FORT WORTH, Texas — Stetson Blaylock doesn’t take very many scouting trips. The Arkansas pro prefers to evaluate the conditions and make a gameplan once he completes official practice. But Blaylock made an exception this winter and made the four-hour drive to Lake Ray Roberts to get a lay of the land for the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
The Elite Series pro didn’t bring a single rod with him, instead spending much of his time running and idling through the Trinity River impoundment.
“I didn’t want to fish and get any preconceived ideas in the winter for a tournament that is happening in the spring,” Blaylock explained. “I spent all my time running and looking. I graphed a little bit, but I’ve always had my best events when I fish in the moment and fish the conditions.”
While the picture was quite fuzzy when the lake went off limits to qualified anglers at the beginning of the year, things are beginning to come into focus as far as what type of tournament this Classic could turn into.
Weather trends
Several major cold fronts moved through central and east Texas throughout the winter, sending temperatures tumbling. Areas around the lake even saw measurable snowfall in early January.
Warm temperatures in early February had the bass moving towards the shallows in east Texas powerhouse Sam Rayburn Reservoir, but a wicked front pushed through just in time for the St. Croix Bassmaster Open presented by SEVIIN, tanking water temperatures and halting any spawning progress. Blaylock imagines the same scenario played out in north central Texas as well.
The last couple of weeks have been filled with warmer days and those are expected to continue for the most part, which could mean good things for Classic competitors expecting prespawn or spawning conditions.
“We have had an extremely cold winter in my opinion here, and I’m not that far from Ray Roberts,” Blaylock said. “The temperatures are starting to warm up now. I’ve been following along with what’s going on down there water wise and all of that, and for what that lake has to offer, it should be good. I really think we are going to be in the prespawn to spawn.”
Looking for sweet spots
Cooper Gallant spent four days in north Texas scouting before the lake went off limits. Most of that time was spent idling the lake for offshore sweet spots he thought could be prespawn staging areas for largemouth.
“I feel like the bass will probably be prespawn, or they will be up on the bank. It depends on the water level,” the Canadian pro said. “But I spent a lot of time offshore looking for hard spots, timber lines and rockpiles. I pretty well saw the whole lake in four days, and I don’t think I even made a cast. Just a lot of looking around and scanning for any irregularity that would take a long time to find.”
Gallant hasn’t spent much time looking at forecasts or water levels since December, but in his mind the prespawn bass will be his best chance at winning. Ray Roberts reminds Gallant of Lake Fork, where he notched a 10th-place finish last year. Ray Roberts, however, has more rock structure to target and plenty of timber, the three-time Classic qualifier said, which sets up for his strengths.
Even if the spawn does begin during the tournament, Gallant imagines a prespawn bite will occur in some form.
“I’m thinking it is going to be a prespawn tournament,” Gallant said. “Either way, even if it isn’t, you will be able to find bass off the bank. All the bass in the lake don’t go to the bank at the same time. Even if the water is high, there will be big ones offshore and that was my mindset. No matter what time of year it is, there will be bass offshore.”
Blaylock is also anticipating a mostly prespawn tournament unfolding for this Bassmaster Classic, and he imagines the eventual winner will find one of those magical spots that Gallant spent his scouting trip trying to find.
But with the current temperature trends, he won’t be surprised if quality bass are also caught sight fishing.
“You will see bass caught off the beds. That is unique to a Classic,” he said. “We haven’t had that happen in a Classic in a while, and I really think it’s going to happen. Now, I’m not saying everyone is going to be sight fishing, but there will be a lot of bass caught off beds. But the biggest majority will be prespawn, no question. There will be a lot of bass staging up.
“With all that being said, it is still a springtime tournament. That lake is a shallow fishery anyway, and I feel like the majority of bass will be caught less than 20 feet deep,” Blaylock added. “I feel like it will set up the way I like to fish, and I’m excited to get down there.”
Staying shallow
South Carolina’s Kyle Austin spent much of his four days of scouting preparing for a spawn-heavy tournament. Along with some offshore scanning, the Bassmaster Opens angler marked several areas that had bushes on the bank as well as deeper banks that could hold bedding largemouth.
“I looked at deeper banks and places that looked like spawning areas,” he said. “It is late March in Texas. The bass have one thing on their mind at that point and that is to spawn. I started looking at the forecast several weeks ago, and it will probably be a spawning tournament if I had to guess.”
Even if he does find himself offshore, Austin doesn’t imagine he’ll be fishing deeper than 15 feet of water.
“It doesn’t seem as deep as other Texas lakes,” he explained. “When you get out past 15 feet, there isn’t much to fish.”
In the scenario where the bass do flood the bank, either because of the spawn or high-water conditions like what happened during the 2021 Classic, Gallant feels he can make quick adjustments to make that work in his favor too. In his mind, it takes longer to break down the offshore areas than it does the bank.
“It is kind of hard to prefish for a derby you know they are going to be on the bank,” he explained. “It is easier to just show up and dissect the bank than it is to idle around and find the little prespawn sweet spots. When I get to Fort Worth, the last thing I want to be doing is idling around a whole bunch. I want to launch the boat and do as much fishing as I possibly can. I got a lot of good-looking stuff off the bank I can check up on. If that isn’t going to be the deal, that will be a little easier to figure out on the fly.”
The navigation factor
As Blaylock noted early, there is a large section of Ray Roberts filled with stumps and standing timber that he, and others, spent time learning to navigate before the cutoff. Learning how to maneuver through the forest becomes even more important when you factor in the wind that is forecasted to blow when practice begins.
Southwest winds were predicted at 20 to 30 mph on Friday, with gusts up to 40. The winds will shift to the northwest on Saturday and Sunday, and while not as strong, the 10 to 20 mph winds will make navigation tricky.
Austin’s prefishing period was anything but calm, but he believes that will help him in the long run given the forecast.
“I’m ready to go. I don’t know what it looks like slick,” he said. “That is a big reason why I prefished. I know how important it is to be able to run around these sketchier bodies of water, especially in the wind.”
