And just like that, the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by Mossy Oak Fishing season is down to one event, and there is a lot on the line. Six invites to the 2023 Bassmaster Elite Series will be awarded, three from the Central Opens standings and three from the overall points race. Also, one angler will punch a ticket to the 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic at Knoxville, Tenn.
There aren’t a lot of places better to finish a grueling, nine-event season than at the big bass factory that is Sam Rayburn Reservoir in East Texas. Sam Rayburn has been one of the best producing lakes in the country for many years, but much of the attention it has garnered has come in the springtime.
On a national stage, there are a lot of unknowns about Big Sam in the fall of the year, which will make for a dynamic tournament for both anglers and fans alike. But one thing is for sure, big bass and big bags will cross the stage.
Watch out for stumps
East Texas has suffered drought conditions most of the summer, and it shows as Sam Rayburn is around 6 feet lower than full pool. With as much brush and timber as Rayburn has, running around the fishery without tearing up a lower unit, or even using the trolling motor without ripping off a forward-facing transducer, will be much more difficult this time around.
Shallow, deep or somewhere in between
It’s going to be interesting to see where anglers focus their attention on Rayburn this time of year. In the 2020 Open event in September, it was largely a brushpile event won by Masayuki Matsushita. While brushpiles are still likely to play in this event, the shallow water bass may be biting as well which could spread the field throughout the fishery.
According to Keith Combs, Lee Livesay, Darold Gleason and several other anglers there is much more grass in Sam Rayburn than in years past, which will add yet another element to the fishing and has some of the bass scattered about. Water temperatures are still in the 70s as well. I think many top anglers will be mixing in both shallow and offshore techniques, but it will be interesting to see which yields the best results.
Decks full of rods
With the potential for bass to be caught anywhere on the reservoir, there will be a lot of different techniques on display, but one bait carrying an angler to victory is pretty unlikely in this event.
In fact, several anglers said during registration that there didn’t seem to be a prevailing pattern. Fall fishing generally requires a lot of trial and error when it comes to bait selection. With fish in several different sections of the water column and in different cover, many anglers will have their front decks full of rods.
A cold front moved through during practice as well, with highs in the 60s and lows in the 30s on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tournament days will feature high temperatures in the 70s and 80s and lows climbing into the 40s and then the 50s to end the week. Changing temperatures may throw things for a loop and make the bite tough.
What will win Phoenix Boats Big Bass?
So far in 2022, 16 bass from Sam Rayburn were submitted to the Toyota ShareLunker program with the most recent being an 8.31-pounder caught in August. The biggest of the year was a 14-pounder caught in March. Most of the ShareLunkers caught this year were towards the beginning of the year. But with 200 boats in the field, many of whom are adept using forward-facing sonar, odds are someone will come across a true Texas giant. Several anglers already have in practice, with a couple bass over 10 pounds showing up.
A 9-7 largemouth was the Big Bass in 2020, and I would anticipate the Big Bass of this tournament will be around this size as well.
Anglers to watch
Thanks to the final Southern Open standings, the overall Angler of the Year and Central Opens races are set for a potentially wild ending. Keith Poche leads the overall standings followed by David Gaston and Cooper Gallant in third place.
Poche and Gallant are already Elite Series qualified after earning a spot through a specific division, Poche via the Northern Opens and Gallant via the Southerns with a solid finish at Hartwell. With a good finish here at Rayburn, Gaston will also punch a ticket for the Elite Series through the Central division.
If Gaston earns the berth in the Centrals, this will create a variety of scenarios for anglers who are in contention for the three berths into the Elite Series through the Overall standings. Cole Sands in fourth, Logan Parks in fifth and John Soukup in sixth would qualify if everything remained constant through the final event. But, a really good finish at Rayburn for Sands could lift him into the top three in the Centrals as well, creating another overall AOY drop down.
That leaves the door open for Shane Lineberger and Bradley Hallman, who is also in contention in the Central Opens.
As far as winning the event, there are close to 70 boaters from Texas competing in this event, the most from any state by far and many of whom are extremely familiar with Sam Rayburn. Here are a couple guys to watch this week:
Keith Combs: Combs’ reputation speaks for itself here. No one knows the lake better, and a win will qualify him for his ninth Classic.
Lee Livesay: Known for crushing the Elite Series competition on Lake Fork, Livesay can win just about anywhere and already has a Central Opens victory this season at Ross Barnett. Sam Rayburn is right up the road from Fork and obviously sets up well for Livesay.
Cole Sands: Anytime offshore fishing could potentially be involved, Sands is an angler to watch. The Carolina rig was the key bait in his College National Championship win at the Harris Chain, and his offshore prowess is constantly on display in the Opens and the guide trips he does on Lake Chickamauga.
Andrew Upshaw: Upshaw’s season has not gone according to plan, and he has said as much on his YouTube channel, but he has an extensive history on Big Sam. In his Toyota Series history, Upshaw has a couple top 10 and 15 finishes throughout the years in the month of October. The last time the Opens were at Rayburn, Upshaw notched a 49th-place finish in a tough September event.
Kayden Tanner: Tanner’s chance for an Elite Series berth in 2022 came to a disappointing end at the last Southern Open at Hartwell, but the Texas native will have one final chance to earn a Classic berth. Tanner grew up on Rayburn and fished several high school championships on the vast fishery, and a newfound love of LiveScope will provide him plenty of options to catch giants on the vast fishery.
Nick LeBrun: LeBrun has been on a tear ever since he finished second at the Bassmaster Open last October on Smith Lake, winning three events including the Open on Grand Lake and a pro level win at Lake Guntersville. LeBrun lives just down the road in Bossier City, La., and has plenty of experience on Sam Rayburn. At fifth place in the Central Opens standings, a good finish could earn him an Elite Series berth.
