SHELBY COUNTY, Ala. — Brandon Lester and Justin Hamner experienced one day of lost and one day of found during the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Lay Lake this week. Fortunately for both, they found a pattern Friday that propelled them into the Top 50 cut for Day 3 of this tournament.
Lester’s story in particular illustrates how easy it is to miss the sweet spot on this 11,500-acre Coosa River impoundment, where the majority of bass are in the post-spawn stage. The 35-year-old pro from Fayetteville, Tenn., was in 100th place after Day 1 when he weighed-in only 3 bass totaling 5 pounds, 7 ounces. Friday he jumped 60 places in the standings to finish in 40th with a five-bass limit weighing 17-6.
“(Thursday) I tried to be all fancy and go down there and fish in the timber,” said Lester, who made every Day 2 cut last year and finished second in the Angler of the Year race. “I tried to make it too hard. I can do that, yeah, but this is a river system. I knew better. I shouldn’t have tried to do that.
“Today I went up the river. I grew up fishing rivers. I know how to fish rivers. I understand current. When I got that first clue this morning, I’m like, ‘I’m such an idiot.’ I knew after I caught the second one, I told my marshal at 9 o’clock, ‘I’m fixing to train wreck ‘em. It’s fixing to happen.’
“I caught 25 keepers, I promise you I did. Yesterday, I was praying for two more 12-inchers. I had four bites all day and weighed-in three.”
Lester’s big clue was a bloody tail on a spotted bass first thing. He weighed-in a bag of spotted bass, including one that hit 4.58 pounds on his digital scale. “That’s the largest spot I’ve ever caught,” he said.
Hamner’s lost-and-found saga wasn’t quite so dramatic, but it propelled him into 4th place Friday after starting in 29th. His limit included four largemouth bass and a spotted bass “that was lost,” Hamner joked. He had 12-7 on Day 1 and 17-14 on Day 2.
“I had to change completely,” said the 32-year-old Northport, Ala., resident. “I was targeting spots yesterday. That’s how I usually do good here. I couldn’t get them to fire. I scratched that and went largemouth fishing.”
Between the lake level fluctuations and the fact that most of the bass are in a post-spawn mode has made it extremely difficult for any of the 104 Elite Series anglers to be consistent two days in a row, as exemplified by Lester and Hamner.
“I think I figured out where those largemouth are going when the pull out of the grass,” Hamner said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. We get caught up trying to fish the way you’re supposed to fish. I finally scrapped this. I’m going to fish the way I like to fish.”
They way Hamner prefers to catch bass is with forward-facing sonar and a jerkbait tied on his line. And that’s what he did Friday.
Of the biggest five-bass limits caught Friday on Lay Lake, Will Davis Jr. topped the list with 18-5, Hamner was second with 17-14, and Lester was third with 17-6. Davis is in 2nd place overall, only 1 pound, 9 ounces behind leader Brandon Palaniuk.
Did Hamner and Lester discover the key to success on Day 2? Or will Lay Lake continue to be a new puzzle every day?
