September 11, 2009 – bassmaster.com
WETUMPKA, Ala. — Kelly Jordon still isn’t sure whether he got caught in a time warp, or just plain ran out of luck here during the opening day of the Berkley Powerbait Trophy Chase. Any way you cut it, the tournament on Lake Jordan started a day late for the Texas pro.
On Friday morning in the final practice round, Jordon hit a stretch of bank that yielded two bass that weighed more than 7 pounds. A bit farther along, two more spotted bass eagerly nailed the lure he was casting or pitching to shoreline cover.
By day’s end, Jordon figured he could have caught 14 pounds of fish, counting the bass that he simply shook off or that hit a spinnerbait with the hook bent over. Small wonder Jordon was so excited when he left the landing at Lake Jordan Marina at 6:15 this morning.
By check-in time, however, Jordon’s bubble had burst with a loud bang. He went to the weigh-in with three bass that totaled 4 pounds, 1 ounce, which put him in last place in the 12-man field, far behind first-day leader Tommy Biffle, who had 15 pounds.
“I don’t know what happened to the bass in this one spot where I was sure I could get some good fish,” Jordon said. “It wasn’t like the current was running in practice and they were turned on or anything like that; they just left and I couldn’t get on them again today.”
Jordon isn’t the first angler to succumb to the lake’s finicky spotted bass, just the latest victim. And he wasn’t alone. Though most of the tournament field had decent stringers in this, the first round of a two-part Toyota Championship Week that will see the crowning of the Bassmaster Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year next Friday, many of the pros were just as baffled as Jordon by the turnstile nature of this fishery.
“There are so many variables with spotted bass that the fishing can change overnight,” observed Cliff Pace, currently in third place with 12-14. “There’s the weather, and the current, and the boat traffic, and the availability of shad. If any of the variables chance, the fishing can change drastically. You’ve got to be prepared to change with the circumstances.”
Pace’s assessment was supported by others. Angler after angler reported that he caught a keeper along the bank or from under the dock, and then caught more keepers from offshore structure. Boats were running back and forth between deep water and shorelines, picking up a fish here and there, and then repeating the round-robin approach.