By Chad Hill, Mid America Outdoors Magazine pro staff member and contributor. Sponsors: Mid America Outdoors Magazine, Awesome Bait Company, Thunder Shad, And River Raider Lures
For almost as long as there have been bass tournaments launching from the Golconda Marina, located in scenic Golconda, Illinois, there has been a debate over whether to limit the tournament waters to Smithland Pool only or allow locking through to other waters including the lower Ohio River, Cumberland River, and Tennessee River. Virtually every event headquartered in Golconda prohibits anglers to lock through to Kentucky or Barkley Lake. This is due to the difference in the size limits posted on the respective fisheries. If an angler was allowed access to Kentucky or Barkley Lake, he or she could sneak 14 inch, illegal bass from those waters back to one of the three rivers where they would be considered of legal length. Despite the strong consensus on the Kentucky and Barkley Lakes issue, anglers are divided over the possibility of making other waters off limits to anglers competing in events launching from Smithland Pool. Although the sides to the issue are distinctly different, both camps articulate valid points as support for their respective positions.
Those supporting the effort to close the locks to Smithland Pool tournament competitors begin their argument with a claim that Smithland, one of the most popular pools on the Ohio River, is a vastly different fishery than the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, the destinations of most tournament competitors who lock through the dam. As evidence of the difference, they cite the scant population of smallmouth bass in Smithland Pool as compared to the significant population of bronze backs found in the Barkley and Kentucky Lake tributaries. They argue that anglers skilled in the art of catching smallmouth have an unfair advantage in Smithland Pool tournament competition.
Secondly, with strong ties to their first point of contention, supporters of closing the locks to Smithland tournament competitors express displeasure with the teams, mostly Kentucky based, that have little or no intention of fishing on Smithland Pool who enter tournaments based in Golconda for the sole purpose of locking through to exploit the treasures found in their smallmouth honey holes for the purpose of cashing top tournament paychecks. They feel that those anglers are catching fish that the Smithland anglers do not have equal access to.
Their third point of contention is the fact that anglers with smaller tournament rigs are at a disadvantage because they are unable to make the long run from Golconda through the locks and beyond. On most days, the Ohio River waters are turbulent and can be tricky to navigate, especially when foul weathers arises. Mixing smaller tournament rigs, that make the long run to lock through in order to remain competitive with anglers in larger boats, with difficult navigating conditions and heavy barge traffic dramatically increases the likelihood of boating accidents.
The final, and perhaps strongest, point made by those in favor of making the waters below Smithland Dam off limits express is that of increased participation. Proponents of "locking the locks" feel that many more teams from the Southern Illinois area would compete in events headquartered in Golconda if the fishable waters were limited to the pool only. They add that any teams lost by locking the pool would be more than replaced by the number of new teams that would participate in tournaments with a limited fishing area. Increased angler participation would result in more and larger tournament paychecks.
Smithland Locks & Dam
On the flip side of the debate, anglers in favor of keeping the locks open make points to support their position that are as equally compelling as the anglers encamped against the open waters policy. The first piece of evidence that they point to is just around the corner from the Golconda Marina, Lusk Creek. Anglers advocating an open water policy feel that the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers offer no more of an advantage to them than Lusk Creek offers to the Southern Illinois anglers, especially since it is continually replenished with hundreds of keeper size bass regularly released by the numerous tournaments held there. They are more willing to concede the waters below Smithland Dam if all of Lusk Creek is made off limits to tournament competitors as well.
The second point often made by open lock supporters is that allowing anglers to lock through to other waters gives everyone more room to fish. Smithland Pool is inundated each spring, summer, and fall with countless bass tournaments and club fish-offs. Increasing the number of acres of water available to tournament anglers helps to offset and relieve some of the angling pressure found regularly on the pool.
Also, anglers favoring an open lock policy do not see locking through as any kind of major advantage. In fact, many view it in quite the opposite perspective. Given the unpredictable tri-state area weather and heavy commercial traffic on the main river, locking through is a pure gamble. It is highly likely that anglers making a long run to the south will encounter conditions that will cause them to be late for a tournament weigh-in, resulting in a penalty or outright disqualification. If not hampered by water or weather conditions, anglers choosing to navigate the locks run the risk of being placed in the back of a long line of commercial traffic waiting to make its way upstream.
The final point made by anglers favoring open tournament waters is 180 degrees opposite to the final point made by anglers favoring closed locks. Open water advocates claim that allowing anglers to pass through the locks draws tournament competitors from a larger geographic area. They claim that closing the locks would shrink the size of the tournament fields of Smithland events, resulting in fewer paychecks per tournament with smaller payouts per check.
