Not Everybody Will Have A Ledge To Fish In Alabama Bass Trail North Division Tournament On Pickwick

Mark McCaig

The fish are biting on Pickwick Lake which means some anglers in the last tournament of the season on the Alabama Bass Trail North Division there this Saturday are going to weigh in some great sacks of bass.

But there is one major problem, said Mark McCaig, who with teammate Tim Hurst, both of Oxford, Ala., is ranked 7th in the North Division standings going into the final tournament.

“The fish are on the ledges and they are biting,” McCaig said. “When it comes to the ledges there are a lot of fish thee, but there are not a lot of good places. A lot of people are going to get ganged up on certain places.”

Because of the ledges, he said, Pickwick and Guntersville are a lot alike, with one major difference. And that difference could be a game changer if getting a top spot on a ledge doesn’t work out.

“The biggest difference is that at Pickwick there is a really good population of big smallmouth bass,” McCaig said. “Those smallmouths are usually caught in the tailrace below the dam.”

The tailrace could be the main option if McCaig and Hurst do not draw a low boat number Friday night. An early boat number – say the first 40 or maybe 50 boats drawn – would provide opportunity to sit on a ledge all day and capitalize on the schools of bass located there, but a higher number would mean finding something different, he said.

“The lake is incredible when it comes to fishing, but it is so narrow that there will be a boat on every place in the river – and there are no secrets there.”

So, when they get in a final practice Friday, McCaig said, he and Hurst will practice in separate boats – one in the tailrace, hunting the big smallmouth, and the other in the river.

“The key to winning is finding the 4-pound-plus fish, whether they are smallmouth or largemouth – and it won’t be just finding them, but figuring out how to catch them. You could have a large school of 3-pounders, with some bigger fish mixed in. You are going to have to figure out how to catch those bigger fish. It’s going to take 25 to 30 pounds to win.

 

Alabama Bass Trail – North Division 

Sat, Jun 6, 2015

Pickwick Lake

McFarland Park

Call Kay Donaldson 855-934-7425

www.alabamabasstrail.org