In an exclusive interview with Rick Morris of RPM Full Throttle Fishing, the Elite Series pro shared a look at Lake Lanier on the first stop of the 2011 PAA trail that took place this weekend.
Morris spent about a day and half on the Georgia reservoir that was established by damming the Chattahoochee River. He described the fishery that is located about 30-miles outside of Atlanta as a deep, clean clear water lake.
Explaining that upon his arrival he was met with massive thunder storms and lightning strikes, Morris stated the air temperatures had been in the mid 50’s for his practice period as opposed to the days just prior to his arrival when the area had been experiencing abnormally warm weather in the high 70’s. His pre fish water as stained and ranging from mid 50’s to low 60’s.
Saying this was “a lake of a million points” the Virginia pro talked about the inconsistency of a point pattern saying, “there are lots of shoals and rocky points and on any of those you can throw anything and find a school or hit twenty points and not get one bite.”
After his determination that the weather had caused the fish to revert back into a staging mode, Morris revealed that his strategy would be to focus on the lower end of the lake to target shoals that were near pockets and secondary points also keying on tiny subtle points or shoal markers.
Morris gave many moving baits a shot in pre practice and by blast off had not settled on one particular bait but did say he was throwing a prototype swimbait on Berkley 100% fluorocarbon on his own remarkably strong RPM Custom Rod, the Okeechobee 711 special.
Before launch he shared, “I may start with a swimbait or a jerk bait and hit a few of the points I already got bit on.” He continued saying, “I felt like I can pick them up here and there; I have about 60 points I am going to and I will hope for ten bites, hoping five are good.”
Still discussing patterns Morris expected that another option would be to target the boat docks as he commented, “Most of the floating docks will have two metal poles to the rear and that would be a key structure.” He suggested that a spider jig would be bait he would choose there.
Saying the fish he encountered were boat shy, Morris expected the bass to be spooky and a pick up in the wind to be beneficial. Although he didn’t anticipate a sunny tournament he also commented that some sun would help his production.
With Morris at the helm the Roadhouse Tackle boat powered by his Mercury Motor made its way around Lanier for the first two days of this weekend’s tournament.
Racking up a two-day total that put him in 51st place, Morris moved on from Lanier to Pickwick for the Bassmaster Elite’s Alabama Charge.
To follow Full Throttle Fishing facts, click here.
For more information on Elite Series pro Rick Morris visit his website.
The PAA can be found at Lake Ray Hubbard in Garland Texas for the inaugural Bass Pro Shops PAA All Star Series event on April 21. The second event in the 2011 trail will be held on Table Rock on June 23.
For more information on the Professional Anglers Association, visit their website.
Share your own fish tale below or drop a line.
Comments