It's Tennessee. It's summer. And the fishing's downright tough.
All the Knoxville-area lakes turn tough as the dog days set in. Night tournaments dominate the local scene during the months of July and August, because that's when the bass feed, and it's a heck of a lot more comfortable.
The field at today's Cherokee PAA Series didn't have such luxury. They spent the day like so many hotdogs slowly turning on a tortuous roller-grill. Daytime highs neared 100, there wasn't a wisp of wind, and a little more than 10 pounds was good enough for 10th place.
There were some fairly stout bags though. Oklahoma's Bradley Hillman and Florida's Bobby Lane both caught 15 1/2 pounds. Lane would have been the leader if not for a fish-care penalty.
In 3rd with 14.12 pounds is Texas veteran Harold Allen.
The 4th-place spot currently belongs to Tennessean David Walker, who weighed 12.88, and he's followed by big-stick aficionado Tommy Biffle, who weighed 12.34.
Here's a look at the current Top 10.
1. Bradley Hallman -- Norman, Okla. -- 5, 15.57
1. Bobby Lane -- Lakeland, Fla. -- 5, 15.57
2. Harold Allen -- Shelbyville, Texas -- 5, 14.12
3. David Walker -- Sevierville, Tenn. -- 5, 12.88
4. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, Okla. -- 4, 12.34
5. Luke Clausen -- Atlanta, 5 -- 11.86
6. John Crews -- Salem, Va. -- 5, 11.15
7. David Hendrick -- Cherryville, N.C. -- 5, 11.11
8. Edwin Evers -- Talala, Okla. -- 5, 11.04
9. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, Tenn. -- 5, 10.93
10. Pete Ponds -- Madison, Miss. -- 5, 10.25
Of the current Top 10, Hendrick's the only one who doesn't fish at the tour level. In fact, many of the pros noted the strength of the field, which includes many of the top anglers from both the Bassmaster Elite Series and FLW Tour.
The full field fishes tomorrow. The field then cuts to the Top 30 for the final day (Saturday).
Hallman 'Stoked'
Hallman, a 5th-year Elite Series pro, didn't have a great tour season and could certainly use a big finish this week. His 15 1/2 pounds is a great start.
"I'm stoked about it – it was a good day no doubt," he said. "It's tough to get five keeper bites on this place and nothing's changed. But the fish here are of a good size, so when you get bit it's a good one. The problem is catching five."
Cherokee has three separate minimum-lengths – 18 inches for smallmouths, 15 inches for largemouths and 12 inches for spots. He weighed five largemouths and his biggest was 3 3/4. It was a grind though.
"It's work. I only caught six keepers today, and there were a couple more I didn't get in the boat. It was just an all-day grind, but I caught a couple early that really helped. There's a topwater bite in the morning and I'm hoping tomorrow I can get maybe three of them. The fish here are feeding at night and those topwater fish are more aggressive. But I'm just getting the leftovers in the morning."
Bobby Lane's beating the bank and throwing at anything that should hold a bass.
He noted he's "swinging the big stick" up shallow.
"This is great for me," he added, in reference to his co-lead. "I'm excited. I've been playing at this league for 5 years, and this is as stout a field as it gets. Skeet's not here. Kevin's not here. But pretty much if you play the game, you're here and this field is as strong as it gets. I think it's one of the strongest fields ever assembled and I'm proud to be a part of it."
Lane Shallow Too
Lane's approach is to gun around and pitch to anything that might hold a bass. While Hallman noted that he saw moving water today, Lane didn't notice any – or at least he couldn't tell if "any bushes were moving."
"They did seem to bite better today though," Lane said. "It could have been the 4th of July weekend that made practice so slow. All that boat traffic Sunday and Monday, and anglers pounding the bank and offshore for 3 days. The lake calmed down all day yesterday and the night before. The fish just got a break and maybe that helped.
"I'm absolutely surprised at what I caught," he added. "I thought the best I could do was 12 to 13 pounds if I caught five. I never caught a limit in practice, but I never fished that hard either."
He noted too that he's "just beating the banks like everybody else." He caught six keepers and lost three.
"Hopefully I'll learn a little more as the tournament goes on. I'm definitely in the hunt to win, but it's miserably tough.
"You can scroll through your GPS, say 'This place looks good,' fish it for an hour and not get a bite, then move on to the next deal and it's the same thing. So when you find some stuff that you know a bass should live on – anything from a bush to a dock to a tree – I'm putting my bait around it."
3rd: Allen Proud
Allen, a 33-year veteran with 27 BASS Top 10s and 14 Bassmaster Classic appearances to his credit, sits about a pound and a half behind the leaders.
"I'm very proud of it," he said of his standing, and noted that "the whole lake's real, real tough." Some of the pros have a lot of history on the lake, and they can go to that. Others like himself can't match that experience, but for him, "it just worked out."
Harold Allen says he had to change his gameplan a little, then got on something around mid-morning.
"We had to change the gameplan a little," he said. "I started off doing some of what I thought was right. That idea went south and I had to make some moves. I got on something mid-morning. Hopefully we can take it and run."
He started this week with thoughts to fish deep, he added, but the deep bite's "iffy." It's working in "a place or two" but not over the whole lake.
"Anybody who can repeat their weight each day – that's going to be the key to winning this thing. And the big fish will be real, real critical."
4th: Walker Grinding
Walker, from Sevierville, has 15-plus years of experience on Cherokee, but based on his practice, he felt he could catch 8 to 9 pounds today. So to catch nearly 13 was a big surprise.
