“The water is down about a foot and a half, nearly two feet,” said Kris Colley, winner of the second North Division tournament two weeks ago on Pickwick Lake. “I’ve got a feeling that if the water stays down fishing is going to be a lot tougher Saturday than what people expect.”

Colley, who hails from Ashville, Ala., just five minutes from the Neely Henry shore, said the problem with the low water is that most of the grass in Neely Henry is high and dry.

“Neely Henry is known for its grass this time of year,” Crolley said. “A lot of the grass is not even in the water.”

Unless the thundershowers predicted for late Thursday night and early Friday morning dump enough rain on the system to bring the water level up, the grass fishing will be very limited which means a lot of anglers will have to move up into the river area at the head of the lake, Crolley said.

“I think you will see more fishing upriver than downriver Saturday,” he said. “If the water level was normal, about three-fourths of the field would be fishing downriver, but with the level down it’s going to take away a lot of fishing on the bottom end of the lake.”

If the level does come up the fish will move up with the water, he said, which will open up fishing with spinnerbaits, Rat-L-Traps and square-billed crankbaits. But, if anglers have to move upriver they will be fishing trees and rock. There is no grass upriver, he said.

“Fishing upriver it will be mostly flipping a jig, throwing a spinnerbait and maybe a crankbait here and there.”

Crolley, who normally teams with Adam Bain, had to fish solo with a non-fishing observer on Pickwick because Bain had a previously-scheduled engagement. He weighed in a limit at 25.11 pounds, anchored by a 6.59-pound largemouth, that he caught by flipping a green-pumpkin LC’s Jig around wood structure on mud banks within sight of the launch ramp at McFarland Park.

Crolley, who won $10,000 which he will split with Bain, praised the Alabama Bass Trail which is in its inaugural season.

“For the first year they are doing a great job. They have got everything going in the right direction and I don’t think they will have any problem filling up the Northern Division again next year,” he said.

Registration for the Alabama Bass Trail is available online at www.alabamabasstrail.org up to the Wednesday preceding each tournament. The entry fee per tournament is $250 per team.

The schedule includes: North Division – Feb. 1, Lake Guntersville; March 22, Pickwick Lake; April 5, Neely Henry Lake; May 31, Wheeler Lake; June 21, Logan Martin Lake. South Division – March 1, Mobile-Tensaw River Delta; March 15, Lake Eufaula; April 19, Lake Jordan; May 10, Alabama River (Millers Ferry); June 7, Lay 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.

“We are looking at an estimated $420,000 total in prizes for the series,” Program Director Kay Donaldson said. “We think the anglers are going to really enjoy it because they will have the opportunity to advance to our championship and from there the opportunity to go to the BASS Team Championship.”

 

Alabama Bass Trail – North Division

Sat, Apr 5, 2014

Neely Henry Lake

Coosa Landing

Call Kay Donaldson 855-934-7425

www.alabamabasstrail.org