Stingy lake mean every bite counts
By Brian Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE
Twelve anglers took part in six head-to-head matchups during Wednesday’s semifinal round of the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster Classic Bracket on Carters Lake.
The lake was stingy — and that’s putting it mildly.
After a bright full moon that likely caused the bass to feed heavily throughout the previous night, Arkansas angler Fred Roumbanis turned in the biggest weight of the morning session, landing five bass that totaled a modest 6 pounds, 13 ounces.
That was more than enough to give the top-seeded Roumbanis the lead in his bracket-style matchup with 12th-seeded Scott Rook who zeroed for the morning. The seeding order was determined Tuesday during a one-day fish-off.
“With this full moon, the fish are feeding all night long and that makes them really finicky,” Roumbanis said. “Using Garmin LiveScope, I can see the bass down there and I can see exactly what they’re doing. But you still have to trick a fish that’s full into biting.”
The morning session featured six anglers in three head-to-head matchups that lasted from 8-11 a.m. ET. Roumbanis started early with a 13-ounce keeper and then finished his limit with a 1-11 spotted bass at 10:43 a.m.
“I’m just following big schools of bait in about 20 feet of water and catching suspended bass,” Roumbanis said. “It’s not easy to force a bite.”
Rook, who has already announced his intentions to retire after this season, focused primarily on topwater fishing and failed to put a keeper in the boat.
