Heeding a small craft warning in effect for the Arkansas River near Little Rock, BASS announced Wednesday that the fishery for the June 4-6 Women's Bassmaster Tour event has been changed to Maumelle Lake.
"BASS' first concern in these situations is always safety of the anglers," said Bruce Mathis, WBT tournament director. "We have been monitoring the Arkansas River, and we were prepared for the possibility of a move just a short distance west to Maumelle."
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers routinely issues a small craft warning when a river flow exceeds 70,000 cubic feet per second. According to the corps, the velocity of the Arkansas River at Little Rock was 180,000 cfs early this week. The WBT competitors were notified of the change Wednesday.
The launch site on Maumelle will be Jolly Roger's Marina, 11800 Maumelle Harbour Rd., Roland, Ark. 72135. Take-off time is 5:45 a.m. CT. Daily weigh-ins are scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. CT at the Academy Sports + Outdoors retail location at 6100 Warden Rd., Sherwood, Ark., across the river from the city of Little Rock.
All WBT events are free and open to the public. The competition will be covered daily by www.Bassmaster.com with live streaming video and real-time leaderboards, plus daily photo galleries and results.
The Arkansas tournament will be the WBT's third event of the 2009 season. The top prize in the pro division is $1,000 plus a fully rigged boat-and-motor package valued at $55,000. In the co-angler division, the first-prize package consists of $500 and a boat rig worth $25,000.
And, for the pros, the chase continues for the 2009 Women's Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year points race, the qualifying route to the WBT Championship, Oct. 16-18 on the Red River out of Shreveport-Bossier City, La. After the WBT Championship, the winner of the AOY will receive a berth in the 2010 Bassmaster Classic, set for Feb. 19-21 Classic out of Birmingham, Ala., on Lay Lake.
Leading the points race is four-time WBT winner Pam Martin-Wells of Bainbridge, Ga. Her first look at the reservoir, which is almost 9,000 acres, was last Tuesday.
"I'm just riding around, starting out by looking at the water," she said. "I don't know a whole lot about it. So far, I see bank grass and a lot of rocks."
Martin-Wells will have to do well at Maumelle to stay in front of the tight AOY race. She is only 26 points ahead of Juanita Robinson of Highlands, Texas, and 29 points away from Laura Gober of Pendergrass, Ga.
It isn't all their race, either; the spread among the top 10 is less than 100 points.
The angler who takes the AOY crown will win a new Toyota Tundra as well as a berth in the Classic. She will follow in the historic footsteps of WBT pro Kim Bain-Moore of Alabaster, Ala., who as the 2008 AOY became the first woman to qualify for a Classic.
For WBT pro Danalee Lofton of Little Rock, the change to Maumelle was good news. Although she's at home on the Arkansas River, she said she has fished Maumelle about 200 times.
She is not banking on a home-lake advantage.
"Yes, I've been on the lake a lot, but that doesn't mean I can be complacent and not work very, very hard. There's a lot of very, very good anglers on the circuit, so I'm sure they can figure it out as well," said Lofton, who jumped 37 places in the AOY standings on the strength of an 18th-place finish in April on the Ouachita River.
No one should have trouble hooking into Maumelle bass, she said.
"There's a ton of small fish in the lake, so a kicker will definitely make your bag," she said. "I predict the weights will be close and leaders will have to have about 10 pounds or so each day."
The lake holds largemouth and Kentucky spotted bass, but not smallmouth bass, she said.
"There is a lot of rocky structure, lot of shoreline willow grass, some lily pads, some submergent grass, but very little wood," she said. "It's an old lake, so most of the timber is gone."
According to the Web site of lake overseer Central Arkansas Water (www.carkw.com), Maumelle Lake was constructed in the mid-1950s by damming the Big Maumelle River. The lake is about 12 miles long with an average depth of about 25 feet; maximum depth is 60 feet.
Because Maumelle supplies water for the Little Rock metroplex, its shoreline is unbroken by private docks and homes. Personal watercraft, skiing, wakeboarding, and swimming are not allowed. Those restrictions, Lofton noted, might work to an angler's advantage on high-traffic days.
2009 Women's BASSMASTER TOUR ANGLER OF THE YEAR STANDINGS ------------------------------------------- Place Name St Pts ------------------------------------------- 1 Pam Martin-Wells Ga. 582 2 Juanita Robinson Texas 556 3 Laura Gober Ga. 553 4 Sheri Glasgow Okla. 543 5 Tammy Richardson Ark. 540 6 Debra Petrowski Texas 525 7 Janet Parker Texas 512 8 Lisa Johnson Ala. 495 9 Patti Campbell Texas 489 10 Dianna Clark Tenn. 479 11 Mary Croft Va. 478 11 Emily Shaffer Tenn. 478 13 Melinda Mize Ark. 475 14 Jennifer Nevans Tenn. 468 15 Judy Wong La. 466 16 Lori Masters Tenn. 465 17 Cindy Hill Tenn. 460 18 Karen Savik Minn. 455 19 Lynda Gessner Mo. 452 20 Robin Babb Texas 451 21 Mary DiVincenti La. 442 22 Lucy Mize Ark. 436 23 Christiana Bradley Va. 435 24 Teri Neal Ga. 434 24 Paula Alexander Ga. 434 26 Debbie Kemp Texas 432 27 Tami Kashiwabara Ark. 428 28 Cheryl LaLumandier Mo. 426 29 Heather Broom N.C. 424 29 Sandi Karnes Texas 424 31 Robinette Fox Ark. 419 32 Kathy Womack Ala. 412 33 Kris McClendon Texas 410 34 Debra Hengst Texas 384 34 Jan Heavener Ark. 384 36 Christena Baugh Ark. 382 37 Laura Heflin Kan. 380 38 Meta Burrell Texas 379 39 Kali Weatherford Texas 374 40 Bridget Allen Pa. 366 41 Susan Gregory Miss. 356 41 Linda Redford Mo. 356 43 Helen Gordon Texas 354 44 Danalee Lofton Ark. 352 44 Marsha Gipson Ark. 352 46 Kathi Hurst Miss. 348 47 Keri Schieber Ga. 346 48 Michelle Armstrong N.C. 344 48 Jo Dee Lake Ala. 344 50 Terri Elkins Texas 342 51 Lisa Craig Texas 332 52 Lila Bass Texas 324 53 BJ Carson Okla. 322 54 Mary Hencken N.C. 320 55 Cindy Van Horn Texas 314 56 Secret York Ky. 302 57 Robbie Hartline Mo. 290 58 Rhonda Pope Ga. 285 59 Kim Stapp Ga. 264 60 Kim Bain-Moore Ala. 251 61 Pam Bolton Ark. 245 62 Cheryl Bowden Texas 233 63 Karen Elkins Ala. 227 64 Kat Ealey Ala. 221 65 Gina Jones Ala. 217 66 Penny Berryman Ark. 213 67 Linda Sands Ala. 195 68 Diane Phillips Texas 193 69 Kathy DiMartino Ala. 191 70 Audrey McQueen Ariz. 187 71 Betty Stahl Ala. 185 72 Barbara Wetzel Ala. 169 73 Lisa Sternard Tenn. 165 74 Kelley Shepherd Ariz. 163 74 Deb Doyal La. 163 76 Sherri Dodson Ala. 155 77 Kimberlee Striker Ala. 151 78 Pat White Texas 149 79 Patsy McDaniel Ala. 137 80 Kim Hicks Ga. 127 81 Judy VanCanneyt Ala. 125 82 Ann Swinks Ga. 119 83 Kathy Freehling Fla. 115 84 Sharon Teague S.C. 0