Clemons and Glasgow Battle for First in Lowrance ABN Wheeler Qualifier

High school angler Ryan Shields shows the “old hands” how to do it.

Chris Clemons, Tennessee Valley Bass Club, edged out Kyle Glasgow, Winfield Bassmasters, for first place in the Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation (ABN) Lowrance Qualifier, June 7, on Wheeler Lake. Clemons brought a limit of bass to the scales that

weighed 19.91 lbs. Glasgow held his breath waiting for the scales to light-up but fell just short of having the lead with 19.79 lbs. The difference was a .75 pound penalty on Glasgow for two dead fish.

However, the big story of the event may have been Ryan Shields, Hazel Green High School Fishing Team. Shields, fishing in the tournament via the ABN Mentorship program (watch for the story on this program coming soon), racked-up No-Boater Highest Weight honors, a High School Angler bonus and finished in sixth place with 15.35 lbs. Shields big fish went 5.09 lbs. He accomplished all this fishing out of the back of the boat.

The biggest bass of the tournament was brought in by Bill Nelson, Coosa Valley Bassmasters. Nelson nailed a 5.97 lb. largemouth on a white MoJo shakeyhead fished outside of grass in four feet of water.

The winning club was the Tennessee Valley Bassmasters with a combined weight of 51.46 lbs. Members of the team included: Chris Clemons-19.91, Jackie Quillen-11.17, David Lancaster-8.77, David Balentine-7.56, Phillip Lovett-4.05 and Ronnie Rogers-0.00. Lovett was working with a severe handicap having blown his engine during the tournament.

How did they do it
Clemons said, “I had a good partner who put me on ‘em.” The winner said he had not had a bite and then finally caught a few. A crankbait accounted for three of his bass and a worm took the rest for his limit caught on ledges five to six miles from the Ingall’s Harbor ramp in Decatur, AL.

Kyle Glasgow caught fish all day on ledges twenty feet deep but most of the bass came pretty early. Glasgow said he used several different baits but primarily a football head jig, Carolina rig and a crankbait. The effective colors were “natural” colors like green pumpkin and red bug. He said he was fishing around three miles from the ramp.

Ryan Shields, the quiet, Hazel Green High School bass wizard, put on a fishing clinic for his front seat adult partner Donny Davis. Shields started on ledges early with football head jigs and caught two quickly. He said, “We caught some keepers in the grass on swim jigs.”  Moving back out to the deeper water, Shields went to a watermelon candy-colored Brush Hog and caught some better fish that let him do some culling.

The ABN Mentoring program, that screens adult tournament partners and pairs them with student anglers, allowed eight more high school anglers to also fish in the qualifier: Austin Nelson, Belgreen High School; Shelton Byrd, Belgreen High School; Zeke Gossett; Pell City High School; Colby Wells, New Lawn High School; Billy Knapp, Huntsville High School; Samuel Evans, Russellville High School club; Saxton Long, ALA-TENN Bass Club; Laura Ann Foshee and D.J. Barber, Gardendale High School. The Russellville High School Bass Team provided members to help with the weigh-in.

The number of Alabama B.A.S.S. nation affiliated club members competing was 108.  Obviously, ledges were in heavy use as were football head jigs. However, there were a few different strategies and lures in play as well.

Tim Cornelius, Lake Tuscaloosa Bassmasters, placed third with 17.81 lbs. Cornelius fished a “dark-colored” Finesse worm rigged on a 3/8 oz. jig head to fish ledges twenty to twenty-two feet deep. Don Hogue, Shoal Creek Bass Chasers, finished 4^th with 16.06 lbs. Hogue thanked Tim Cornelius for his help. Cornelius invited Hogue to fish with him in the area he was fishing- an uncommon courtesy in competitive bass fishing.

Shelton Byrd, Belgreen Bulldogs,finished in 30^th place and had a 4.89 lb. big fish. The young high school angler used a blue gill-colored swim jig in the grass about five miles from the ramp. Bobby Boyd, Belgreen Bass Club, fished creek channels with a flutter spoon. He finished 33^rd with 8.25 lbs. and a 5.95 lb. kicker fish. Bobby McDonald, Birmingham Bass Club,came in at 36^th with 10.01 lbs. McDonald had a 4.97 lb. big fish but got nailed with a 2.25 lb. penalty for dead fish. He was fishing a weedbed on a point with a watermelon red NetBait that is not made anymore.

Unfortunately, as is the case of all tournaments in hot weather, several bass were not able to be released back into Wheeler. Jim Howard,

ABN Director of Conservation, worked hard with all the bass that came in alive to keep them that way. Howard was observed inserting a “needle” into the air bladder of some bass to keep them from dying. At least one contestant was alarmed when he discovered his livewell had drained leaving his bass high and dry during a long run. Twenty-one contestants received dead fish penalties.

Total number of fish weighed was 298. The average number of fish per angler was 3. Average weight of fish per angler was 6.32 lbs. The total of all fish weighed was 682.87 lbs. the average weight of all bass brought in and weighed was 2.29 lbs. Twenty anglers did not weigh a fish in. There were five bass five pounds or more (but less than six) brought in. Eight fish over four pounds or more were weighed. One bass weighed-in over three pounds came to the scales.

View the photo album of the tournament HERE.

The Alabama B.A.S.S. Nation’s next event is the State Championship on Lake Martin in October. This tournament will determine the last Alabama State Team members.