Bird Capitalizes on Fickle Bite
Kicker Fish pro Cody Bird of Texas leads after Day 1 on Lake Lanier. (PAA: Alan Clemons)
PAA Communications
BUFORD, Ga. – Cody Bird wasn’t expecting chilly temperatures this week at Lake Lanier although in spring, anything can happen.
“I’m wearing my pajama bottoms because I didn’t pack my long johns,” Bird said, laughing as he tucked his blue plaid flannels into his boots. “I’m going to keep wearing these … they might be lucky charms.”
Bird capitalized on a fickle bite Thursday in the first day of the Bass Pro Shops PAA Tournament Series presented by Carrot Stix. The Kicker Fish Bait pro from Texas grabbed the lead with 16.46 pounds on a day when weather conditions changed mid-day from overcast to sunny and windy.
Yamaha pro Takahiro Omori of Texas is second with 15.68 pounds, followed by TeamGreatOutdoors.com pro David Hendrick of North Carolina with 15.18 pounds. Megabass pro Aaron Martens of Alabama was fourth (14.82) and Nitro pro Larry “Doc” Seger of Missouri is fifth (14.62).
Bird said he had “a terrible practice” but hit a small creek where he’s had success in previous tournaments. Bass feed in there, he said, early in the morning and Thursday he was spot-on … literally. Instead of largemouths he’s caught in the past, the spotted bass were in there. He caught three of a stretch of about 20 yards and had his fourth keeper by 9 a.m.
“I worked on it for a while and never got another bite, though,” he said. “I went to another area where I had a good one in practice and lost a really nice fish. I’ll be back to check on him Friday.”
Bird struggled until about 2 o’clock when he started running docks due to the sun appearing after noon. That yielded a 4-pounder to round out his limit. He caught it on a 4.75-inch Kicker Fish Hightail Holeshot finesse worm.
“I shook off a good one in practice and thought there might be some in there because of the sun,” he said. “But I don’t think we got enough sun to really put them on the docks hard and then the wind started blowing pretty good. It wasn’t easy, by any means.
“Y’know, you have those good days every once in a while when everything goes right. I caught all of these shallow and you never know about a shallow bite. It can be there one day and the next, maybe nothing. It might hold up or it might not. So I feel pretty blessed to get what I have.”
The tournament continues Friday with weigh-in at 3 p.m. at Sunset Cove at Lake Lanier Islands Resort. Saturday’s final weigh-in featuring the Top 20 will be at 4:30 p.m. at Bass Pro Shops in Lawrenceville.
Crazy bass bite
Hendrick said he missed eight bites during his run to several areas, joining the pros who lamented the bump ‘n run bass whacking their baits but not getting hooked up.
“It’s like they’re not wanting to eat,” he said. “Sometimes they get into this deal of just killing the bait. They hit it like crazy but let it go before you can do anything about it.”
He believes consistent sun will help position the bass more acutely on cover. But that’s not a given. Overnight lows are in the high 30s and a mix of clouds and sun Friday could provide a repeat of the first day.
“I think the sun would definitely help me a lot,” he said.
Local veteran Tom Mann Jr. also was singing the blues, despite being in eighth place with 13.36 pounds.
“It’s the toughest I’ve seen it in a while,” he said. “They’re just not acting right.”
They said it
“I had one coming to the boat and she decided she didn’t want to get in with me.” Nitro pro Kelly Powers
“I just want to catch all my fish tomorrow.” Cheez-Its pro Shin Fukae
“I’m just fishing shallow and covering water.” Ranger pro Todd Auten
“That looks like me after eating Mexican food.” Emcee Robbie Floyd, remarking on the fat belly of the big 5-pound spot caught by Megabass pro Aaron Martens.
“I had a great day … I just need to catch some more fish, but I know they’re there.” Reeves Marine pro Kent Cella, who made his PAA Tournament Series debut Thursday
