WAGONER, Okla. — A given for tournament anglers is dealing with changing environmental conditions. Sometimes the turnovers can even happen over the course of hours and minutes of a given day.
All of the above occurred during the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Central Open #2 presented by Allstate.
That made qualifying for the top 12 a notable achievement on Fort Gibson Lake. Each day the fishing got tougher, including a final day when 24 anglers collectively caught 55 keepers.
The constantly changing conditions came at every turn during the three-day competition. The balancing act required equal amounts of weather watching and strategy adjustments on a nearly cast-by-cast basis.
Fort Gibson functions primarily as a flood control impoundment. The lake lived up to its title by receiving a nearly continuous flow of water from upstream reservoirs, namely Grand Lake and Lake Hudson.
The rising water created boom and bust fishing. For some anglers the strike zone expanded as rising water created new opportunities for shallow water fishing. For offshore fishermen the extra depth scattered the bass across the water column.
For everyone, the weather added to the challenges. A strong cold front dropped the daytime temperature by 20 degrees after a high of 95 on Day 1. The system included a lot of rain, on top of the runoff already flowing into the 19,900-acre impoundment. The weather stabilized on Day 3 although post-frontal conditions made fishing more difficult.
Clearing the many hurdles took skill, risk and determination. Here’s how some of the front-runners overcame the obstacles to find success.
James Elam: 1st place, 47-3
The local favorite from Tulsa is an expert angler on Fort Gibson. Mechanically he executed to expectations. That left the mental side of the game open to improvement.
“Being impatient due to knowing the lake so well was my greatest obstacle,” said the Bassmaster Elite Series pro. “Slowing down was the best solution for me.”
Slowing down prompted Elam to be more methodical in his presentation. His mind stayed focus on each cast instead of anticipating the next move.
Stetson Blaylock: 2nd place, 42-6
When changing conditions continue to plague the mind it takes a focused approach to make the right decision. Those circumstances sum up the obstacle and solution found by the Arkansas pro.
“With so many voices in my mind at once the battle was always deciding when to make a decision,” he said. “At some point you must make a go or no-go decision to change or not.”
The mental trigger point came when Blaylock reached a logical conclusion about when to move. Today was an example when he had only 2 keepers at mid-morning. Fishing deep wasn’t working so he moved shallow to test the water.
The move produced another keeper that added to his creel. The bite went dry and he switched back to the deeper pattern.
“Moving shallow didn’t seem like a big deal but it did allow me to realize that fishing deeper was better,” he added.
The takeaway was finding confidence by the process of elimination.
Stephen Browning: 5thh place, 38-15
The Arkansas pro listed two obstacles as top of mind. Those were fishery size and rapidly rising water.
“When the water rises so fast it throws a curve ball at anyone’s strategy,” he said. “The fish got shallower a lot quickly and that made it challenging to keep up with their movements.”
Browning chose to fish shallow based on his strengths as a river angler. Fort Gibson is shaped more like a river than impoundment, making his approach a logical choice.
His key strategy involved intentionally seeking out and avoiding popular areas of the lake.
“I tried my best to stay away from everyone else,” he said. “Doing that gave me more unpressured water to fish.”
Chad Grigsby: 7th place, 34-12
Size of the fishery compared to the number of anglers was the greatest obstacle faced by the Minnesota angler.
“For me it fished really small for 170 boats,” he said. “I decided to treat it like a pressured urban impoundment.”
That meant abandoning a planned crankbait pattern for a shaky head strategy.
“In a tournament like this it’s difficult to slow down when the lake fishes small,” he said. “You tend to get anxious and it can do you more harm than good.”
The upside was choosing a lure whose action required a slow presentation.
“That’s part of what makes the shaky head a good lure in pressured situations,” he surmised. “You have no other choice than to fish it slow.”