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.”

A few years ago bass fishing in this area ranged from good to exceptional during the last two weeks in February. Two tournaments proved how good West Point can be when there are several warm days in February, and a club tournament at Bartlett’s Ferry, the next lake downstream of West Point proved fishing can still be a little tough for bigger bass.

Two weeks ago on Saturday the Potato Creek Bassmasters fished West Point for their February club tournament. Lee Hancock had a great catch, weighing in five keeper bass weighing 17.21 pounds. Keith Brown was second with five weighing 12.95, Mitchell Cardell placed 3rd with four bass weighing 9.96 pounds and Matt Corley was 4th with three bass at 7.37 pounds.

John R. Mitchell only had one bass, but he made it count by weighing in a 6.44 pound largemouth. That one fish was good for fifth place and big fish for the tournament. It also took the “over six pound” pot for the year.

Potato Creek had a total of 24 fishermen and they caught 44 keeper bass weighing 99.93 pounds.

Last Saturday there was a Fishers of Men trail tournament at West Point. This trail started a few years ago and is a Christian trail that has grown to cover 26 states. Many states, like Georgia, have several divisions. In the Georgia South division a couple of Griffin area anglers are competing.

Chris Davies and Terry Gauger won last Saturday with an incredible catch of five keeper bass weighing 25.64 pounds. Chris said he caught a 7 pounder that was big fish for the tournament and also had a five and a three pounder. Terry added two five pounders in this team tournament.

Chris and Terry landed their big bass on Terminator Spinnerbaits and Rat-L-Trap lipless crankbaits. They were surprised to find the fish feeding in muddy, cold water. Chris said the water temperature where they caught most of their limit was 49 degrees, the coldest water they fished all day.

The Fishers of Men trail encourages father/son teams to compete. It is an excellent organization and you can find tournament results as well as more information online at http://www.fishersofmenministries.com/

At Bartlett’s Ferry the Spalding County Sportsman Club did not have as good a catch in our February tournament. I was lucky in two ways. I ran into John R. Mitchell at the gas station on Saturday and he agreed to fish as my guest the next day. I won the tournament with five bass weighing 7.88 pounds, Javin English placed 2nd with five weighing 6.70 pounds and John had five weighing 6.53 pounds for third. Those were the only three limits caught.

Kwong Yu had four bass weighing 5.13 pounds for 4th place and Billy Roberts had four weighing 4.37 pounds for 5th. Alan Collum had one bass weighing 3.35 pounds and it was big fish for the tournament and also good for 6th place.

Our club had 18 members and guests brought in 40 bass weighing right at 52 pounds.

John and I stopped on a point I like to fish first thing and we landed two keepers each. Then we started fishing his spots and he beat me 9 to 7 for the day, but I was lucky enough to land largemouth which weigh more than the spots he was catching. We caught fish every place we stopped and they hit crankbaits, jig and pig, jerkbaits and Carolina rigged Zoom lizards.

There was a West Georgia Team Club trail the same place and time as our tournament and they had 54 teams. We came in after they did and saw most of their weigh-in. Most of those teams are local so I was surprised to see my individual weight would have placed 5th and John and I could have put our best five together and placed 3rd. It took five weighing 15 pounds to win that tournament.

I was really fired up heading to Oconee a few years ago on Sunday morning for the March Flint River Bass Club tournament. I had a good feeling about catching bass. It looked like it would be a beautiful day on the lake. It was, but the bass just did not cooperate with me.

I had talked with Al Bassett Saturday night and he told me he and his wife placed 13th in a Guys and Dolls tournament that day at Oconee with five bass weighing 12 pounds. Al told me it took five bass weighing 21 pounds to win their tournament before he had to hang up. I figured if they caught that many bass I could figure out something.

At the ramp my good feeling continued when fellow club member Tommy Reeves came over to my truck while I waited in line to launch. I was by myself and being along makes it harder to launch a boat. Tommy volunteered to back my boat in and help me, which made things much easier for me. It is great having thoughtful club members like Tommy around.

We started fishing at 7:30 and at 2:00 I had tried everything I could imagine over a big area of the lake and never got a bite. Finally at 2:00 I caught two 12 inch bass – non keepers at Oconee, but at least I got a bite. Then at 2:40, about 40 minutes before I had to stop fishing, I caught a 14.5 inch bass, a keeper!

Almost all members in the club had a tough day. Of the 23 fishermen, eight did not have a keeper. There were only 21 fish weighed in for a total weight of 57.51 pounds. Only four or five members had more than one bass.

Lee Handcock won with 9.34 pounds, Jack “Zero” Ridgeway was second with 6.89 pounds, Keith Brown placed third with 6.84 pounds and had a 4.62 pound bass for big fish, and Toney Roberts was 4th with 5.45 pounds.

My one little fish placed me 14th. To add insult to injury, I got a call from Al on the way home. A Berry’s Boat Dock tournament the same day at Oconee was won with a catch of five bass weighing 21 pounds. Second place went to Glen Rivers with four bass weighing 18 pounds.

I did an article in Georgia Outdoor News with Glen last year. He lives between Oconee and Sinclair and is an excellent fisherman on both lakes. He works part time for Suddeth Baits and his partner for the day was the Suddeth Baits owner’s son.

I called Glen when I got home and he told me he was fishing down a bank and passed a tree in the water. His partner threw a Suddeth crankbait into the tree and hooked a two pounder. Glen turned around, pitched his jig and pig into the tree and immediately hooked a five pounder.

As soon as the five pounder was in the livewell Glen pitched back into the same tree and landed a six pounder. Then he caught another five pounder out of the same tree. That one tree produced all those fish just after 11:00.

I wish I had found a tree like that!