Small Derby

[Carl W]

I am fishing Grand with a real small club out of Northwest Arkansas in a few weeks. I have never fished Grand before. I will probably fish it twice maybe three times before the tourney but can anyone give me any advice. We launch out of Disney.  Any advice is appreciated. 

[Quillback]

Wish I had some to offer, I just don't fish that lake very often.  Last year KVD whacked them on a square bill during a BASS tourney.  

Anyway, good luck and I'll be curious to hear how good/bad the fishing is.

[ollie]

Just remember that it doesn't fish like any other lake around here! I went to a BASS event there and every angler there literally said it wasn't like any other lake they had fished. Well, unless you were from around here.

[Carl W]

Well we had our small derby (7 boats) this past weekend and it was a grind.  It was the same day as a nearly 500 boat Falcon tournament.  Due to the high water we were not allowed to put in at Disney and instead had to find our own dock.  We launched at a private Marina near Disney.   The conditions were tough with the high water and not having fished the lake before but, my partner had so we went to usual producing locations for him and we could only scratch up one small keeper on a crankbait.  The rest of our club also struggled with only one boat having a limit and then just right at 9 pounds.  Most were catching fish but, just small ones.  The size limit was 14 inches and we just struggled all day until around 2 pm and then we started catching smaller ones.  

That lake definitely not like any other lake I have fished for sure.  Boat docks everywhere and once it warmed up the big boats came out which really made you pay attention to the water on the main lake because you never knew when the big waves were going to come.

The biggest factor I feel like was all the pressure from the Falcon tournament and the high water.  Every cove we fished was literally full of boats.  You basically fished behind other fisherman all day long.

[Quillback]

Sorry to hear it was so tough, I can imagine with a 500 boat tourney plus the regular weekend traffic it must have been pretty busy.

[Carl W]

We go back in October so maybe it will be better then. Always the optimist. 

[ollie]

I was down on the lake this past weekend as well visiting my friend in Bernice. Lots of boats were putting in there due to ramp conditions elsewhere. Horse creek area wasn't too bad due to the fact that no major river is feeding in there. Water was calm and if you look at Southwinds marina they have a great boat launch that is protected from the elements. With all those boats I can see where the fishing would be getting hammered! At least in October it shouldn't be as crowded down there.