Evansville Bassmasters

Lake Beshear - (Redding)

23 March 0700 - 1600

I checked my alarm as I turned off the light Friday night and it was set for 3:20am. My boat and fishing gear were all prepared to leave on the 75 mile journey from Evansville to Lake Beshear on Saturday morning. The forecast for Saturday was much improved over most of the days the previous two weeks and the snowy days since that time. The anticipation for this tournament caused me to toss and turn until I finally got up at 3:00am and left for the lake. Evansville Bassmasters had fished the lake the same time in March last year but this winter has been colder than last year and I knew the fishing patterns would not be the same. My preplanning was not as thorough as it should have been, even though I had experienced limited success last year at Lake Beshear I always look forward to this tournament.

During the drive down to the Lake I thought about where I would fish and the specific lures I would use. My lure choices in this type of weather are plastic worms, jigs, flat sided crankbaits, or spinnerbaits. My comfort zone and experience caused me to primarily fish jigs and soft plastics but earlier reports from Beshear indicated very nice fish were being caught with chatterbaits (black & blue) and Charmer Baits Timber Pups (green pumpkin). With the water temperature 45 – 47 degrees, I knew the fish would not be in large numbers in the creeks or in shallower water. The bite would be sporadic at best and I wished I had done better planning before the start of the tournament.

Several members had a better plan to fish the conditions of the lake than I had. Fish in these conditions often stage themselves close to deep water or over structure such as points, ledges, roadbeds, or trees. I was hoping to find them holding close to the base of stumps/laydowns or at the base of rocky bluffs that faced the afternoon sun, but that plan for me only produced one strike and no fish after fishing for over seven hours. At 2:00pm I picked up a spinnerbait and caught my first fish within 5 minutes and caught my second 45 minutes later.

I shared the same water with the top 2 finishers and actually a similar plan but they adapted to the conditions better than I did. What I mean by that is I stuck with the old colors (black & blue jig) that I have done well with in the past. Just goes to show you to fish the conditions and don’t try to force feed them.

Conditions

Water Temp: Cold, 46.8 to 50 degrees

Clarity: Light/medium stain

Lake Level: Normal to slightly elevated

Weather: Cloudy early/Sunny later

Air Temp: 39 in morning, 57 at weigh-in

Winds: Moderate (Approx 6 to 14 mph...gusts to 18)

Weather Pattern: Very Cold the three days prior to the tournament

Moon Phase: 3 days prior to the full Moon

Results

First Place: Charlie Hardin – 15.82lbs (4 fish) – Charlie caught his fish by focusing on wood lined points and banks at depths between 6 and 8 feet. The productive bait for Charlie was a Slongs finesse jig (green pumpkin w/orange) with a Timber pup trailer (Green pumpkin/Chartreuse tail). He also took Big Bass honors with a Largemouth weighing in at 5.66lbs.

Second Place: Andy Esparza – 10.68lbs (4 fish) - Andy worked his black and blue worm slow. He focused on tree lined banks and pockets with water depth from 2 to 5 feet close to the bank.

Third Place: Dave Beckwith - 7.88lbs (3 fish) - Dave found his fish on rip rap banks. His key bait was his trusty white bandit.

Fourth Place: George Strouse - 5.40lbs (2 fish) - George fished main lake banks and points to catch his fish. The bait that was instrumental in his catch was the Green pumpkin jig.

Fifth Place: Mark Lowe - 4.88lbs (2 fish) - Mark caught his keeper fish on spinnerbait and crankbait.

Big Bass: Charlie Hardin caught the biggest fish of the day 5.66lbs.

Full Results: Click Here

Other Notes: Steve Hopkins and Scott Esparza fished with as guests.

Next Tournament: April 20th on the Ohio River (Rocky Point) don't forget the launch fee. Hope to see all of our club members at the tournament, we need to get as much information as possible for our club members fishing the Top 8. We will be holding our next meeting at the Deerhead Tavern on Monday April 15th starting at 7pm. Please feel free to stop by and check us out and/or join the club. We are actively seeking new members, and would welcome anyone who wants to join.