Ben Weldon and other anglers fishing in the Alabama Bass Trail Tournament Series South Division Tournament on Lake Jordan are big fans of April showers.
“Jordan is best when there’s a lot of current,” said Weldon, of Wetumpka. “If we could get a good rain a few days before the tournament, so we have lots of current on Saturday, it would really bump-up the weights.”
The Lake Jordan tournament is April 19 out of Bonners Landing near Wetumpka.
Currents in the Coosa River lake are controlled by how much water is being released by Alabama Power Co. upstream at Mitchell Dam and from Jordan Dam.
Even without rain in the days leading up to the tournament, Weldon expects to see plenty of big largemouth and spotted bass coming across the scales.
“It’s going to be a good tournament. People are going to be able to catch fish spawning post-spawn and pre-spawn. No matter how they like to fish, they should be able to catch a good sack.”
With the lake being only 18 miles long with a surface area of 6,800 acres, Weldon said Alabama Bass Trail anglers should be prepared for fishing in crowded conditions.
“There’s always at least 3 or 4 tournaments on Jordan on Saturdays. If you have just a couple of spots you plan to fish, you could be in trouble,” he said. “The first spot you plan to fish could already have someone on it when you get there. So could your second spot and maybe even your third or fourth spots. If you are going to fish Jordan on a Saturday, you need to identify multiple areas in practice where you can catch fish.”
Weldon also recommends establishing patterns for both spotted and largemouth bass.
“I’ve seen tournaments won down here with all spots, with all largemouth or with a combination of the two. Sometimes the largemouth will bite best in practice on Friday, but then in the tournament on Saturday, you do better catching big spots,” Weldon said.
He expects anglers will need to catch at least 20 pounds to have a chance of winning.
“It’s probably going to fish about like what Neely Henry did, the weights could be a little better, depending on how much rain we get before the tournament and how much current we have on Saturday. I think the weights at the top could be really close again,” he said.
Georgia anglers Bradley Jones an Andy Kilgore won the Alabama Bass Trail North Division tournament on Neely Henry Lake April 5 with 21.58 pounds. The top three teams in the tournament were separated by 29/100th of a pound.
Weldon does not expect local anglers, like himself, to have distinct advantage in the Lake Jordan tournament. “Being local helps in knowing where things a located, but Jordan is the kind of lake where anybody who knows how to figure out a pattern can catch a bunch of big bass.”
Weldon and his partner, Shaye Baker, are sixth in South Division season standings.
The Alabama Bass Trail is a program of the
Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association.
©2024 Alabama Bass Trail | All Rights Reserved | Site by McComm
