Bass Fishing pro Christiana Bradley will be battling ugly weather in addition to her competitors in this weekend's Bassmaster Weekend Series regional tournament on Lake Erie.
The regional tournament is for top finishers from the Northeast Division of the Bassmasters Weekend Series. Qualifying anglers from Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, New York-West and New York-East will fish Lake Erie on Friday and Saturday.
But they'll be facing difficult weather, especially on Saturday. Temperatures on Friday will push into the 50s, though rain and wind are also in the forecast. Conditions deteriorate Saturday, with highs not eclipsing 50 degrees. Rain is in the forecast for Saturday, too, with even higher winds.
"Practice has been filled with fishing a bunch of spots everybody else will most likely be fishing," Bradley said. "With the expected winds we're supposed to have, I think we'll all be fishing inside the breakwall because it will just be too rough beyond that.
"There are some good fish in there, but the spots are so obvious. Everybody is probably beating up on the same fish. This will be a tough tournament."
Bradley said she will use the technique anglers call "junk fishing," though that's a bit of a misnomer.
"I'll be 'junk fishing,' as we call it," Bradley said. "I'll be throwing a combination of topwater and fast and slow-moving baits. Once I get five decent keepers on Day 1, I'll be done for the day. Managing the fish will be key. I'll just spend the rest of the day trying to find something different."