In just a few days, the Association of Collegiate Anglers will begin its 21st season of the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series. The Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley is set to take place at Kentucky Lake in Henry County and Paris, TN on September 20-21. Over 630 anglers are registered to compete in the event, including 22 of the Top 25 ranked teams in the ACA’s annual Pre-Season Poll for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. In this article, we will highlight the lake and conditions leading up to this tournament.
Kentucky Lake is located in the northwest part of Tennessee. Construction began in 1938 and was completed in 1944. The fishery features over 2,000 miles of shoreline and about 160,000 acres of water. Minimum winter elevation is 354 ft., and the lake is currently just under 356 ft.
Over the years, the ACA has hosted many major college events at this Tennessee River fishery. Kentucky Lake offers an abundant amount of shoreline cover, offshore structure, and more for fish to be found. During this time of the year, bass will be spread across all of these high percentage areas.
Rocky shorelines will be one of the key areas for anglers to target during tournament competition. Bass will use these places as transition areas to move up into the creeks as they chase baitfish. Working moving baits and topwater lures around these places will warrant bites.
Other shallow cover will include flooded timber. Soaking a soft plastic bait around wooded cover could be a way to catch the winning fish. Shallow wood cover offers high percentage areas for anglers to find quality fish in easy to target areas. The wood cover provides both shade and an ambush point for bass to take advantage of.
Offshore structure and areas along the main river channel could also play a key factor. For bass still in the late summer/early fall stage, they will still be hanging out in the deeper, cooler water. Early in the morning, as bass are feeding on bait, a topwater lure worked along main river bars will be a technique anglers utilize. Once the sun gets up and temperatures warm, bass will move and position on deeper structure. A variety of crankbaits, swimbaits, and soft plastics will pay off in this scenario.
Leading up to the event, weather patterns are looking fairly stable. High temperatures are expected to be around 90 degrees, with nightly lows averaging in the mid-60’s. A mix of clouds and sun will greet these college anglers out on Kentucky Lake. Sizing up those conditions and the fish behavior will be the key to unlocking the code to catching what could end up being the overall winning fish at the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley.
Weigh-in will be streamed live throughout both complete days of tournament competition. That stream can be viewed both on the ACA website and the free Outdoor Action TV streaming service.