For the 2005 Illinois Division #4 tournament season, Bass World Sports, a long-time organizer of tournaments headquartered in Golconda, reversed its long-standing policy of allowing anglers to lock through to the waters below Smithland Dam. For 2006, Bass World will revert back to its pre-2005 policy by allowing anglers to lock through. Bob Horrell, owner of Bass World Sports Tournament Association, has a very fair explanation of the rule change for 2005 and the reversion back to the pre-2005 rule for 2006. He explained that Gary Brooks, the well-respected and long-time Division #4 tournament director, was approached by several anglers willing to sign a petition stating that the number of boats competing in the tournaments would increase if the locks were closed. As a result, the change was implemented. Mr. Horrell explained further that he lost the participation of a number of Kentucky based teams that had traditionally competed in Division #4 events. Those teams were not replaced by new competitors, and the number of boats did not increase as the group of anglers claimed that it would. As a result, the locks will be re-opened for the 2006 circuit season. Mr. Horrell added that it is very difficult to determine what, if any, water restrictions should be implemented on a particular body of water. Generally, Bass World’s view is to keep water restrictions as limited as possible.
It is clear that both sides of this long-standing debate offer compelling arguments as to why their perspective is correct. In an effort to shed further light on the topic, a comparative analysis was performed on data collected utilizing tournament results from the previous two years of Bass World Sports events, as well as other events such as the Rodney J. Brenner/SIC tournament and various Super Bass events.
First, the results from the Bass World Sports events in 2004 that allowed anglers to lock through to events in 2005 that prohibiting anglers from locking through were compared. The average number of teams competing in the events allowing locking was 37, with a high water mark in participation of 44 teams in a single event and a low in participation of 31 teams in a single event. The average number of teams competing in the events that prohibited anglers from locking through was 34.25 teams, with a high water mark in participation of 42 teams in a single event and a low in participation of 29 teams in a single event. Although the numbers are reasonably close, the analysis reveals that participation was actually higher in the open lock tournaments.
Next, the fish catching data was compared. It is summarized as follows:
Open Lock Events Closed Lock Events
Largest single winning weight 15.02 lbs. 14.44 lbs.
Smallest single weight to claim a check 6.82 lbs. 7.28 lbs.
Average 1st place weight 12.48 lbs. 12.49 lbs.
Average 2nd place weight 10.58 lbs. 11.06 lbs.
Average 3rd place weight 9.03 lbs. 9.63 lbs.
Average Big Bass 4.71 lbs. 4.43 lbs.
Average check cashing weight 10.70 lbs. 11.06 lbs.
It is very easy to see that the weights of fish caught in Bass World Sports events with each rule in place are very close. Although open lock events yielded the largest single weight and the largest average Big Bass, they also produced the smallest single weight and lower averages as compared to the weights of fish caught in tournaments with the locks closed. Also, in the open lock events, 78% of the 1st through 3rd place teams reported catching their fish in Smithland Pool. 11% reported catching their fish outside of Smithland Pool, and 11% failed to identify the location of their fish catches.
In addition to examining the results of Bass World Sports tournament events headquartered at the Golconda Marina, a comparative analysis was completed on other events held over the same two year period. The fish catching results are summarized as follows:
Open Lock Events Closed Lock Events
Largest single winning weight 19.37 lbs. 16.69 lbs.
Smallest single weight to claim a check 9.16 lbs. 7.80 lbs.
Average 1st place weight 17.20 lbs. 12.26 lbs.
Average 2nd place weight 14.07 lbs. 11.46 lbs.
Average 3rd place weight 11.13 lbs. 11.02 lbs.
Average Big Bass 5.91 lbs. 5.43 lbs.
Average check cashing weight 14.13 lbs. 11.58 lbs.
As one can see, a change in trends results when examining non-Bass World events. Open lock tournaments clearly yield heavier single weights and averages from top to bottom when compared to the results of closed lock events. In addition, in the open lock events, 42% of the 1st through 3rd place teams reported catching their fish within Smithland Pool, while 58% reported boating their fish outside of Smithland Pool, primarily in the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.
Analysis of the tournament data yielded mixed results. Data from Bass World Sports events seems to support the claim that an open lock policy provides an even playing field for all anglers. On the other hand, data from non-Bass World events supports the idea that an open lock policy slants the playing field in favor of teams with larger rigs and more knowledge waters outside of the Smithland Pool boundaries, in particular the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.
When examining the data, one must also consider other factors. Fishing success fluctuates from year-to-year on almost every body of water. So, a snapshot of tournament results over a two year period might not be completely representative of trends over a longer period of time. Also, although several anglers compete in almost all of the events headquartered in Golconda, the fact that the same group of anglers did not compete in all of the events must be taken into consideration. However, despite the imperfections of the data used to complete the analysis, it is fair to say that the tournaments used for the analysis are a reasonable snapshot of the normal Smithland Pool tournament activity in any given year.
The debate over whether to close the locks or keep them open to Smithland Pool bass tournament competitors continues to be waged year after year. Both sides of the issue provide compelling reasons to support their position. An analysis of the tournament results provides no clear cut winner of the debate. As a result, it is safe to say that the debate will rage on for years to come with the only constant being that anglers on both sides of the issue will continue to compete in Smithland Pool events no matter what the rules actually are.
