Tournament Series Feature Story
2018 Alabama Bass Trail Weiss Lake Preview
with Brian Shook and Randy Tolbert
by Dan O’Sullivan
May 10, 2018 – Decatur, Ala. – Saturday marks the third event for the Alabama Bass Trail Northern Division 2018 season at Weiss Lake. With this event in Leesburg marking the mid-point of the season, Weiss Lake becomes a pivotal focus for the regular season’s points race.
The event should be an interesting one, with the area having received significant rainfalls over the past month, a large field and bass in both the spawn and post-spawn phases. With the water temperature rising quickly over the past two weeks from the low 60’s to the low 80’s, things might be a little confusing.
According to the local team of Brian Shook and Randy Tolbert, there are a lot of possibilities for the field. “Weiss Lake is essentially full, at only three inches low, and that will open up a lot of different things as possibilities for Saturday,” they reported. “There should be plenty of water for people to spread out, but getting an early boat draw will be helpful.”
The reason they speak of the early morning is because there is a shad spawn that is happening prior to the full sun up conditions, but that is not the only thing they expect to work. “Swim jigs and top-water should play early,” they reported. “After the morning bite, big worms and football jigs should play a role as the day progresses.”
While it is a Coosa River fishery, which is usually highlighted by spotted bass, the pair said it might take more than just spotted bass to be effective. “It’s probably going to take in the low 20’s to win, and 14 pounds or so to get a check,” they said. “The winner is likely going to have a mixed bag, with at least one or two good largemouth to anchor their limit.
“The conditions will have the effect of leveling the playing field because things have happened so quickly,” they said. “Any local advantage is going to be minimized because the way the bite is, people can find something they hadn’t found during practice; it’s going to be an interesting event.”
The third event of the 2018 Alabama Bass Trail Northern Division season at Weiss Lake happens May 12 out of Leesburg, Ala. The mandatory pre-tournament registration and angler information meeting happens on Friday May 11 at the Cherokee – Gadsden State Center located at 801 Cedar Bluff Road, in Centre, AL, with registration happening from 5:00 P.M. – 6:30 P.M. and the pre-tournament meeting beginning at 6:30 P.M. Takeoff and weigh-in occur at the Leesburg Landing 100 Riverside Drive, Leesburg, AL.
The sponsors of the 2018 Alabama Bass Trail include; Phoenix Bass Boats, Bill Penney Toyota, Garmin, Academy Sports & Outdoors, America’s First Federal Credit Union, Wind Creek Hospitality – Wetumpka, Wind Creek Hospitality – Montgomery, Alabama Tourism Department, T-H Marine Supplies, Wedowee Marine, Buffalo Rock, Jack’s, Fish Neely Henry Lake.com, Alabama Power Company, Trapper Tackle, Lew’s Fishing, AFTCO, YETI, and E3 Apparel.
For information about Alabama Bass Trail and for complete tournament standings visit www.alabamabasstrail.org
