Bassmaster pros to fish two lakes

For the first time, a Bassmaster Elite Series tournament will be held on different fisheries today through Sunday as 109 anglers compete at lakes Norfork and Bull Shoals.

The first and final rounds will take place on Norfork Lake. The second and third rounds will be held Friday and Saturday at Bull Shoals Lake.

Bassmaster Elite Series Tournament

WHERE Norfork and Bull Shoals lakes

WHEN Today through Sunday

MONEY $100,000 for the winner

FORMAT The first round (today) and final round (Sunday) will be at Norfork Lake. The second and third rounds will be at Bull Shoals Lake.

SCHEDULE Takeoffs today and Sunday will be at Lake Norfork Marina, and at Bull Shoals Lake Marina on Friday and Saturday. All takeoffs will be at 6:15 a.m. Weigh-ins will be at 4 p.m. daily at Arkansas State University – Mountain Home.

Luckily for the pros, the lakes aren't significantly different, said Rick Eastwold, co-owner of Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock and Marina.

"Norfork Lake and Bull Shoals Lake are extremely similar, except that Norfork is about half the size of Bull Shoals," Eastwold said. "With Norfork being smaller, it warms up a little quicker as a rule, but the fishing is usually about the same on both."

The pros will monitor temperature because bass at both lakes are in various stages of the spawn, as evidenced by results last week at the FLW tournament at Beaver Lake. Beaver is the uppermost of the four major reservoirs in the White River chain.

"The water temperature is running from about 55 degrees into the low 60s on Bull Shoals, depending on the day," Eastwold said. "The males are making beds, and people are catching a lot of small males. But the big females haven't moved up yet."

Weights for both lakes should be heavy. Eastwold said that a 260-boat tournament at Bulls Shoals on April 9 was won with five bass that topped 20 pounds.

Temperatures are expected to rise during the weekend, and rainy weather will begin clearing today.

Sight fishing was a minor factor for the FLW pros at Beaver Lake, but it could be more important in Bull Shoals and Norfork, where the water is clearer.

"Sight fishing is one of my strengths, and you have to play to your strengths," said Kelly Jordon, who finished third in the Elite Series tournament April 7-10 at South Carolina's Winyah Bay. "It makes you nervous to depend completely on sight fishing because so many things can go wrong."

Conditions for sight fishing appeared ideal at the last Elite Series at Bull Shoals in 2013, but a cold front moved through and shut down the bite.

Another thing that makes sight fishing so risky is that multiple pros often find the same bedding fish. In that situation, tournaments can become a race among anglers to the best bedding areas.

Jordon said the split format could alleviate pressure.

"If it's a sight fishing deal, some fish will be found and caught that first day, but then those areas will have time to replenish a little bit," Jordon said. "The people who qualify for that last day might just land on some new fish they weren't even expecting to find."

Today and Sunday, anglers will take off at 6:15 a.m. from Lake Norfork Marina. On Friday and Saturday, takeoffs will be at 6:15 a.m. at Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock.

Sports on 04/21/2016

Upcoming Events