HOUSTON, Tex. – After a remarkably mild Texas winter and a practice period that featured true Chamber of Commerce conditions, the 52 anglers fishing the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods may get thrown a curveball on Friday before they ever hit the field at Minute Maid Park. Sunny conditions and light winds that were dominant on the final practice day and during Thursday’s Media Day festivities will give way to clouds overnight, which will turn into strong south winds and possibly strong thunderstorms by early afternoon.
It wouldn’t be a B.A.S.S. event with some sort of unusual weather, but this change seems much less apocalyptic than the temperatures in the teens that confronted anglers at Grand Lake in 2013 or Hartwell in 2015. Nevertheless, the competitors are split on the type of effects, and their intensity, that the changes will have on the fishing. While some may be crying, “Houston, we have a problem,” others look forward to seeing a few change-ups.
Casey Ashley, winner of the 2015 Hartwell Classic, doesn’t mind the prospect of swirling winds in the least. He’s had trouble getting Conroe’s big bass to hit a shallow moving bait consistently and feels that the frontal conditions should extend that feeding window beyond the first hour of the morning.
“It’s going to make the fish bite,” he said. “There will be a lot of gifts out there. This is not what I’d call adverse. I love it when it’s super cold or 100 degrees. This should benefit everyone and enable us to fish a little faster.”
One angler who believes that the wind may not help him is Todd Faircloth, who said that he plans to “fish real slow on specific deals.” The Sam Rayburn area native is no stranger to springtime Texas twisters, and he has a consistent track record of adjusting to take care of changing conditions, but the big winds may also impact the way that the local favorites are watched by their avid fans. Conroe is a relatively small lake, with its many seawalls creating ricocheting waves that create washing machine conditions. Anglers who seek to hit a milk run of spots in the course of the day might have to factor their fans into their movements. As Brandon Palaniuk said, “if you waste five minutes moving through the crowd every time you want to change spots, that adds up over the course of the day big time.” Of course, with 20 to 30 mile per hour winds threatening to blow out of the south, some spectators who would’ve combined a day of sunbathing with an on-the-water seminar from the best of the best might now be inclined to stay home, reducing the burden on the competitors.
The semi-local favorite, Keith Combs – winner of two Toyota Texas Bass Classics on Conroe – professed not to have seriously considered the changing conditions, at least not as a detriment to his chances of winning.
“The only time that I look at the weather is early in the season or when we’re on a really big body of water like Toledo Bend or Erie,” he said. “With what we’re getting tomorrow, you give and you take. If you’re sight fishing, it’ll probably hurt you some, but if you’re just fishing shallow water, it’ll probably help. No matter what, it will be the same for all of us. On paper, I couldn’t have scripted it any better. If you had told me that this would be the set up for the Bassmaster Classic, I would have high expectations.”
Even before Friday afternoon’s storms were in the forecast, Combs planned for the bite to change each day, not necessarily in response to harsh weather, but simply as a result of the fact that Conroe’s “easy” shallow fish will likely get pressured and caught early. The angler who wins may not do so in a confined area or on a single pattern, but rather by mixing it up.
“You can’t live or die by one thing on Conroe,” he explained. “I’m going to spend half of my time shallow and half of my time somewhere else. I have 30 or 40 spots and I’d love to get on a roll and hit everything.”
Palaniuk agrees with Combs that Day 2, not Day 1, will be the day that the weather impacts most, as the lake tries to settle down after the big winds and potentially heavy rain. “We’ll feel more of the effects on Saturday,” he explained. “The water could get dirtier, but I don’t know if that’ll be better or worse. The fish are already so spread out, they’re not sure which way they want to go.”
Ashley doesn’t worry about the lake turning to mud because the same seawalls that will create unpredictable waves also serve to insulate much of the water supply. “It’s all filtered through concrete and pretty green grass,” he said.
One angler who didn’t think muddying water would hurt him is shallow water guru Bill Lowen. He’s going “as far back as I can, into stuff that the average everyday guy is not going to bother with. Some of them are dirty, even chocolate milk, and some of them are just stained.” Even if those areas get dirtied more, he’s hopeful that it will spur a bite that has been elusive during practice. “I think it would help me tremendously. It’s been a low light deal and we’ve had lots of high and bright skies. If it’s overcast and windy all day, I expect that to help.”
While the anglers collectively seemed nonchalant or even welcoming of conditions that would force a rainout in many other sports, the one person at Media Day who took a more sober approach was tournament director Trip Weldon. “I worry about everything,” he admitted. “On a stormy day, the fish should bite ahead of the front, but I can’t emphasize the need for safety enough. That’s the nature of our sport, and it’s not the first time we’ve dealt with this. I will watch the forecast in the evening and in the morning, and I have an ability to send all of the anglers a text if there is any change. If danger is imminent, the rules allow them to seek shelter.”
Most of all, he encouraged the many loyal and enthusiastic spectators to consider staying off the water, where their presence might only exacerbate already-crowded conditions. “You’ll be much better off watching the action on Bassmaster.com or BASS Live,” he said.