Bassmaster Elite Series Preview – Lake Seminole
By David A. Brown
from The Fishing Wire
When the Bassmaster Elite Series opens its 2014 season March 13, it will do so on a lake blessed with abundant opportunity. Record-breaking potential lives here, but the treasure is guarded by some pretty formidable habitat.
Located in Georgia’s southwest corner, right at the Florida border, this U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir was formed by the Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam, which impounds the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers. BOOYAH pro Terry Scroggins said the tournament could find a couple of different scenarios playing out within the 37,500 surface acres and 376 miles of shoreline. If the weather is good, he suspects the sight-fishing game will be the prominent focus.
“The first day of the tournament is on a full moon, so they’re going to want to pull up as long as the weather’s straight,” Scroggins said. “If that’s the case, everything’s going to be sight fishing and throwing swim jigs and chatterbaits. If the weather’s bad, it’s going to be a flipping tournament.
With the latter, Scroggins said that targeting dead hyacinth mats, along with the creek channels and sloughs running into spawning grounds, will be the plan. He also believes that jerkbaits could play a key role in the Lake Seminole event, particularly if the weather does not deliver ideal sight-fishing conditions.
“The fish in Seminole love a jerkbait and you can bet I’ll have three or four of them tied on,” Scroggins said. “That’s going to be a really good technique for catching them there.”
Scroggins said his jerkbait of choice will be the Smithwick Perfect 10 Rogue. A modern version of the heralded jerkbait design, the Perfect 10 reaches an impressive depth and tempts bass holding lower in the water column.
“Seminole has some deep channels and deep grass, so that bait is really going to excel there,” Scroggins said. “Then, I’ll throw some other jerkbaits with a lot of erratic action that go 4- or 5-feet deep, depending on what water depth I’m targeting.”
Gerald Swindle says cleaner water on Seminole may mean a good jerkbait bite there-he likes the Smithwick Perfect 10 among others.
Alabama pro Gerald Swindle has a similar vision. He’s also planning on putting the Perfect 10 to work in that opening event. For him, the expected water clarity bodes well for such tactics.
“Seminole is a little bit cleaner than (Bassmaster Classic site) Lake Guntersville is right now, so anytime you get clear water, the Perfect 10 jerkbait will be a good idea.”
For any of his jerkbaits, Scroggins likes flashy, chrome finishes, but he notes that those with orange bellies are always a good bet for southern lakes like Seminole. Reason being, that belly mimics a common bluegill coloration.
Scroggins said he’ll specifically look for sand bars and other shallow hard bottom where big female bass will pull up for spawning. Lily pad fields, bulrush and reeds will also hold potential, he said.
For Swindle, Lake Seminole’s abundant hydrilla will get a lot of his attention. Offering ideal habitat for prespawners to hold in cover just outside their spawning grounds. This tangled mass of aquatic vegetation presents a potential-packed transitional zone along its edges. Here, Swindle hopes to trigger several big bites with a lipless crankbait.
“I think the Xcalibur XR50 and the XR75 will play a key role here,” he said. “We may not be on the red colors like we were at Guntersville, we may be more on the translucents like the Ghost Minnow or Pearl Melon color. But I think the rattling baits will be a factor.
“They’re either going to be in the grass, or they’ve going to be bedding. If they’re in the grass, you can’t beat that lipless bait. You want to throw it out there, let it sink down into the grass and then rip it out. It’s all a reaction bite.”
THE SKINNY
Stacking up the pros and cons for Lake Seminole, Scroggins and Swindle summarized Seminole as rewarding, but no cake walk.
“The biggest thing is that it fishes small,” Scroggins said. “Seminole only fishes about 10 miles long – through the Spring Creek area, up the Chattahoochee River a little bit and up the Flint. So everything is really confined and in three days of practice, you can pretty much look at everything you want to look at.”
Swindle adds this: “I think Seminole offers some of the best sight fishing opportunities. Guys can break records by sight fishing.”
Balancing the opportunities, Seminole also presents significant navigational concerns demanding awareness and abundant caution.
“Seminole has a lot of standing timber and it takes a little time to get around in it,” Scroggins said. “You really have to know how to run that lake because you can get in trouble in a hurry.”
Swindle concurs: “This is one of the most dangerous lakes we fish. A lot of equipment can get torn up there. Seminole is definitely a dangerous body of water to navigate. There’s stumps, stumps and more stumps.”
Nevertheless, Lake Seminole has a reputation for producing big sacks and a recent local event in which the winner sacked up a 39-pound limit, has Scroggins eager to see what the lake will offer the Elite field.
“The hadn’t even started spawning yet (during that event), so looking at that, I’ll say that it’s going to take big weights – probably 30 pounds a day to remain competitive.”