Fantasy Fishing: Don't shy away from local favorites

Written by

Coy Greathouse

With the first event for the 2023 Bassmaster Elite Series in the books, we’re making an insanely fast push just a little north of Florida to another famed fishery — Lake Seminole.

The lake is healthy and so are the bass. The fish should be at their peak heaviness as they prepare to move in for the spawn. There are huge numbers of bass between 4 and 8 pounds. With an incredible mix of forage and cover, it gives ample opportunity for these fish to post up. Back in 2014, we saw some incredible results with three anglers catching better than a 4-pound average with the winning weight coming in just shy of 100 pounds! There should be no surprise, given the caliber of the anglers and the venue, if we see another Century Club belt awarded at the end of this event.

Target anglers who love to throw moving baits like bladed jigs, lipless crankbaits, spinnerbaits and jerkbaits. These prespawn techniques should steal the show.

BUCKET A: COOK

Local favorite Drew Cook will have no shortage of the spotlight this week. Having grown up just a few miles away, he has seen this lake in every possible scenario. If you listened to the Bassmaster Insider Podcast this week, you heard Cook discussing his tournament experience here. He proved last week at Okeechobee that he is focused and ready to shake things up this season. He knows how to win, knows how to adjust and just flat out knows how to catch bass.

Don’t forget about: Steve Kennedy

Watch out for the white tiger, Steve Kennedy. If you, like I did, capitalized on him in Bucket E last week, you might be tempted to pick him again here. He typically dominates in prespawn and spawn, throwing moving baits around cover. With the beautiful submerged vegetation Lake Seminole has, don’t be surprised if you see a big swimbait make a showing as well.

BUCKET B: GROSS

Buddy Gross was on my short list of anglers to do well on Okeechobee, and it would not have been a bad pick with him finishing 27th. There are a lot of similarities to Lake Chickamauga when dealing with grass flats and prespawn. He will be scoping out those areas where bass will be consistently coming to him. That is a recipe for a solid finish.

Don’t forget about: Scott Martin

Scott Martin started off strong on his home lake last week, but it certainly didn’t end the way he would have liked. While he definitely is known for fishing shallow grass lakes, his stats would indicate that he fares well in prespawn tournaments where he can chunk and wind. He is more in tune than ever with his live sonar. Dialing in the edges of the grass could prove to be bad news for the competition.

BUCKET C: AREY

In the same vein as Scott Martin, Matt Arey tends to do well in this type of tournament too. Last year, the first four regular season events were all on shallow grass fisheries, and he finished in 39th, 19th, 22nd and eleventh, with his best finish coming on Lake Chickamauga. He also doesn’t mind fishing for five bites, which may be the difference between a 20-pound plus bag and a middle-of-the-pack finish.

Don’t forget about: Brandon Lester

In the last few years, Brandon Lester has become one of the most consistent anglers on tour. He specifically excels in this type of event. He also had a great run at the beginning of the 2022 season, so the logic used above proves true here as well. What I find particularly attractive about Lester is his ability to shift and change with the conditions. With unstable weather patterns in the late winter, that will be invaluable.

BUCKET D: BENTON

Drew Benton is another local boy. This pick is both strategic from a fishing standpoint, but also from a Rapala Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing standpoint. Last week, Scott Martin was the overwhelming pick in his bucket. When he did well, the majority of the Fantasy Fishing field did well. When he slipped up on Day 2, we all felt it. Drew is currently owned by nearly half of the field as I’m writing this. I have a good solid lead against my fellow pundits, so I’m going to rise and fall with the tide on this one. He has also been known to catch big bass from time to time.

Don’t forget about: Bryan Schmitt

I narrowly dodged the bullet on Okeechobee and landed with Martin over Bryan Schmitt. That would have been a drastic swing in my overall points. At the weigh-in, he admitted that he just never quite got in sync with the fish in Florida, but he felt like he would be better suited to find them on a lake like Lake Seminole. He loves fishing shallow grassy water and will almost certainly find something a little bit different than most of the field. That is exactly how he won his second blue trophy on the Mississippi River last year.

BUCKET E: JOHNSTON

In Bucket E, I’m making hay while the sun is shining. This is just the second event of the season, so while I’m surprised to see Cory Johnston in this bucket, anyone can have a bad event. He is not likely to make that two in a row. He is built for spring and summer events when it comes to largemouth over late winter, but he cut his teeth fishing the thawing lakes in Canada as soon as he could get his custom wiggle wart through the ice. There is not a better value in this bucket either at just a hair over 15% owned.

Don’t forget about: Paul Mueller

Paul Mueller tends to show up at extremely random times. He also tends to find random things to key in that other people overlook. If everyone else is fishing grass edges in 4 to 6 feet of water, he’ll be in 15 to 20 feet. If the field is using soft plastics, he’ll be cranking random rock piles. His wins are almost always out of left field, and his bombs can be just as shocking. Where you think he has an edge, he doesn’t quite get it put together. With that in mind, he is simply put, a very well-rounded angler. Keep your eye on him. There could be another sneak attack in the works.