RIDGELAND, Miss. — A recent one-week period paints a clear picture of the up-and-down nature of Ross Barnett Reservoir. On March 11 it took 30.72 pounds to win a one-day local tournament on this 33,000-acre lake formed by the Pearl River. There were seven more five-bass limits weighing over 20 pounds that day. One week later, in a BFL event, it took only 12 pounds, 12 ounces to win.
“This lake has a mind of its own,” said Brock Mosley, the sophomore Elite Series angler who lives in nearby Collinsville, Miss. “It can be good to you one day and be a completely different lake the next. It’s going to be real interesting to see how this week plays out.”
The four-day Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite at Ross Barnett begins Thursday. There’s more confusion than usual among the pros about how this event will be won. However, there’s no doubt the lake will fish small. In other words, no one expects to be out of sight of another angler for long.
“I think you’re going to see some big stringers get caught, but I think it’s going to be real hard to be consistent just because the lake is going to fish so small,” said Cliff Pace, who lives in Petal, Miss., but rarely fishes Ross Barnett. “This is the smallest venue we’ll fish all year as far as fishable water.”
The “fishing small” scenarios create a mental challenge in addition to the fact no angler is likely to have a spot to himself.
“It’s a hard place to fish because you can’t get away from anybody,” said Jason Christie, who is coming off a second-place finish at Toledo Bend Reservoir. “I know you’re going to hear that a lot this week. But it gets in your head. You know when you pull into a place it’s probably been fished within the last hour.”
As far as predicting a winning weight, most guesses were in the low to mid 60-pound range. In other words, averaging 15 pounds a day will likely put someone in contention for the title.
Brock Mosley fished in that BFL in March, which was before the lake was off-limits to Elite Series anglers. He finished 15th with 8 pounds, 12 ounces.
“I’ve fished here a lot over the last eight or nine years,” said Mosley. “It’s only about an hour from where I live. Being consistent is real hard to do on this lake, any time of year.
“I think 64 pounds is going to be real strong this week. Somebody is going to catch 20 pounds one day, then come in with 9 or 10 pounds the next. It always happens that way here.”
Water surface temperatures have climbed into the high 70s and low 80s, with more warm weather expected during the event. Most of the bass are in post-spawn mode, but there is still some spawning activity.
This is a tournament that could be won shallow, or it could be won deep, or it could be won with a combination of the two.
“It’s going to be a mix,” said Mosley, “but mostly shallow. It’s going to be won by somebody who won’t get caught up in one deal, I think. This lake is so finicky.”
Rookie Skylar Hamilton is the one angler who has found some spots to himself. Hamilton is fishing this season from an aluminum Xpress Boat, which has obvious advantages when trying to reach shallow areas, inaccessible to heavier fiberglass boats.
“There’s a lot of backwater up the river,” Hamilton said. “Most of them aren’t even on the chart, at least they’re not on my chart. You can go over one or two logs, and you can have a whole big pond to yourself and all these different creeks.
“I’ve seen so many places where I thought I could win. But based on my practice, (bass) just don’t live back there, at least not this time of year. I’m going to fish them. I might as well go back there and get away from everybody. Maybe I’ll find something good.”
That might be the entire 109-angler field’s philosophy after three days of practice: Maybe I’ll find something good. It seems nothing is certain on Ross Barnett Reservoir, especially over a four-day tournament.