Winter Storm Will Affect Fishing For Sc Bfl Opener On Lake Murray Saturday
Having almost recovered from the mid-January winter storm that brought freezing temperatures and several inches of snow to the South Carolina Midlands, Lake Murray was on the cusp of breaking wide open with the bass moving up to spawn.
The winning team in the Carolina Bass Challenge Team Tournament last Saturday weighed in a limit at just under 24 pounds and the top seven teams had more than 20 pounds. The 8th place team of Lake Murray veterans Greg Rikard and Eddie Herlong just missed that mark with a limit that weighed 19.78 pounds.
“The fish have been biting and there was a lot of good quality fish weighed in,” said Rikard. “But I don’t see that happening this weekend.”
The opening tournament of the 2014 season for the South Carolina Division of the Walmart Bass Fishing League is scheduled for Lake Murray this Saturday, but the winter weather is expected to put a chill on the bite Rikard said.
The Palmetto State is in the midst of three days of sub-freezing temperatures with up to 6 inches of snow, sleet and freezing rain falling across the region. The combination of winter precipitation is so bad that Gov. Nikki Haley has declared a state of emergency and law enforcement agencies are warning residents to stay home and off the icy roads.
The storm is expected to pass by Friday, with sunshine and warmer temperatures returning, but that probably won’t be enough to restore the pre-spawn bite to last week’s level by Saturday, Rikard said.
“The water temperature ranged from 48 to 51 degrees last weekend, but this weather system is bound to cool the water down,” he said. “The fish are wanting to come up and there are some fish that are up. There are a lot of fish in between and people are still catching some deep. They are in all aspects of the pre-spawn as far as staging.”
Rikard said that when the bass do decide to commit to the shallow water they usually stay shallow, but he doesn’t think the ones that were moving shallow had reached that point.
“They are in the vicinity, but not committed. I think this weather will push those fish back,” he said
“As far as the weights go, this is still Lake Murray, so I believe it will take 21 pounds to win Saturday. But I don’t think those weights will hold up very deep in the field. If the weather had remained stable like it was last weekend, I think the weights would be outstanding.”
In the 13 years he has fished the South Carolina Division, Rikard has nine Top 10 finishes in the points, including 1st in 2011. He finished second in the points in the South Carolina Division in 2013 and finished second in the Regional championship last year on Lake Guntersville. He also qualified for the All-American for the fifth time. His best finish in the All-American was 4th in 2008 on Lake Hamilton in Arkansas.
“I look forward to making another run at the division title,” he said, noting it all starts Saturday on Lake Murray.
“Lake Murray is my home lake, but this time of year how you do is all weather related,” he said. “You can’t win the points on the first tournament, but you sure can lose it by not doing well. You have to have your A-Game all year long.”
Walmart BFL South Carolina Division
Sat, Feb 15, 2014
Lake Murray
Dreher Island State Park
