Bassmaster Elite Series pro David Mullins caught a 21-05 stringer on Thursday to grab the early lead at the final Bassmaster Southern Open of 2016 at Douglas Lake in Tennessee.
“Trust me, I know exactly what it takes to win here,” said Mullins. “I’ve finished 2nd two times in a row.”
The 34-year-old Mullins lives in nearby Mount Carmel, Tenn. He was 2nd when Ott Defoe won the Northern Open with 62-05 in 2014 and Mullins was also runner-up to Patrick Bone, who won the Southern Open with 65-04 in 2013.
With Douglas being 3 feet below its normal pool level – a lake that’s only 35,000 acres when full – fished really small Thursday.
Adjusting to the unusually low mid-May lake level appears to be the key to success. Apparently, there are two ways to do that: have a long history of fishing Douglas Lake or have no history here.
Mullins is in the first category. Although he lives closer to Cherokee Lake, he considers Douglas his home lake because he grew up fishing it.
“I’ve got some spots to myself,” said Mullins. “It’s some stuff that’s a little bit out of the way, but fish haven’t been on it in 10 years. It must be the water level is right in some of those places. Some of the (traditionally) good places don’t have much water on them at all.”
Here's how the initial Top 12 stacks up:
1. David Mullins: 21-05
2. Kyle Glasgow Jr.: 19-10
3. Dustin Connell: 19-07
4. Josh Roark: 19-04
5. Brandon Card: 19-02
6. Mark Daniels Jr.: 18-15
7. Michael Murphy: 18-08
8. Joey Nania: 18-06
9. Ott DeFoe: 18-03
10. Derrick Snavely: 17-07
11. Sam George: 17-06
12. Scott Canterbury: 17-03
