Page 10 - Crappie NOW - November 2018
P. 10
by Ron Presley
Garland & Turpin Claim Victory at CUSA Classic
to keep the fish alive when landed from
Mother Nature delivered tough the deep water, confirming Van Vactor’s
fishing conditions to crappie anglers expectations.
competing in the 2018 Cabela’s Crappie
USA Tournament Trail (CUSA) on Lake First Place
Cumberland. Recent rains had swollen The winning team of Ben Garland and
the lake to high levels and the water Barry Turpen, local anglers from Nancy,
was falling rapidly going into the two-day KY, fished the way they always do, cast
tournament. Anglers were challenged by and retrieve. Many tournament anglers
the falling water level and higher than have turned to more sophisticated multiple
normal water temps. rod techniques to cover more water
Prefishing crappie anglers mostly and hopefully catch more fish but those
reported a tough bite. “This is the toughest methods did not prevail at the Classic.
bite I have fished in my 33 years of Also, where most competitors were
tournament fishing,” said Steve Coleman, fishing deep water, Garland and Turpen
eight-time national classic champ. were targeting early fish in shallow water.
Their strategy proved to be effective
and they caught 30 to 40 fish during the
“…fish have not moved into the weekend event.
“We found our fish in the main lake,”
creeks yet…” reported Garland. “The fish have not
moved into the creeks yet, except for
small ones. We were targeting small cuts
The weather was mild in the mornings or indentations along the shoreline. It
and steamy hot in the afternoons. A might be 20 to 30 feet where the boat was
heavy fog did not lift until about 8:30 setting, but we were casting to water that
each day. The higher than normal water was only five or six feet deep and pulling
temperatures caused tournament director, back over the drop.”
Darrell Van Vactor, to advise anglers to “We were just casting jigs,” continued
use all precautions in caring for the fish. Garland. “We would cast and retrieve with
He recommended having a needle ready most fish coming early before the sun got
to “fizz” the fish if necessary. too high. When the sun came up so it was
A majority of anglers expected to on your face, the fish went deeper.”
find the crappie deep due to the water “Fishing was good,” added Turpen. “We
temperatures. Those that fished deep used just tried to stay in the shade. We had a
single pole, vertical jigging techniques in limit on the first day by 7:30 and on day
water ranging in depth from 20 to 35 feet. two by 8:30. We had a little lull in the bite
Although the technique was successful for between 10:00 o’clock and 1:00 o’clock
many anglers, it presented a true challenge each day but managed to upgrade a few
10 Crappie NOW November 2018
