ONE HUNDRED BASS A DAY

CATCH BIG BASS EVERY DAY?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Drayton Pruitt, a successful attorney from Livingston, Alabama, has set out to produce some of the best trophy bass-fishing ponds and one of the finest quail preserves in the nation. Pruitt's dream has come true on his nearly 3,000-acre P-Arrow Plantation. This week Night Hawk will learn how he's built and today maintains his ponds to produce a trophy bass-fishing experience and quality quail-preserve hunting for sportsmen.
To catch a big bass anywhere in the nation, you need to know that a big bass lives in the area where you plan to fish. When you fish the lakes at P-Arrow Plantation, you don't have to guess about whether or not your lure will pass in front of a big bass. Max Adams, who guides at P-Arrow Lakes, will tell us why he has confidence every time he goes out on the water that his clients will catch a big bass.

Phillips: Max, why do you believe that every day you take clients out that one of your clients -- if not both of them -- will catch big bass?
Adams: Because we're constantly stocking the P-Arrow Lakes with bass that will weigh from 5 to 12 pounds each. Every year we add new big bass to the lakes. Since our lakes are all catch-and-release, all the bass put into our lakes remain in the lakes. Anytime we drain a lake and take the bass out, we put the biggest bass back into the lakes that we fish. We are also starting a growing program that will allow us to grow and replenish our lakes every year.

Phillips: So in other words, you're constantly releasing trophy bass into these lakes every year, right?
Adams: Yes, we are. And often I'm the one who releases the bass, so I know for certain that we have big bass in these lakes. You can go to some lakes at other places, and if the big fish aren't biting you may have a miserable day of fishing and not catch any bass. The good news is that here at P-Arrow, even if the big bass aren't biting, you'll catch from 40 to 100 smaller bass in a day of fishing.

Phillips: What's the biggest bass that you've ever personally caught out of one of these lakes?
Adams: My biggest fish to date is a 9 1/2-pound largemouth bass. But what you have to remember is that these lakes have only been open to the public this year. And I have only been guiding on these lakes for a year.

Phillips: On what did you take that big fish?
Adams: I caught the bass slow-rolling a 3/4-ounce, H&H spinner bait right against the bank. I was fishing the Brewer Pond, which is a pond of only about 7 acres. But you can really get some tackle torn-up in that lake. Jerry Holcomb, another guide on the lakes, has caught and released bass from 10 to 14 pounds each in that lake. What's important to remember about these lakes is that they've been managed for big bass for many years. These lakes at P-Arrow Plantation have had little or no fishing pressure and are just now being opened up to commercial fishing. I'm sure that some of the fish in these lakes never have seen a lure. And I'm certain some bigger bass live in these lakes that we've never seen.

Phillips: How are you managing the fishing pressure?
Adams: We're developing a system to let our lakes rest so that they aren't fished too hard or too much. And since we have eight lakes to fish instead of one, we can manage the pressure and keep some lakes resting while other lakes are being fished. Also because we're adding new bass to the lakes throughout the year, we're insuring that fresh bass live in each of these lakes that haven't been caught and are much more receptive to taking bait.

For more information on P-Arrow Plantation, you can write
P.O. Box 1037, Livingston, Al 35470; call (205) 652-7990 or (800) 949-7990; e-mail parrowplantation@aol.com; or, visit www.bitzandpieces.net

TOMORROW: DRAYTON PRUITT'S P-ARROW PLANTATION BECOMES A REALITY