By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor
It’s been years, decades even, since Mike McClelland has had a chance to explore Table Rock Lake in the spring. Brandon Card was a teenager the last time he got to fish a couple of his favorite lakes in east Tennessee this time of year. Over the past few weeks, Cliff Crochet has discovered backwaters near his Louisiana home that he didn’t know existed.
The hiatus in the tournament schedules of the Bass Pro Tour, Bassmaster Elite Series and all levels of FLW competition brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has given many pro anglers the chance to not only organize their tackle and catch up on chores around the house, it’s allowed them to also stay in fishing shape by visiting lakes near their homes at a time of year when they’re typically elsewhere in the country.
With no official restart dates for tournaments on the horizon, pro anglers are doing what they can to stay in fishing shape.
BassFan caught up with several pros from the various circuits to inquire how they’re using their down time to prepare for when the season may resume.
Crochet Taking Fun Approach
Crochet hasn’t been so much focused on keeping his tournament skills sharp as he has been on just having fun on the water. Whether that’s checking jug lines for catfish with his two oldest sons – Ben and Lee – that they helped set up or exploring areas on the Atchafalaya Basin that he previously didn’t knew existed, the break has had a silver lining.
“This virus is historic and unfortunate, but the positive side is the down time has been a blessing, so I’m trying to take full advantage of it. In a sense, I’m staying sharp and trying to get better,” he said. “I’m going fishing for fun. One of the cool things about having nowhere to go is I have unlimited time and I have been able to fish things I’ve always wanted to fish but never had the chance. There’s always somewhere to go or something to do.
“I have found another place or two I’ve never been in before and I found a few extra places that I didn’t know existed and caught fish in there. It’s been fun to enjoy being on the water this time of year.”
Brandon Card has enjoyed reconnecting with lakes he fished when he was younger and building his knowledge base at Fort Loudon-Tellico.
He’s also taken advantage of being able to spend time with his newborn twin sons. Crochet’s wife, Sara, gave birth on Feb. 27 to Les and Jay. They were born about 12 weeks premature and the boys will likely remain in the hospital until early May, Crochet said. When the severity of the virus became more evident, Crochet said he and Sara made the decision to not visit the hospital out of caution. After three weeks passed, they resumed visits and Les and Jay are doing well with both putting on more than two pounds apiece.
“Sara went last week for the first time in 17 days,” Crochet said. “I went Monday for first time in over three weeks. As tough as that was, in my opinion it was the right decision.”
Crochet said getting Ben, 4, and Lee, 2, out on the water has been a thrill, as well. During the hiatus, Ben has learned how to drive the family golf cart and he recently jumped off a boat into the bayou for the first time.
“That’s a big moment for a 4-year-old,” Crochet said.
Crochet has gotten a kick out of teaching the boys about jug fishing, too.
“Fishing is fun, but it’s hard for kids that age,” he said. “We set out some jugs to show them something different. Ben was the jug catcher and Lee was the baiter so he helped cut up the worms. If the tournaments were going on, I wouldn’t have gotten to do those things. I know people are going through some tough times, but for me the shelter in place has been a blessing for me and my family.”
Learning Process
Card has fished professionally for nine years and the typically busy spring tournament schedule has kept him off his home lakes during this time of year. The break has allowed him to reconnect and re-learn some of them.
“I had kind of lost touch with these lakes in the spring,” he said.
Card grew up fishing Cherokee Lake and Norris Lake, both of which have seen an influx of alewives to their baitfish populations.
“That really changes a lot,” Card said. “Back when I was in high school or college, we had none of that. It’s been nice to get back out there and figure them out a second time.”
With many of the springtime tournaments scattered across the south and southeast around the time bass are spawning, Card said it’s been refreshing to legitimately fish for pre-spawn bass in his backyard for once.
“I love fishing offshore and it’s something I’ve had success doing over the years, but it’s usually been a post-spawn through the fall sort of deal,” he said. “This beak has allowed me to learn more about the offshore pre-spawn deal. There’s still a lot to learn, but I picked up a lot and have a better handle on it now. It’ll be something to put in the arsenal.”
Card recently moved to the area around Knoxville, Tenn., so he’s been putting in time at Fort Loudon and Tellico lakes on the Tennessee River. His reason is twofold: He wants to expand his general knowledge base of the fishery and he’s playing a hunch that the Bassmaster Classic might return in a couple years and he’s trying to gain an understanding of how the fish behave through the month of March, which is likely when the Classic would take place.
“I’m only five or 10 minutes from the ramp and I know with the Classic being a huge success here, it’s more than likely going to be back here in the future,” Card said. “So I was really trying to put the time in in March. Being April now, they’re doing the spawning stuff, but when it was pre-spawn in March I hit it hard and tried to learn it more.”
Hello, Old Friend
McClelland has fished Table Rock nearly his entire life, but he’s never been able to devote meaningful time in the spring to plying its waters. The last several weeks have been invigorating for the Bass Pro Tour competitor.
“Typically, this time of year, we’d be traveling somewhere in the South,” he said. “I’ve been on the lake all but five or 10 of the days of however long we’ve been off for.”
Whether it’s for an hour or half a day, he learns something new each time he goes out.
“It’s been cool to follow the movement of the fish from pre-spawn to staging to the spawn,” he said. “It’s amazing how quick they go through that process. It happens quicker than I imagined.”
He said the fish were ganged up on main-lake and secondary points with water temperatures in the mid to upper 50s roughly 10 days ago. After a string of warm days coupled with the super moon in early April, suddenly that pattern faded away.
“I slid into a pocket and saw 40 to 60 fish just sunning themselves or making a bed,” he said. “They were 300 or 400 yards from where I’d been catching them. Now, we’ve got a burst of cold weather so I’m anxious to see if it’s backed them off.”
McClelland, who sits 37th in Bass Pro Tour points after three events, says he hopes all the fishing he’s doing now will pay off once the season resumes.
“It’s definitely a positive for me after the year I had in (2019),” he said. “I started well this year and slipped a little at Lake Fork, but this hiatus will give me that ability to be thoroughly prepared for when we get back on the water.
“I’m not saying others aren’t fishing as much as I am or taking full advantage of it, but I feel I might be better prepared than some for when we do resume the season.”
No Slowing Down
Dylan Hays has taken full advantage of the unplanned break in the tournament season. He recently moved to Hot Springs, Ark., and has been guiding at Lake Ouachita and Lake Hamilton.
Arkansas was one of seven states without a formal stay-at-home order issued by its governor. Hays said his guide business has been steady in the wake of the pandemic – one client caught a 9-pounder at Ouachita last week – but he and his clients have made sure to follow the recommendations of public health officials.
Like other pros, he’s enjoyed getting to tackle these lakes during a time of year when he’s usually on the road on the FLW Pro Circuit.
“I’ve fished Ouachita and Hamilton in the spring before, but I’ve never gotten to spend several days in a row on them like now,” he said. “It’s like I’m practicing for a tournament. I’d usually just fish them one day or fish it for a weekend if we had a team tournament there and then not again until the summer or fall.
“It’s fun being on the same body of water every day and seeing how it changes every day and apply some things I’ve learned. I try to treat it like a new lake.”
As much as he’s enjoyed the time at home, he’s anxious for the season to resume.
“I’m missing the competition – that’s my favorite part of it,” he said. “Because if I’m not teaching somebody on a trip or in a tournament, I don’t go fishing. I’ll very rarely go by myself.”
