PIERRE, S.D. — You wouldn’t expect the largest manmade lake in the U.S. to give up all its secrets in only 2 ½ days of practice time, especially on a first-ever visit by the Bassmaster Elite Series. But many of these 107 anglers expressed total frustration on the eve of the Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Lake Oahe presented by Abu Garcia.
“I’m scared to death,” said Steve Kennedy at Thursday evening’s anglers meeting. “It may be my worst tournament ever. Or it may be my best tournament ever. I don’t know. It’s a big unknown.”
What’s known is the fact that the smallmouth bass are definitely in a post-spawn mode for the most part.
“I know this lake is better than what it’s showing right now, just from looking at the fish,” said Alton Jones. “The fry you can still see are pretty big, so the (adults) are exactly post-spawn. We’re probably hitting it about as bad as you can.
“It’s obviously a dynamic fishery. It’s got lots and lots of fish in it. They’re just weighing light right now. They’re skinny.”
In terms of surface acres, not total volume, Lake Oahe (pronounced ‘oh-WAH-hee’) is the largest manmade lake in the U.S. It includes 374,000 acres. It’s slightly larger than Florida’s Lake Okeechobee, a natural lake, and almost 2 ½ times bigger than Toledo Bend, located on the Texas-Louisianan border. The Elite Series pros can’t fish all of this massive lake on the Missouri River. It stretches to Bismarck, N.D. The tournament is limited to South Dakota waters only, but that’s way more than enough, as marinas with gas pumps are scarce.
“We’ve got this place that has never been fished – brand new opportunities,” said Mike Iaconelli. “That’s exciting. I think all of us had it built up in our heads, like it’s going to be like Lake Champlain in the early ‘90s, or Lake Mille Lacs the first time we were there, places that are magical.
“But I think we’re running into it at a really funky, post-spawn, transitional time. It’s not that they’re not here. It’s not that 20-, 22-pound bags aren’t swimming around. They are. But I had an extremely difficult practice.”
So instead of maybe a 20-pounds-a-day average to win this four-day event, those estimates are being drastically scaled back.
“I think 16 pounds a day will win it,” said Jones. “You may catch 20 or 21 pounds one day, but an average of 16 a day should win. And I’ll be shocked if 15 a day doesn’t make the top 12.”
Jones predicted it would take only 11 pounds a day to make the Day 2/Top 50 cut.
Sixteen pounds a day computes to a 64-pound winning total. Ott DeFoe predicted something only slightly higher, saying, “About 65 pounds, maybe 67. I don’t think it will be 17 a day (68 pounds).”
Cliff Pace was standing nearby, and he said, “I’ll go with 65.” Bill Lowen agreed. Roy Hawk nailed it down even tighter, saying 61 pounds, 2 ounces.
As someone who has heard low-ball numbers before almost every Elite Series tournament, I don’t know what to believe. If Lake Oahe holds true to form in terms of the usual, pre-tournament sand-bagging, I’ll defer to Hawk’s final thought.
“The fish are here,” he said. “Somebody is going to catch ‘em.”
Daily takeoffs will occur each competition day at 6 a.m. CT from the Spring Creek Resort & Marina, and weigh-ins will be held at Steamboat Park in Pierre at 3 p.m.