He described the fishing as "really bad" and reiterated the observation that Cherokee fish feed at night during summer. "I can remember fishing those night events, and when you'd see the sun just starting to crack the horizon, you might as well head for the truck," he said. "The morning fish we're catching are just stragglers.
"It's definitely a grind," he added. "I caught quite a few fish today – more than I thought I would – but still, you just have to keep your head down and keep fishing. It took me longer to get ready for this tournament than any other can I remember, because I had so many rods to rig up. I've got tackle boxes stuffed in the back of the boat. I never bring that much stuff. But it's just been impossible for me to pinpoint anything and I'm fishing a lot of different stuff."
He actually fished a somewhat small area today, even though he knows the lake from end to end. "I have a lot of stuff to go to if I don't catch any there tomorrow," he noted.
5th: Clausen 'One and Done'
Luke Clausen weighed 11.86 today, but has no type of pattern going whatsoever. He weighed all largemouths and was frustrated by the hunt-and-peck fishing.
"I've fished from down by the dam to the second bridge up the river," he said. "I'm just running around and fishing stuff that looks good, and catching fish here and there. When you catch one you're done – you have to move on.
"I'm glad to catch what I caught," he added. "I only had seven keepers today, and I jumped one that'll probably hurt me a little bit. I'm definitely not sure if I can catch that tomorrow. I may catch nothing. And I caught those seven keepers on five different baits. So it's a lot of junk-fishing. I caught them shallow mostly, but I caught a couple deep. It's a little bit of everything really."
Notable
> Lane noted that he appreciates what his peers gave up to fish this week. "There's a lot of great fishermen in this thing and the PAA is definitely trying. We have mountains to climb and a tough industry to do it in, but we're doing the best with what we've got. It shows a lot of dedication for anglers with families to be without them on the 4th of July. But hopefully we can all look back at this and say, 'I'm glad we did it, because now, look where are.'"
> Walker isn't sure if he's going to fish the rest of the PAA season. Funding is a concern, and he's not terribly excited about the venues. But he might fish them if he can post a strong enough finish this week.
> Andy Morgan, a Tennessee pro, typically excels in junk-fishing tournaments. His 10.93 today put him in 9th. "It's a little better than I thought I would do. It really is. I knew it would be pretty bad when I saw it on the schedule, but it actually turned out to be a little better than I thought today. But July in these mountain lakes – it's just tough."
> Dave Lefebre's 15th with 9.62. Notable about his day was he weighed two smallmouths, and lost several others. He thinks smallmouths can win this week, and he's got another deep spot where he can catch a pretty easy limit of spots. "No doubt it can be won with smallmouths, from what I've seen. And I don't even really know what I'm doing. They're out there suspended over real deep water."
> Ott Defoe, a local, struggled and weighed just two for 3 1/2 pounds. "I never could get it going – I guess that was the deal with me. The water was backing up this morning in my primary area – it was kind of a backwater deal – and it was the opposite of what I wanted. It was scattering the fish."
Day 1 Standings (Unofficial)
Due to technical difficulties, the PAA did not release official day-1 standings. Below are the Top 30, based on unofficial day-1 standings.
1. Bradley Hallman -- Norman, Okla. -- 5, 15.57 pounds
1. Bobby Lane -- Lakeland, Fla. -- 5, 15.57
2. Harold Allen -- Shelbyville, Texas -- 5, 14.12
3. David Walker -- Sevierville, Tenn. -- 5, 12.88
4. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, Okla. -- 4, 12.34
5. Luke Clausen -- Atlanta, Ga. -- 5, 11.86
6. John Crews -- Salem, Va., 5, 11.15
7. David Hendrick -- Cherryville, N.C. -- 5, 11.11
8. Edwin Evers -- Talala, Okla. -- 5, 11.04
9. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, Tenn. -- 5, 10.93
10. Pete Ponds -- Madison, Miss. -- 5, 10.25
11. Randy Howell -- Springville, Ala. -- 5, 10.02
12. Todd Auten -- Lake Wylie, S.C. -- 5, 9.90
13. Mark Menendez -- Paducah, Ky. -- 5, 9.79
14. Stephen Browning -- Hot Springs, Ark. -- 5, 9.68
15. Dave Lefebre -- Union City, Pa., 5, 9.62
16. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, Okla., 3, 9.43
17. Zell Rowland -- Austin, Texas, 5, 9.21
18. Brian Holt -- Newport, Tenn., 4, 8.88
19. Charles Bebber -- Willis, Texas, 4, 8.83
20. Randall Tharp -- Gardendale, Ala. -- 3, 8.74
21. Harley Brigman -- Bryant, Texas -- 4, 8.56
22. Mike McClelland -- Bella Vista, Ark. -- 5, 8.16
23. Jason Reyes -- Hoffman, Texas -- 3, 8.08
24. Bryan Thrift -- Shelby, N.C. -- 5, 7.95
25. Aaron Martens -- Leeds, Ala. -- 5, 7.88
26. Todd Faircloth -- Jasper, Texas -- 5, 7.75
27. Rob Digh -- Denver, N.C. -- 4, 7.57
28. Jason Quinn -- Lake Wylie, S.C. -- 4, 7.35
29. Fred Roumbanis -- Bixby, Okla. -- 4, 7.15
30. Chris Baumgardner -- Gastonia, N.C. -- 3, 7.07
