Cabela’s/GEICO Angler Mike McClelland Hoping for Sunny Skies at BASSfest

PARIS, Tenn. (June 3) — The month of June is often the start of summer vacation for families across the country, and the bass of Kentucky Lake have decided to take one of their own, Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat pro angler Mike McClelland said on the eve of the Zippo BASSfest tournament.

Dreary weather conditions have sent bass hiding during practice, but if the sun comes out, the fish could return.

“If the conditions get right, the bags and the weights could be unbelievable this week,” McClelland said. “It’s almost like these fish have been on a mini three-day vacation.”

Kentucky Lake is a “ledge-fishing” body of water, and poor weather has affected the 124 anglers who are competing in the special event this week.

“The conditions have been everything you don’t want to happen when you’re on a ledge-fishing lake like Kentucky Lake,” McClelland said. “It has been cloudy, gloomy, misty, rainy, and cooler than average for this time of the year. That’s really not what you’re looking for when it comes to fishing a lake like Kentucky Lake.”

Partly cloudy conditions with temperatures in the 80s are expected for the first two days of the tournament.

“The thing I am looking to happen is this is a lake that has so many bass in it and is so healthy that a little condition change could completely change what has happened the last three days,” McClelland said. “Prior to us starting practice on Sunday, there was a two-day event, and they caught them really, really good. Everybody who watched that event thought, ‘Man, Kentucky Lake is at its prime.’ It was sunny, the weather had been beautiful, but since our practice started, it’s been cloudy and gloomy and the fish have really scattered.”

McClelland will continue to fish the areas where he has caught bass in the past, and he has added some spots this year and is hoping for sunny skies.

“This is one of those events that even though practice has been really, really tough on a lot of people,” McClelland said, “once this group of anglers buckles down and starts fishing areas they know fish live in, it’s going to be crazy what might be caught — if we get some changing conditions.”

BASSfest is a unique event that combines the 111 Elite Series anglers with 13 of the top Open anglers. All participants fish the first two days before a cut to the top 50, and those 50 participate in the BASSfest on Friday.

The remainder of the anglers compete in a one-day, second-chance event on Barclay Lake, which is connected to Kentucky Lake, with the top 10 of those joining the top 50 overall to fish Saturday.

The final cut to the top 12 anglers happens Saturday, and they go on to fish for the overall title on Sunday.

Launches will take place each day at 6:15 a.m. on the Paris Landing Marina with weigh-ins beginning at the same place at 3:15 p.m.

Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat angler Mike McClelland will fish areas where he has caught bass in the past at Kentucky Lake during this weekend’s Zippo BASSfest.