, and since that last cold snap the fish have not been positioned for us. They are just not up in the grass.”
Carden said the fish apparently are in transition, kind of in between and that has made shallow fishing tough.
“They are just in a funk. They have not committed to either one of their normal places for this time of year.”
The team is currently ranked 4th after posting three top 20 finishes, including a second place finish on the Alabama River a month ago. They finished 14th on the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta March 1 to start the season, but could only get an 82nd place finish on lake Eufaula March 15, then recovered with a 20th place on Lake Jordan April 19.
“We’ve been blessed. Unfortunately, Eufaula just killed us. Had we done a little better there we’d be a lot closer to the top,” Carden said.
The tournament Saturday on Lay Lake is the final Alabama South tournament of the inaugural series before the Championship Oct. 10-11 on Lewis Smith Lake. The North Division has one more tournament scheduled in the regular season, June 21 on Logan Martin Lake.
Each tournament has a guaranteed first prize of $10,000, plus $23,000 to the top 20 places and $500 to big fish. There are also numerous bonus packages available to winning and placing anglers.
The Top 50 teams for both the Northern and Southern Divisions will advance to the 2014 ABT Team Championship Oct. 10-11 at Smith Lake in Jasper. Plus, the top 25 student boats overall will be in the final event. To be eligible for the championship, teams must enter all five qualifying events in their respective division.
The grand prize for the no-entry fee championship is a fully-rigged Phoenix 619 Pro Bass Boat with a 150-horsepower Mercury Outboard, valued at $40,000. Adding to that excitement level is an opportunity to advance to the Bassmasters Team Championship and possibly earn a berth in the Bassmaster Classic.
Kay Donaldson, program director for the Alabama Bass Trail, also announced the 2015 ABT tournament schedule. The 10-lake, team-style tournament series will be held on ten of the lakes of the Alabama Bass Trail beginning next February 14, with the championship to be held on the 11th lake October 9-10, 2015. The full schedule and details are available on the ABT website; http://www.alabamabasstrail.org/tournament-series/next-season/
“The Alabama Bass Trail tournament format has been wildly successful, pulling anglers from six states and creating an economic impact of over $1 million in the areas around the Trail’s lakes,” said Donaldson. “I am so proud of what our state has accomplished while promoting the sport of bass fishing. We have showcased these lakes to the world and provided a needed boost to the local economies.”
Alabama Bass Trail – South Division
Sat, Jun 7, 2014
Lay Lake
Paradise Point Marina & RV Resort
Call Kay Donaldson 855-934-7425
