BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – As the second Wal-Mart FLW Tour event of the season completed its third leg Saturday, yet another Western pro appeared well on his way to making a killing in the bass-fishing rich state of Alabama.
In 2004, Chevy pro Luke Clausen won $500,000 at the Forrest Wood Cup on Logan Martin Lake. Two years later it was National Guard pro Brent Ehrler’s turn. Fast forward to the present, and it looks as though Michael Bennett has the spotted bass figured out – possibly to the tune of $125,000.
Day three on Smith Lake was considerably tougher – mainly because of a cold front. The high temperature was only 60 degrees, a near 30-degree difference from day one. Yesterday’s rainstorm ruined some of the best spots from day two, leaving Glenn Browne and Greg Pugh scratching their heads.
When the fishing gets this tough, leave it to a Western stick to rise to the top.
Bennett caught nine keepers and five shorts throughout the day. All his fish were spotted bass on day three, but on the opening day he sight-fished for largemouths. He wanted to use largemouths to make the top-10 cut and spots to win it. Thus far, the plan looks brilliant.
“I’m fishing prespawn stuff like points and docks,” said the Roseville, Calif., native. “I’m using Berkley finesse worms, and I’m mainly fishing deep.”
Bennett had his limit in the boat at 11 a.m. and was done upgrading at 2 in the afternoon.
“My first day in practice I had about 13 pounds, and I felt really confident that the pattern was working. Right now, I’m fishing about a dozen different spots.”
The Duracell pro said he is wetting a line 10 minutes from the Smith Lake Dam toward the Duncan Bridge.
“I grew up spotted-bass fishing in California. In fact, the lakes I fish close to home were actually stocked from Smith Lake. It’s the exact same species. Anytime we have a spotted bass tournament in California, I do pretty well.”