NEWS

2014 Lay Lake Tournament Feature Story

Anglers expecting big bags at Lay Lake

Wayne Miller and teammate Rick Haynie know they will have to swing for the fences at Lay Lake if they want to hold onto their anglers of the year points lead. Miller said with the caliber of anglers fishing the Alabama Bass Trail South Division he and Haynie can not afford to be conservative in hopes of the points race. Miller and Haynie have a five-point lead over Jeston Anderson and Robbie Robinson heading into the June 7 tournament out of Paradise Point Marina in Columbiana, “Just because it the last tournament and we’re leading the points doesn’t mean we’re going to change the way we fish,” Miller said. “Our intent in every tournament is to win that is going to be our intent in this tournament.” Miller said if he and Haynie go out and just try to catch a limit, not only will probably fail to win a check for the tournament, they will lose the anglers of the year race. “The level of competition in these tournaments is amazing,” Miller said. “You have to go all out and fish as hard as you can all day if you want to even have a chance at getting a decent finish.” Miller said he and Haynie will fish hard from their first cast until their last cast on Lay Lake. Anderson said he and Robinson will also be giving it their all. “We definitely want to win, because its always special to win,” Anderson said. “We would also love to be anglers of the year. But we’re not going to be worrying about the trophies or the money while we’re fishing. We’re just going to be trying to catch the biggest five we possibly can.” Anderson likes the opportunities Lay Lake offers for catching big largemouth or big spotted bass. “It could be won on all largemouth, all spots or a combination of both,” Anderson said. “We’re going to be ready to go after both and let the water conditions on the day of the tournament determine which we focus on.” Anderson said if Alabama Power Co. is releasing water from Lay Dam, it will create a strong current, which can cause spotted bass to feed more aggressively. If no water being released, he said largemouth bass will probably be the preferred species to target. Miller said being able to target two species of bass will likely produce some huge catches. “We will be able to go after largeheads or spots, depending on the conditions,” Miller said. “There might be some largeheads still up shallow in the grass and both spots and largeheads out on the ledges. The lake is going to lend itself to a variety of fishing styles. I think we will see several 20 plus pounds bags being weighed-in. It’s going to be a great tournament.”