LAKE IRVINE, CA
DATE: FEB 5, 2011

February 5th 2011 was the final day for local anglers to qualify for a seat on the 2011 Bassmaster Federation Nation State Team. Four seats remained on the twelve man team going into the tournament.

The main pattern most anglers used involved fishing small plastics or jigs in deep water (15 to 30 feet) and fishing slow…normal wintertime fishing techniques. James Smiley pulled up onto his first spot in the morning and quickly landed a fish over 4lbs which would eventually take Big Fish honors at the weigh in.

By 9:30am the bite really slowed down and most anglers reported the fishing was extremely tough the rest of the day. James had three fish in the livewell at this point and didn’t catch another fish until 1:45pm when he changed patterns and moved to shallow water to fish flooded bushes being warmed by the afternoon sun. He fished a Lucky Craft Slender Pointer MR 97 in Ghost Minnow and a senko. In the last hour, James and his co-angler scored more than 12 bass working the shallow water. He and his co-angler both filled out their limited before weigh in.

At the weigh in, James weighed 11.92lbs to take the winning check ($1200 total) and Big Fish honors.
James now advances to the Bassmaster Federation Western Divisional at Lake Navajo, New Mexico in May of this year. If James beats the 12 anglers in his division at that tournament, he’ll advance to his second Bassmaster National Championship in a row.

http://www.jamessmileyfishing.com/