Birmingham, Ala. – One of the most anticipated events of the year is the Mark's Outdoors Lay Lake Open. Mark's Outdoors is the largest independent tackle retailer in the country, and every year the store hosts a huge event at Lay Lake, the site of three Bassmaster Classics.
2009 Bassmaster Classic Champion Skeet Reese was present at the 2009 Lay Lake Open, and he said it was an event he looks forward to every time he is able to attend. “I love Mark's tournament,” Reese said. “It is absolute frickin' chaos and it makes for a lot of fun.”
While anytime a tournament that has a maximum field of 500 boats there is liable to be some semblance of disorder, and a fair amount of fun to go with it. However, as the Lay Lake Open is intended to be for fun, there is an element of the tournament that Reese said other organizations should take note of. “They've been running this tournament for a lot of years, and not only is it a great event from the fishing and camaraderie event, but they use it as a way to improve the fishery,” the Auburn, Calif. pro said. “Mark uses it as an opportunity to plant largemouth bass fingerling into the lake.”
Reese reported that each of the anglers carries a special package with them to their first fishing holes. “Each angler gets a bag of bass fingerlings that they remove from their livewells and empty into the lake before they start fishing,” he explained that 300,000 largemouth are planted. “With 500 boats in the event, those fish get spread out all over the place, from dam to dam; it really adds to the resource and the fishery.”
He said that the program has helped an already tremendous fishery improve, and in the economic times we are facing, it has an even broader impact. “States budgets are taking hits, and fish and game departments have less money for stocking and fisheries programs,” he said. “By having a retailer decide to help in the way that Mark's has, it really improves things for everybody, it's a great example for everyone across the country, and I hope more people consider adopting the practice.”
As far as the tournament goes, Reese said it is a site to behold. “500 boats is a big field,” said Reese. “Standing at the ramp and looking at all of those boats tied to each other in the launch area is amazing, there are navigation lights everywhere; it's huge.”
The night before the tournament anglers meet for a barbeque and a drawing to fish with the dozen or more pros that are at the event. “When anglers purchase a certain amount of event sponsor product at the store, their names are put into a drawing to fish the event with one of the pros,” Reese reported. “I personally fished with Mike Bolton of the Birmingham News, he did a story on the event and it was great to spend the day with him.” (To read Bolton's online version of the story click this link - http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/metro.ssf?/base/news/12413385653800.xml&coll=2 )
Reese spent the day sightfishing, but he put himself at a disadvantage by not charging his batteries overnight. “I thought I had enough juice in them, but I didn't so I was dealing with low power all day,” Reese reported. “Even so I managed to catch 12 pounds, 14 ounces and get a check, so it wasn't too bad.”
For the pros who attend, Mark's gives them a shopping basket to fill, and whatever they can fit in the basket is no charge for them. “I walked around that store three times and filled that basket with as much tungsten as I could find, and so much other stuff that I can't even remember it all, but that basket probably weighed close to 15-pounds.”
The pros aren't the only ones who get to experience a tackle frenzy though, Mark and his staff secure product from the sponsors to give out to the crowd. However, instead of a drawing or some sort of contest, the pros get to launch the product into the crowd. “It was a feeding frenzy out there,' Reese said. “We were throwing reels and all sorts of stuff into the crowd and those people were going crazy, jumping all over each other trying to get the stuff; I don't think there were any injuries, but I don't see how.”
Reese is currently in 2 nd place in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Points Standings, and is heading to Lake Guntersville, for the Elite Series Southern Challenge, the fifth event of the 2009 Elite Series schedule. The Southern Challenge kicks off May 7, 2009 from Lake Guntersville State Park, daily weigh-ins will be held at the same location May 7 – 10 in the afternoon.
