The 2011 PAA Tournament Series gets under way Thursday at Georgia's Lake Lanier, where the weather and the bite can both be described as gloomy.
"Normally this is the best time to fish here – it's usually fantastic," said FLW Tour pro Tom Mann Jr., whose name is nearly synonymous with Lanier. "I don't have a good answer for it, but it's a really tough bite right now. At the southern end, which is the deeper, clearer end where I live and do most of my fishing, it's almost non-existent. It's a real struggle for me right now to get five bites and catch a limit.
"It's been raining and storming night and day and there's been no sun this week, and I'm sure that's a big part of it. The water up the (Chattahoochee) River is stained and in the mid- to high-60s, so I think some guys will catch them up there. I'm going to stay down and hope for the best – any day now it could get pretty good, but without the sun, I don't look for it to improve a whole lot (during the tournament).
Anglers will launch at 7 a.m. EST each day from Sunset Cove at Lake Lanier Islands Resort. Weigh-ins on Thursday and Friday will also be held there beginning at 3 p.m.
The 79-angler field will be cut to the Top 20 for Saturday, and the final-day weigh-in will take place at the Bass Pro Shops in Lawrenceville starting at 4:30.
