DURANT, Okla. – Kelly Jordon had an apt description for the challenge that will be muddy, six-feet-above-normal Lake Texoma.
“It’s like letting the rough grow two feet high at The Masters,” Jordon said. “But it actually kind of sets up great for a championship event. It’s going to be the same for everybody.”
Jordon was hoping for ideal fishing conditions when the GEICO Bassmaster BASSfest presented by Choctaw Casino Resort begins here Wednesday. That’s obviously not the case, but Jordon’s looking at the positive side.
“When it gets really tough for everybody, those are the easiest tournaments to win, if you can just figure out a little something,” Jordon said. “You can bellyache and whine if you want, but if you can figure out how to catch a couple of good ones and it holds up, you’re going to love it being tough.”
Every angler surveyed before Tuesday evening’s anglers meeting predicted it would be tough. Lake Texoma at normal level covers 89,000 acres. The lake is covering considerably over 100,000 acres now, and much of it is the muddy red color associated with its main source – the Red River. On the positive side, the lake level has begun to fall. On the negative side, that muddy tide is getting sucked toward the dam, further reducing the water where you’re likely to catch a bass.
“Fishable water” has 4 to 12 inches of visibility. The majority of Lake Texoma has an inch or two of visibility.
So what will it take to make the two-day, Top 50 cut and earn a $10,000 check here?
“I really have no idea,” Jordon said. “I don’t even want to guess.”
Ott Defoe took somewhat of a wild stab of a guess, saying, “I have no clue. It could be anywhere from three pounds a day to 10 pounds a day. I really have no idea.”
Jeff Kriet won the three-day Oklahoma Invitational held on March 12-14, 1998 here, with a total of 36 pounds, 15 ounces. That was the last time Jordon fished the lake.
“I used to fish the lake in team tournaments a lot,” he said. “Back then if you caught 10 pounds a day in a two-day championship event, you were incredible. It was that hard to catch five keepers. A 20-pound stringer wasn’t just unheard of, it was impossible.
“Now you hear about a lot of 20-pound stringers, and 15 pounds a day is just decent when they’re really biting good. That’s outstanding for what this lake used to be like.
“I was really excited to come here and get some of Lake Texoma like I’ve never seen it before. But with the water coming up like nine feet in the last eight days – or something like that – and the mudline coming down the lake, all that equals just crazy conditions.
“It’s just unfortunate. I hate it for Lake Texoma and the area. It would have been great if we’d caught it regular and stable. It might have taken 20 pounds a day to win here, and at least 15 pounds a day. There’s not many lakes where it takes 60 pounds to win a four-day event. It still might take that here.”
But based on what these 108 Elite Series anglers have seen in practice, 60 pounds to win this tournament would be a big surprise.
“The person who puts four days together on this body of water will have done one heck of a job,” said Chris Lane. “I feel like it’s going to take fishing new water every day, fishing stuff you haven’t fished in practice.
“There’s a little bit of a pattern on this lake now, but a lot of guys are running that pattern – willow trees, bushes and buck brush. It’s all the same stuff getting pelted because of the lack of water clarity everywhere else.
“There is a LOT of water. And there are millions of bushes and trees in the water – millions.”
Takeoff begins at 6:15 a.m. Wednesday at Dam Site Park on the south end of Denison Dam.