LUCAS, Ky. — Competitors took off on time for Day 2 of the Southern Divisional presented by Yamaha and Skeeter on flooded Barren River Lake.
Skies were mostly clear this time around, with just a hint of fog lingering in the backs of coves. With a high temperature expected of 76 degrees, light winds, and stable water, anglers anticipated this would be the best of the tournament’s three days.
More rain — and more rising water — is predicted for Friday.
“I’m going to put my bait in as many places as I can and hope that they bite,” said Tennessee’s Mark Pierce, the first-day leader with 19-3.
Pierce was one of only four anglers to manage a limit on Day One, as water kept rising until about mid day. In fact, it raised so much in the morning, that B.A.S.S., with assistance from the Corps of Engineers, had to hastily move the weigh-in site to higher ground.
But it had stabilized by the 2 p.m. weigh-in at Barren River Lake State Park Resort, and Anthony Roy, Kentucky B.A.S.S. Federation Nation president, was optimistic that anglers would bring in more limits today.
“With stable water and these warm temperatures, the bite will be better,” he said. “With the full moon later this week (Saturday), those (pre-spawn) fish are going to move up as quickly as they can.”
Before Monday and early Tuesday’s rains, anglers found lots of fish in the brush, eager to bite jigs. “They were in the backs of coves,” said Eddie Plemons, Alabama B.A.S.S. Federation Nation president, who added that at least one of those bass weighed nearly 8 pounds.
Roy added that this 10,000-acre impoundment has yielded quite a few fish that size in recent years. “In the summer, if you don’t have 17 or 18 pounds, you won’t get a check,” he said.
“And the last five or six years, we’ve had some really good spawns. A lot of that is due to how well the Corps has handled the water level during the spawn.”
As the managing agency, the Corps was forced to hold water in Barren River Lake on Wednesday because of downstream flooding in the Green River. As a result, the water rose 3.7 feet before it stabilized for the competition today.
Unfortunately, that stability likely will be short-lived. “The rain could come in late Thursday night and we could get a rise of another 2 to 3 feet,” said the Corps’ Kevin Salvilla.
