The Greenville University Fishing Team had an exciting week during the week of April 8th-12th. During that time, they fished at Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky. Greenville University sent two boats to this tournament which was run by FLW. One of the boats included Cordell Beckmann and Chris Brooks and the other held Ricky Huge and Quinten Brown. During this one-day event, Huge and Brown weighed in a 5-fish limit of bass that weighed a total weight of 10 pounds and 2 ounces for a finish of 34th place out of 108 boats. Beckmann and Brooks weighed in 3 fish for a total weight of 9 pounds to finish in a tie for 39th place.
Media by Shane Campbell
Here is an interview with Cordell Beckmann about how he and Brooks caught fish during this tournament.
Q: What did you find in practice that helped you find fish for the tournament?
A: My practice for the tournament started by researching information on the lake a good week or two before we actually have the tournament. At least for lakes that I have never been on before, such as Lake Cumberland. So when the first practice day finally arrived, Chris and I looked and fished in an area around Mid lake that held many creeks and arms off the main lake that offered good pre-spawning areas to fish. The first day resulted in a lot of fish, but not the quality I was looking for. Day two, we moved about 5-10 miles closer to the boat ramp looking in similar areas as day one. What stood out on day two was this small creek arm that seemed to hold more small mouth bass compared to anywhere else we have fished. We knew the small mouth could play a major role in this tournament and we felt confident in trying to grind out five small mouth bites in this creek arm on the day of the tournament. In the end, we fell short of our goal, but we fished hard all day and left it all out on the water.
Media by Shane Campbell.
Q: How did you catch fish during this tournament and were there missed opportunities to improve your standing?
A: I, personally, catch almost all my fish on tournament day with a Daiwa spinning rod and reel in my hand. I had two different spinning combos and I would rotate back and forth between throughout the day. The one had a 3/16 oz tube head on it with a soft plastic green pumpkin tube around it. The purpose of this bait was to mimic bluegill, which we found the smallmouth were eating because one actually spit up one on the front deck of my boat. I only had one fish hooked up that I lost after about 3 or 4 seconds of fighting it that I felt could have made a difference. But in all honesty, I never got to actually see how big the fish was, so I do not necessarily know if it would have made a difference or not.
Here is also an interview with Ricky Huge about he caught fish this week.
Media by Chris Brooks
Q: How did you catch fish during this tournament and was there any room for improvement?
We caught our fish in the tournament on a few different techniques. The baits we were throwing weren’t as important as the location we were fishing. We were catching our fish in a creek on shallower rock banks with direct access to deep water. Our fish were all holding tight to scattered wood cover along the banks. It didn’t seem to matter what bait we threw by the wood. If there was a fish there, he was going to eat it. Of our five best fish, two came off a Kietech 3.8 Swing Impact swimbait on a ⅛ oz. jig head, two came off a Zoom Trick Worm on a ¼ oz. shakey head and our biggest fish came off a Zoom Trick Worm rigged Neko style with a ⅛ oz. nail weight. We had a lot of room for improvement on the tournament. We missed a few key bites and had fish come off at the boat. You live, you learn, and you move on to the next one.
Be sure to check back as the Greenville Fishing team heads to Bull Shoals Lake on April 22nd-27th.
Media by Chris Brooks.
