Tim Staley’s versatility has been his forte all season long in the Tennessee Central Bassmaster Weekend Series and it should provide him the edge he needs this weekend at Kentucky-Barkley Lakes to maintain his lead in the standings.

“Kentucky Lake is a fairly good lake for him. He fishes all the lakes pretty well and he is capable of doing about anything at a given time. He is very versatile,” said Tennessee Central BWS tournament director Randy Sullivan. “I think if he can find some fish this weekend he has a good chance of winning the points on the boater side. Our final tournament Aug. 28-29 is on Old Hickory Lake and that is his home lake.”

Staley finished eighth in the first tournament of the season in March on Percy Priest Lake, but he followed that with back-to-back second place finishes in April on Center Hill Lake and in June on Old Hickory Lake. Going into the fourth tournament of the season Saturday on Kentucky Lake he has a 10-point lead over Michael Sircy of Lebanon, Tenn., and is 14 points ahead of Brandon Eddies of LaVergne and Billy Shrum of Gallatin, who are tied for third. Mike Del Visco of Greer, S.C, is fifth, just 19 points back.

This has been a season for the books weather-wise, Sullivan said, which has caused the number of entries to be down from what was anticipated.

“This division seems to get all the foul weather. We had storms for the first tournament, tornadoes for the second and massive heat and humidity for the third one. But the guys who have been coming out and fishing have been catching fish.”

This weekend promises to be a major deviation from the bad weather pattern so far this year, he noted.

“It will be in the lower 90s with light winds. There is a slight chance of rain Friday night or Saturday, but it will not be too awfully hot. If we can just get a little current, I think they will have a very good day out on the lake.”

Current, he said, is the key for success right now and there will probably only be a very small window of opportunity to fish current before the weigh-in.

“Right now we are right at summer pool, just an inch or two under 359 feet, so it will be a classic summer pattern. They pull water in the afternoons and pretty much leave it stagnant in the mornings. We will fish early, 5:30 a.m. or so, and the guys will be waiting for them to pull current about 12 or 12:30.”

Sullivan explained that all the rains and flooding back in April and May has obliterated most of the grass which will limit opportunities for the shallow fishing anglers, so the majority of fishermen will probably catch their fish deep.

“Two or three of them will be hopping a jig. You’ll see a lot of guys out there with big crankbaits and then there will be a few guys who like 10-to-12-inch worms. It really doesn’t matter. All three will work. It’s just a matter of whether you want to throw a crankbait or slow things down and fish a jig or a worm. They are catching them on just about any color and any deep bait.”

Modern technology is expected to come into play for the anglers fishing deep, he said.

“We will be weighing in at the state park at 2 o’clock Saturday which does not give them a lot of time to catch their fish. A lot of those guys will make long runs and will be sitting there when they current turns on,” Sullivan said.

“Most of those guys fishing there know the prime spots and they use cells phones to call and get the generation times. So they will pull up and catch their limit in 15 minutes to half an hour and they will be done.

“That’s how scientific it has got. They can be sitting right where they need to be. If they cut the power on when they say they will the angler can just about tell you when the fish will pull up and bite.”

Bassmaster Weekend Series - Tennessee Central – 2010

Sat. Jul. 17, 2010

Kentucky-Barkley Lake

Paris Landing

http://www.abaproam.com/BWS_Division2010.php?DivisionNumberOnly=3