A win in Charlotte, NC River Bassin Tournament

The River Bassin Tournament trail is back and Charlotte, NC I have marked on my calender. Smallmouth, Spotted, Largemouth Bass can be caught within the two hour boundary for this tournament. Charlotte, NC is known for having big bass in the area, especially from the river systems around it. A lot of good fish has been caught already this year from this one particular river nearby and I plan to fish it.

18″ Buzzbait Largemouth

Going into this tournament, I was hoping for a swimbait and top water bite. I started the morning throwing a black 3/8oz buzzbait and within a few cast, a nice Largemouth bass smacks it good. I made the cast between two shoals and this 18 inch largemouth came out from there. The buzzbait bite was working real well that first hour. I managed a few more 18 inch largemouth and noticed all of them were caught on the trailer hook. I had a few blowups and followers and decided to change it up.

The water was too stained for a swimbait bite, so I tied on a white 1/2 oz spinnerbait. It didn’t take long to hook up. The morning bite turned on real good for me, I just kept fishing knowing my stringer wasn’t gonna hold at 54 inches.  The first big fish of the day was on and my heart was racing. I slow rolled a spinnerbait just barely ticking it on the bottom with my rod tip up and it felt like a snag. Turns out to be pretty fat largemouth, she came out of the water and came undone. That is probably going to be my only big bite of the day.

22.25″ Largemouth Bass

The next few cast made up for it though, just within 20 yards down or so was a 22.25″ largemouth. She was barely hooked and just dangling onto the trailer hook. I don’t always use trailer hooks but in stained waters, it is a must.  There was a certain way these fish were positioning themselves and if you can figure it out, most likely they were there.  There are some big fish in the Charlotte, NC area and I will definitely be back to fish it. I battled it out with over 35 great anglers and managed to pull a win with 63.25 inches. You can see the full results by clicking here.  The River Bassin Trail has always been one of my favorite trails to fish, I’m glad to see it back again.

20″ Largemouth

21″ Largemouth