“Women’s Bassmaster Tour” on ”Quachita River”
Tournament Trail: Bassmaster WBT
Lake: Quachita River, West Monroe, LA
Dates: April 23rd-25th
Angler: Dianna Clark, Bumpus Mills, TN
www.DiannaClark.com www.JDCbaits.com www.LFTLures.com www.BandMBaits.com www.DobynsRods.com www.Ardentoutdoors.com
Dianna Clark may not have carried a 5-bass limit to the WBT scales each day, however this Tennessee WBT Professional Angler managed to utilize her flippin skills and ability to read and adjust to constant changing conditions on Louisiana’s Quachita River to land another Top 10 Finish!
Q. Do you feel your practice and preparation for this event went as planned?
A. “Absolutely Yes! Everything fell into place as I had anticipated, I located a good group of bass moving up during the transition and they were all better females. I was able to utilize my Dobyns 765 flipping-stick, which placed me in what I consider my comfort zone. Thus strengthening my confidence going into the tournament.”
Q. Playing the “Monday Morning Quarterback”, what changes if any would you
make after having reviewed your 6th Place Top-10 tournament finish?
A. “I would not make any changes at all! I located the right area, with the right size bass to win this event and the cover was perfect to my style of fishing. Although, maybe “Mother Nature”, might be one item of change I’d consider? Detecting subtle bites in 30 mph winds over seven foot higher than normal water levels was an extreme challenge!”
Q. You originally predicted bass would be in a transition pattern resulting in anglers utilizing a wide variety of baits such as covering water with reaction type baits like spinnerbaits, or working the Cyprus Knee’s with slow falling jigs and finesse baits would be the prevalent pattern. Was this true and which baits, colors and sizes seemed most productive?
A. “This was definitely true. The anglers, who ventured south on the Quachita River, were able to entice bass bites with topwater frogs and spinnerbaits. While those of us who chose the bayou sections had to adjust the fall rates of our baits when working brush or Cyprus Knees. Personally I found that a 3/8 oz rigged Lake Fork Craw Tube and a Lake Fork Hyper Freak on 32 lb Lake Fork FluoroHybrid, spooled to an Ardent XS 1000 high-speed reel allowed me the ability to make smooth non-stop continuous flips keeping my baits in the small strike-zone for a longer period of time.”
Q. Your forecast of at least 10 lbs a day as well as your prediction of someone anchoring a limit with a kicker bass could push the winning weight close to 34 lbs was quite accurate! As Janet Parker was crowned the Champion with just over 32 lbs.! What’s your thought on Janet’s tremendous winning weight verses her nearest competitor Sheri Glasgow at 23 lb 13 oz and Parker’s winning weight just about twice your 6th place finish with 16 lbs 10 oz?
A. “My hats off to Janet, she indeed found that ‘Sweet-Honey-Hole’! Janet’s section was ideal to the constant transitional movement of the bass. It was a trough type system whereas the bass moved back and forth within a narrow section from a backwater lake to the river. With the water level high and a short run each day Janet discovered the Perfect Magical Winning Bass Hole! As for Sheri Glasgow, she is an awesome seasoned veteran, and besides Janet, Sheri is the only other WBT Angler to carry a five-bass limit to the scales all 3-Days. Scanning the leaders board I believe the weights were consistent to the number of bass each angler, including myself, actually weighed-in.”
Q. What final notes will you make in your ‘Fishing Log’ under Quachita River, April 2009 in preparation for the next time you compete there?
A. “Continue to search for groups of bass in smaller areas. Concentrate on specific sections and break them down into narrow productive areas. There was just too much water in the bayou sections, eliminating the banks, and allowing the bass to spread-out and roam. At seven feet higher than normal, I noticed the water was always moving either up or down, this made detecting the Cyprus Knees extremely difficult to locate.”
Q. What’s next on the Bass Fishing agenda for Dianna Clark?
A. “WBT heads to the Arkansas River in Little Rock, AR for our 3rd tournament of the season along the Academy Sports & Outdoors sponsored Women’s Bassmaster Trail.”
