Bigger Spots Could Be Scarce At Balmy Lanier

Georgia's Lake Lanier won't be at its very best this week when it hosts the Forrest Wood Cup. One thing's for sure, though – it'll kick out much bigger weights during FLW Outdoors' premier event than the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh did a year ago.

Lanier is renowned as perhaps the country's greatest spotted-bass fishery, and it's also home to some hefty largemouths. During the late spring and early summer, the fishing can be nothing short

of spectacular. But in the "dog days" of July and August, the spots congregate in specific places and spend most of their time in 20 feet of water or more, and the 3-plus-pounders that seemed to be everywhere just a couple of months earlier can become tough to track down and even harder to entice.

This is the type of event in which local knowledge can be a huge factor, and one qualifier among the 78-angler pro field possesses far more of that than anyone else. Tom Mann Jr. has 35 years worth of experience on the lake as a competitor and a guide, and he knows where many of the best brushpiles are because he planted them.

Tour rookie Jason Meninger and TBF All-American champion Troy Morrow are also Lanier stalwarts and former Cup champion Luke Clausen has been camping out in the area for more than a year now.

Before getting into more about the bite, here's the rundown on the fishery itself:

BassFan Lake Profile

> Lake Name: Lanier
> Type of Water: Highland reservoir
> Surface Acres (full pool): 39,000
> Primary structure/cover: Trees, brushpiles, dropoffs, submerged humps, rock outcroppings
> Primary forage: Blueback herring, threadfin shad
> Average depth: 60 feet
> Species: Spotted bass, largemouths
> Minimum length: 14 inches
> Reputation: A prolific spotted bass fishery, but gets a tremendous amount of pressure from regional anglers and other recreationists
> Weather: High temperatures ranging from the upper 80s to the mid 90s with high humidity and some scattered thunderstorms. Not a lot of wind.
> Water temperature: 90 degrees, give or take a degree or two in either direction depending upon location
> Water visibility/color: 8 to 10 feet/clear
> Water level: Full summer pool
> Fish in: 1 to 30 feet, with most 20 or below
> Fish phase: Summer
> Primary patterns: Dropshots, topwater, Fish Head Spins, football-head jigs, Carolina-rigs, big worms, crankbaits
> Winning weight: 52 pounds
> Cut weight (Top 30, 2 days): 22 pounds
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 2 for Lanier
> Biggest factors: Enough productive locales to last for 4 days
> Biggest decision: Where to start and when to move
> Wildcard: Largemouths up the river – they're big, but few in number

New Format

FLW's championship derby has had several different names and has been conducted under multiple formats during its 15-year history. This year's setup is vastly different from last year's, which featured a cut to the Top 10 and zeroed weights after day 2.

It'll be a cumulative-weight tournament this year (no zeroing) with two cuts (to the Top 30 after day 2, and then to the Top 6 for the final day). Nearly 40% of the field will get 3 days on the water, which might prevent one mediocre day from being lethal to an angler's chances.

However, it also means that the prime areas will see more pressure, which puts even more of a premium on alternative locales.

The State of the Fishery

To get some up-to-the-moment intel about what's going on at Lanier, BassFan turned to Ryan Coleman, a full-time guide on the lake for the past 12 years and winner of the 2006 Lanier Bassmaster Southern Open. He's on the water about 250 days a year, but refrained from booking clients this week to avoid any possibility of interfering with Cup competitors' preparation.

"Fishing's fairly tough and some guys are going to struggle," he said. "You can catch a big bag one day, but it's pretty tough to do it 4 days in a row.

"In August it can be hard to catch keepers (14 inches or better, no matter the species). The fishing's great in June and July, and then it's like somebody flips the switch off. It's because of the heat and all the pressure."

Most of the fish are oriented around brushpiles, but there are thousands of piles and a small percentage of them will combine to hold the vast majority of the quality fish. Most of those are in the southern portion of the lake, which harbors most of the baitfish and water that's slightly cooler than that found on the upper end.

Competitors had the option of getting the best help available from locals prior to the off-limits period, and many took advantage of that. Thus there are few hotspots that aren't known to at least a few in the field. That could give a big advantage to those with a low boat-draw number on a given day.

What Should Work?

Coleman said there are three patterns that will likely dominate – dropshotting, topwaters and Sworming Hornet Fish Head Spins. The latter is a bladed lure that's proven deadly on Lanier's spots since its introduction about 5 years ago.

The field is rife with superb dropshotters, including Clausen and the rest of the large contingent of qualifiers who earned their chops out west. The key to that tactic will be getting on the right brushpiles and, as always, having the patience to fish painstakingly slow in 30 feet of water.

The topwater bite isn't strictly an early-morning phenomenon.

