While heavy thunderstorms during the 2023 Strike King Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops forced teams to run for cover several times, the 131 boat field benefited from all of the rainfall on Day 1.
With the TVA opening some gates on the dam and generating current, at least more than there was in practice, Pickwick Lake produced much better than competitors projected on Day 1, with five bags over 19 pounds hitting the scales. Tucker Smith and Hayden Marbut from Auburn University led the way with 20 pounds, 8 ounces.
It still wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination, but in total teams brought over 1,290 pounds of bass to the scales and 60 teams caught limits.
Partly cloudy, but calm conditions surround southern Tennessee early on Day 2, setting up what could be an even better fishing day.
UNA lurking
While they consider the eastern end of Pickwick Lake more in their comfort zone, Kyle Zainitzer and Avery Whitwell from the University of North Alabama have spent hours and hours on the lake during their college years and find themselves within striking range.
“This may not be our home lake, but this is our home away from home,” Whitwell said. “We have spent many hours out here, and we are treating it like another tournament. We are having a blast doing it.”
The duo landed 19-8 to land in fourth entering the second competition day, only a pound out of the lead.
“It started out pretty good. We had the majority of our weight by 10 a.m.,” Whitwell said. “We spent the rest of the day practicing and made one more key upgrade on water we haven’t fished all week.”
Although they are familiar with the body of water, Zainitzer said he isn’t feeling too much pressure to perform.
“We are just fishing free. It is his last tournament so we are just trying to have a good time and trying not to get too worked up,” he said.
Unlike several of the leaders, Zainitzer and Whitwell are making a long run and doing something a little bit different. Vegetation is a big part of their gameplan.
“We aren’t fishing deep offshore, we are fishing shallow offshore. We are picking one off here and there,” Whitwell said.
Zainitzer added that clean water is an important aspect of their bite as well.
