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Lake Wylie, N.C.
Bassmasters Classic Preview
07/23/2004 - Lake Wylie is going to serve up a different challenge than what most of us have grown accustomed to in the Classic. Most Bassmasters Classics, I'd say about 80%, are won off of one spot. Bass group up in the summertime, and the winner simply finds a bigger school of bass than the rest of the field. I don't see that happenning this year.
There are some good schools of bass in Wylie to be sure, but due to its small size (12,000 acres) and predicted heavy boat traffic from spectators, a pro won't find a school that will stay unmolested. Because the lake is so small, everyone will know where the leaders are fishing. We head to weigh-in at 2 pm, and the local fishermen will have 6 hours left each afternoon to tamper with the leaders spots. We always hope this doesn't happen, but it does.
The year I won the Classic, I had an ideal situation. My spot was 30 miles upriver, off the beaten path. The first day I had no spectator boats watching me. I had 50 spectator boats watching me the second day, but every day at 3 pm Alabama Power would shut off the water at Logan Martin Dam, virtually protecting my fish from local pressure the remainder of the day.
Last year, Iaconelli had a similar set up. His spot was a hidden lagoon some 100 miles from take off. Nobody knew where he was fishing. His fish stayed protected all week.
This year, such a scenario will not set up. The winner, I believe, will have to keep changing water and/or patterns throughout the event. That is a very difficult way to win, but it does happen from time to time. Guys like Brauer and Van Dam are masters at running new water daily. That is how I plan to fish the event. I plan to fish both shallow and deep.
The key at Wylie will be to stay in the hunt and be somewhere in the top 10 going into Sunday. I believe you will see the winner come from behind, somewhere between 4th and 10th place, after Day 2 to win on Sunday.
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