LUFKIN, Texas — Never on the day before a Bassmaster Elite Series tournament have so many anglers been so positive about what might occur. When the four-day Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest begins at Sam Rayburn Reservoir Wednesday, the fireworks will begin, according to every angler surveyed after practice concluded Tuesday.
“They’re going to blast ‘em,” said Kevin VanDam. “It will show the world just how great this lake is. You can throw a frog up in inches of water, and you can catch ‘em on a drop shot out in deep water. They are floor-to-ceiling here. The lake is fishing really big from that standpoint.”
Sam Rayburn Reservoir covers 114,500 acres. It is the largest lake contained wholly within the boundaries of Texas. By definition, it’s a big lake. But with so many bass at so many depths, it’s “fishing big” as well.
“They’ll catch ‘em from 30 feet to dirt,” said Keith Combs, who lives in nearby Huntington. “It’s going to be wide open, whatever you want to do.
“The fish are biting really good. Probably the biggest concern you’ll hear from everybody is, ‘Am I going to catch a big one or two?’ It’s going to take good weight, but it’s just real easy to get bit and a lot of them are 2, 2 ½-pound fish. Everybody will have five, and they’ll come easy. But the main thing is to catch a good one.”
When VanDam was asked to guess a winning four-day weight, he said, “Four thousand pounds. It’s the best lake in the country right now.”
On a more serious note, VanDam said he doubted the total would be 100 pounds, but a 90-pound winning total was probable. The only other time the Elite Series came to Rayburn was in March 2006, when Greg Hackney won with 79 pounds, 10 ounces. But this is a totally different lake. There was very little aquatic vegetation in it then. Now it’s flourishing to the point that Combs barely recognized some areas he fished a month ago, before the lake went off-limits to the 109 Elite Series anglers.
“It’s as healthy as it has been in probably 20 years,” Combs said. “We’ve had two years of high water, which has let the big fish grow, and we’ve had two really good spawns. There are crappie and bluegill everywhere. The baitfish have exploded. And now that the lake is back down to normal (level), the grass is growing like crazy. It’s amazing how much more grass is out there now than there was before cutoff. I was shocked.”
Combs thinks 80 percent of the field will fish shallow-water patterns. But he doesn’t expect to be one of those.
“I’m going to commit to fishing a lot of history, fishing offshore stuff, just because that’s the style I like to fish,” Combs said. “When I’ve fished shallow here I’ve gotten bit too. But I think my best chances of catching a real giant, like a game-changing fish, are going to be offshore.”
Combs said he’s fished this lake since he was 13 years old. He’s lived near it in Huntington for the last five years, where he can be on a ramp at the north end after a 10-minute drive.
“I’ve fished it a good amount in the last two years,” he said “But during that time, the water was 10 feet higher than it is right now. That’s one thing about Rayburn. If we fished it 10 consecutive years in the month of May, it would never look the same. The grass, the water level, it would never be the same.”
In other words, neither Combs nor anyone else has a home field advantage. Rayburn is a level playing field – maybe the best “playing field” in the U.S. for bass anglers, who have an opportunity to catch them any way they prefer, from 30 feet deep to dirt, as Combs said.
Yeah, this should be interesting.
“There’s going to be some fish caught, I’ll tell you that,” said Jacob Powroznik. “It’s going to be fun.”