Rayburn: Offshore grass is where it’s at

Is it ever not a good time to fish Sam Rayburn Reservoir? Well...no. BassGold shows it should take at least 20 pounds per day to win or even place high in this week's B.A.S.S. Nation Central Divisional.

Is it ever not a good time to fish Sam Rayburn Reservoir? Well…no. BassGold shows it should take at least 20 pounds per day to win or even place high in this week’s B.A.S.S. Nation Central Divisional tournament. So Nation anglers should be in for a wild ride.

Here’s a quick look at what BassGold says should be working this time of year on Rayburn. Remember that BassGold’s recommendations are based on actual tournament patterns. So you’re looking at what actually has worked, not what someone thinks should work.

Before taking at look at what BassGold says, bear in mind a couple things:

  1. Weather always plays a role. BassGold crunches many tournament patterns over several years to provide its recommendations, so it covers most weather scenarios, but always factor in current conditions.
  2. This is just a quick overview of the info BassGold has. It’s fish-catching gold, and you can get more gold by surfing the pattern details in BassGold and applying what you know to what BassGold shows you.

Figuring ‘Em Out

The first graph you see in a BassGold Pattern Report for Rayburn this time of year looks like this:

As you can see, slow moving baits are responsible for the most wins and high finishes. Worms/Senkos account for the most high finishes, but jigs win the most.

The next graph is Macro Factors, or generally where on the lake fish have been found this time of year.

“Main lake offshore” accounts for more than 50 percent of first-fifth finishes, so looking for fish there is your best bet. But tournaments have been won in other places, so fish ’em where you find ’em.

The next tab on this BassGold Pattern Report is the world’s best digital fishing map…

…followed by the Habitat Factors graph. This shows that tournaments have been won around a few different types of cover or structure, but you have a 450 percent higher chance of winning by fishing submerged grass!

BassGold.com, a B.A.S.S. partner, crunches thousands of patterns (how, where, what lure) from bass fishing tournaments to show you WHAT DEFINITELY WORKS to catch bass. Save time, save boat gas, have more fun. Save 15 percent on the one-year subscription price by using code BASS132 (case sensitive) when you sign up. Note that BassGold offers a three-day free trial. www.bassgold.com