Day 4 Recap
4th: Bohannan Made Switch to Smallmouth
> Day 4: 5, 16-00 (20, 65-09)
With his first top-5 finish since a runner-up showing at Lake Okeechobee in 2014, Bohannan jumped 39 spots in AOY points to 28th as he continues to recover from a 155th-place finish at Okeechobee in the season opener.
“I’m excited about a top 5 especially after my start at Okeechobee – it puts me back in good shape,” he said. “Cumberland is a fun lake. It’s an Ozark style lake.”
After catching nearly 19 pounds worth of largemouth in the backs of pockets on Saturday, he had to tweak his game plan today to adjust to the new water flowing into the lake.
“We got a bunch of rain and it blew a lot of those pockets out,” he said. “I caught a small limit doing that and about 11, I scrapped that and went smallmouth fishing. I’m glad I did, but I wish I’d done it earlier.”
Bohannan was 27th after day 1 when he didn’t catch a keeper until noon. He said had he been able to get off to a better start, he might’ve been able to gain some ground on Davis, Boyd and Thrift.
“I started behind the 8 ball,” he said. “I wish I’d gotten keyed in on the shallow stuff in the backs of pockets sooner.”
Day 3 Recap
Images courtesy FLW Outdoors
Excerpt From FLW
4. Greg Bohannan – Bentonville, Ark. – 49-9
We’re not in the Ozarks, but don’t tell that to Greg Bohannan. All week long he’s approached Lake Cumberland the exact same way he’d approach many of the Ozark reservoirs that he frequents back home this time of year.
He weighed in five largemouths today, though he did test the smallmouth bite just to make sure he wasn’t missing an opportunity.
“I thought this weather would make the smallmouths bite good, so I smallmouth fished for about an hour and caught one little spotted bass. Then I switched to largemouths, and it was really good. I caught most of my fish by 10:45. I culled up a couple times and left my best area around noon.”
Bohannan spent the rest of the day trying to apply his pattern in other areas but wasn’t able to add any waypoints that he thinks are really right.
“It seems like on this lake some areas have them really good, and some don’t, but I’m trying not to go over the same spot twice,” he says.
Bohannan is focused on two creeks in Cumberland’s lower end. He’s fishing a jerkbait, spinnerbait and square-bill crankbait.
As for tomorrow’s weather forecast, which is calling for lower temperatures and more rain, Bohannan isn’t worried.
“I think these fish are kind of like Ozark bass: If it’s overcast and there’s a little wind, this time of year they don’t pay much attention to the temperature.”
4th: Switch to Largemouth Paid Off for Bohannan
> Day 3: 5, 18-11 (15, 49-09)
Bohannan spent the first couple hours today chasing smallmouth, but called an audible and went shallow to target largemouth and came out with his best day of the tournament.
“I’m just running new water each day and trying to run a pattern,” he said. “Today, I was fortunate to have three quality bites.”
Prior to the tournament, he figured 13 to 16 pounds a day was possible as he was getting 10 bites a day on a spinnerbait and jerkbait. He didn’t envision having a shot at the win.
“The largemouth are farther along and coming on strong and that’s helped me,” he said. “If I have another day like today and get another big one, I’ll give myself a shot.”
He chasing down the likes of Thrift and Morgan would add another layer of excitement to it.
“I’ve had seconds and thirds before so it’d be cool to have to beat the best up there,” he added.