"Baits like Zara Spooks will bring them up all day, even though it's not as good as it is in June or July," Coleman said. "The fish will be positioned on the piles and you can draw them up to the surface. Those bluebacks run shallow and the spots will come up and eat them."

The Fish Head Spin can be used to ply the middle portion of the water column. Outfitted with a trailer such as a Zoom Super Fluke Jr., it can be slow-rolled like a spinnerbait at depths of 15 to 20 feet.

"It always plays a big role in the summer here and it's a very good bait for big fish. With the water as hot as it is, some of the fish won't come all the way to the surface, but they will come up a little ways for that."

Again, a big key will be having a strong milk run of places because the fish don't school up in big numbers.

"You have to be able to catch one here, one there and one over here. You need a whole bunch of places and those areas aren't that easy to find. Guys like (Mann) and Meninger and even Clausen know enough places, but if you're from Tennessee or California, it's difficult to find enough places to win without a good backup pattern."

The Largemouth Factor

It's Coleman's belief that largemouths now comprise no more than 10% of the lake's total bass population, and the number is probably closer to 5%. That doesn't mean they won't be a factor in this event, though.

"If somebody could take 1 day out of the 4 and go up the lake and catch some largemouths and give their stuff on the other end a rest, that might work," he said.

"Sometimes guys find them in practice, and then they catch some of them in practice and then they're done. If I'm fishing a tournament here, the best thing I can hear before it starts is guys talking about catching largemouths. If they caught them in practice, it's a pretty good bet they won't be catching them in the tournament."

Field Notes

Following are practice notes from some of the anglers who'll be competing this week.

Ish Monroe
"I didn't have any expectations when I came here and I've had a couple of really good days when I felt I was really on something, and then I've had a couple of days that weren't so good. I've gotten some bites super-shallow and I've gotten some bites super-deep – of course, the shallow ones were largemouth and the deep ones were spotted bass.

"I don't think many of the guys will be fishing for the largemouths – this lake's so big and there's a ton of giant spots. I think the tournament will be won fishing for spots."

Clark Wendlandt
"I came here with the attitude that I was going to be a little different. I know the conventional thought here is you've got to catch spots in open water over brush or trees, but I decided I wasn't going to do that. I went in a different direction and I had a decent practice.

"I think I'm going to catch some fish – I'll just have to figure out how big they're going to be and all that. I feel like I've got some decent stuff going. It's going to be tough, but any tournament in August will be."

Glenn Browne
"I'm not getting a lot of bites during a day, but I'm getting some pretty good ones. If I can catch a limit I should have five pretty good fish – 12 to 18 pounds. The deal I'm running, you can strike out doing it, but if you catch them they should be the right ones.

"I'm throwing one bait that I think is a little different that the norm and it's drawing some better bites. I'm committed to the spots – I went up the rivers (for largemouths) and it was beautiful up there, but I couldn't get anything going."

Greg Pugh
"I fooled around with the largemouths a little bit and did fairly decent with them, but my main goal is going to be going after the spots. They're in some places that I've fished here in the past and I've found a few other places that have got some fish. I'm excited about it.

"I feel I can do well here – it's a lot like Smith Lake (in his home state of Alabama) and the fish are acting like they do on Smith. Being able to practice there really helped out for this lake."

Anthony Gagliardi
"My practice didn't go as anticipated and the conditions didn't do me any favors. We had the two overcast days, and I'd been down here before the cutoff practicing for hot, sunny days.

"My best shot to win will be to try to catch them the way I was planning to. I'll give that half a day and then go from there. That stuff may start working again, and if not I might have to change up and do something different."

Mike Wurm
"I'm not really sure what's going to happen. I've got a lot of places I'll run around to all day – I won't spend much time on any one of them. I'll be trying to get a bite or two per spot and just keep going around and around all day.

"I'm pretty sure I'll catch all spotted bass. I can't get anything lined up on the largemouths and I'm not sure there's enough of them to warrant event trying. I could get a big bag of spots if I get lucky one day."

Top 10 to Watch

With the above in mind and more, here are BassFan's recommendations for the Top 10 to watch in this event.

1. Tom Mann Jr. – He's salivated over this tournament ever since the location was announced 2 years ago, and his big opportunity is finally here. He maintains a calm demeanor no matter what the situation and is unlikely to be affected by any of the hometown-favorite pressure. He knows where to find the fish here under any condition, and he knows how to catch them.

2. Luke Clausen – He's an expert dropshotter and one of the best when conditions get tough. And with Cup and Bassmaster Classic titles on his mantel, there's no question about his status as a big-event performer.

