Lake Dardanelle - Arkansas Tech Invitational

My bass tournament season officially began a little more than a month ago when me and a buddy of mine went down to Lake Dardanelle to represent the University of Iowa Bass Team at the ATU Invitational. We had high hopes while traveling to the event after reading about how many big bags this tournament has kicked out in past years. Limits were the norm and 20lb sacks were consistent in past years. We were down there from March 16-21, a week before the BASS Elite Series guys were down there. After picking up my boat in Minnesota with temps in the low teens we eventually arrived in Russelville, Arkansas with balmy 60-70 degree weather, definitely a good way to spend a spring break... Also, anyone ever heard of the Arkansas Grand Canyon? Yeah, me neither, but we drove right through it on the trip down, what a crazy drive! Its part of the Ozark Mountains and was a cool sight to see.

Practice Days 1, 2, and 3:
Basically me and my partner, Tyler, decided to break down this massive lake/river into three sections: lower, mid, and upper portions. On each practice day we fished one portion of the lake. At close to 55,000 acres we in no way were able to cover all of it, but we tried our best. The first two days of practice were brutally tough for us. We fished for both days with only catching 2 keepers. We caught some short fish, but even they were not that prevalent. On the third day of practice we decided to make a 30 minute run up to the spadra creek area of the lake. The third day presented us with overcast and rainy conditions for the first time since we had been there. Within the first half hour after making our run we were already noticing better results than the first two days of practice. We ended the day catching around 14lbs. We were mainly focusing on flats with stumps and also laydowns that were on bank closest to the creek channels that ran through these backwaters. Our main baits were spinnerbaits, jigs, beavers, and chatterbaits. Here are some pictures from practice.

Tournament Day 1:

On day one we put all our eggs in one basket and made the 30 minute run up to spadra. With sunny conditions and high skies we struggled to get a keeper in any of the spots that we caught the 14lbs in the day before. Eventually at about 12:30 Tyler hooked into a keeper fish on a jig off a laydown. That would be the only fish that we would catch that day.

Tournament Day 2:

On day two the forecasts were very similar to our third practice day which left us optimistic about our chances up in the spadra creek area. We got to our staring spot and within the first half hour I landed a keeper fish on a spinnerbait. I thought that it was going to be on after that fish. However, that would once again be the only fish that we would catch that day.

We ended the tournament only weighing 2 fish and that was good enough for 38th out of 57 boats(http://www.collegiatebasschampionship.com/uploads/2009%20ATU%20RESULTS_final2.pdf). Not great, but not terrible for only tow fish. It was tough on most of the Field, but as usual, a couple teams always figure them out. the winning team brought in solid limits each day and totaled 30+ pounds. They also were fishing up the river quite a ways.

One of the really cool things about this event is that a lot of the Elite Series guys attended the weigh-ins since they were going to be fishing the lake the week after us. Kevin Short was the MC for the weigh-in and it was cool being able to talk with him on stage. We also got the see guys such as Rick Morris, Pat Golden, Clark Rheem, Marty Stone, and even the zen master Rick Clunn. Following the Elite Tournament the next week on the same exact lake was even cooler. We were fishing very 5 minutes from where most of the top 12 guys were fishing; so close, yet so far. We also practiced in the same area that VanDam caught most of his fish on the 4th day of the Elite event, yet we didn't catch as many as he did (its amazing how good those guys are!)

All in all in was a fun event and a great way to spend my spring break. Stay tuned for more updates on my spring tournaments. I've had three already this year and I'll be writing about them throughout the week!