3. Bryan Thrift – The newly crowned Angler of the Year (AOY) has established himself as one of the best in the game in just 4 short seasons, and he's also proven his mettle as a Cup competitor with two Top 10s in three appearances (his other finish was a 15th). He's also an excellent topwater angler.

4. Clark Wendlandt – He's fished this event 11 times and has six Top 10s. He's ended up no better than 43rd in his last two Cup appearances, so he's due for another single-digit showing. He's confident coming out of practice, so this could be his year.

5. Brent Ehrler – The Californian claimed a Cup title 4 years ago and this one is his kind of tournament. He has a great deal of experience with spotted bass and has many tricks to catch them under difficult circumstances. It'd be a big surprise if he isn't a factor.

6. Steve Kennedy – He fished both major tours this year and logged just one Top 10 – a 3rd at the Pickwick Elite Series in late April. He's a Georgia native, though, and no stranger to pulling fish from the depths. He's also an adept kicker-hunter after he's got a limit in the box.

7. Jay Yelas – This is the one major title in the sport that he doesn't possess, so you know he's hungry for it. He never panics under difficult conditions and will stick to a solid plan even if things don't materialize right away. His patience and versatility will bode well for him this week.

8. Cliff Pirch – He's making his first Cup appearance since '07, but comes in with some momentum after winning the always-grueling U.S. Open last month. A true topwater ace who's more than competent with a spinning rod.

9. Ron Shuffield – He's embraced finesse fishing over the last couple of years and has shown he's quite proficient at it. A victory in a championship event would be a nice milestone on his long career ledger.

10. Cody Meyer – This guy could legitimately be called the West Coast version of Bryan Thrift – he gets better all the time and seems to always figure out a way to get into contention. He ended up 3rd last year in Pittsburgh and there's no reason to think he can't excel again.

Notable

> BassFan Big Stick Jay Yelas got on to a couple of different patterns during practice, one of which he described as "unconventional" for this time of year. To read his practice report, click here.

Launch/Weigh-In Info

Daily takeoff ceremonies will be held from 6:30 to 7 a.m. each day at Laurel Park (3100 Old Cleveland Hwy., Gainesville, Ga.). Takeoffs will commence at 7.

Weigh-ins will get under way at 5 p.m. each day at The Arena at Gwinnett Center (6400 Sugarloaf Pkwy., Duluth, Ga.).

The FLW Outdoors Expo at the Gwinnett Convention Center will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Highlights include Ranger boat simulators, angler seminars, the opportunity to meet professional anglers, see and test the latest outdoor equipment and enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors. All activities are free and open to the public.

Weather Forecast

> Thurs., Aug. 5 - Isolated T-Storms - 96°/75°
- Wind: From the W/SW at 6 mph

> Fri., Aug. 6 - Isolated T-Storms - 91°/74°
- Wind: From the NW at 7 mph

> Sat., Aug. 7 - Isolated T-Storms - 90°/74°
- Wind: From the N at 3 mph

> Sun., Aug. 8 – Partly Cloudy - 91°/74°
- Wind: From the E at 4 mph

Pro Qualifiers

Here's an alphabetical list of the 78 anglers in the pro field:

Todd L. Auten
Chris Baumgardner
Greg Bohannan
Terry Bolton
Glenn Browne
Jason Christie
Luke Clausen
George E. Cochran
Keith Combs
Jason Cordiale
Rick Correa
Brandon Coulter
Ott Defoe
John G. Devere
David P. Dudley
Brent Ehrler
Mike Folkestad
David Fritts
Shinichi Fukae
Anthony Gagliardi
Jake Gipson
Chad Grigsby
Kevin Hawk
Brett Hite
Ronald Hobbs, Jr.
Chad Hulbert
Jay Keith
Steve Kennedy
Jt Kenney
Justin Kerr
Tim Klinger
Thanh Le
Robert Lee
Dave Lefebre
Justin Lucas
Kyle Mabrey
Tom Mann Jr
Scott R. Martin
Randy McAbee Jr
Jason P. Meninger
Cody Meyer
Sean Minderman
Ishama Monroe
Keith Monson
Tom Monsoor
Andy Montgomery
Andy Morgan
Troy Morrow
Jim Moynagh
Jonathan Newton
Larry Nixon
Keith Pace
Clifford Pirch
Jacob Powroznik
Greg Pugh
Jason Reyes
Mike Reynolds
Robert Robinson
Mark Rose
Rusty Salewske
Ray Scheide
Dick Shaffer
Ron D. Shuffield
Cameron Smith
Wesley Strader
Jon Strelic
Scott Suggs
Randall Tharp
Zack Thompson
Bryan Thrift
Brian Travis
Vic Vatalaro
David Walker
Clark Wendlandt
Ken Wick
Mike Wurm
Jay Yelas
Chris Zaldain