Flooded Falcon will be feast or famine for Fish-Off

Thirty pros from FLW Series East, 30 from FLW Series West square off for Forrest Wood Cup berths

ZAPATA, Texas – For the last couple of years, Falcon Lake on the Texas-Mexico border has been the hottest bass lake in the United States.

Tournaments results, Internet reports and television shows have all proven that catching 5-pound-plus bass at Falcon Lake is as easy as getting a lure into the water, and culling 5-pound bass is as easy as getting that same lure right back in the water.

Breaking the 40-pound mark for a five-fish limit on Falcon is not just a southern Texas mirage; it’s a reality, and it’s been done dozens of times in tournaments.

So when FLW announced that the Walmart FLW Series East-West Fish-Off was going to be held on Falcon Lake, many pros and co-anglers were wrought with excitement – visions of culling 6-pounders filled their heads.

However, over the last two months there has been a significant change in Falcon Lake: It has nearly doubled in size.

Due to repeated Pacific storms that blew into the mountains of northern Mexico this summer, Falcon is basically flooded – some 25 feet higher than when pro Paul Elias shattered BASS records here in April.

This flume of water came from the Rio Conchos River in Mexico, made its way to the Rio Grande River, filled Lake Amistad to capacity and now is filling Falcon beyond its highest conservation pool.

The result is thousands and thousands of acres of flooded green bushes – and those are just the ones you can see – that does not include the flooded scrub submerged some 15 to 20 feet under the surface.

To give anglers some idea of what it’s like to fish Falcon right now, consider that if you are looking at a GPS image of Falcon lake, most of the fishing is being done up on the “land” part of the map, not in the “water” portion.

This sudden deluge of water has temporarily smoldered some of Falcon’s red-hot reputation. Of course, there will still be some eye-popping bags in the 30-pound class weighed, but everyone in the field will not be able to catch 20-pound bags at will. Mostly, there will be quite a disparity between those who are really on them and those who are not.

“It’s going to be feast or famine,” noted Sabinal, Texas, pro Mike Hawkes. “Each day some guys are going to have 30 pounds, and other guys are going to have 6 pounds. And given this head-to-head matchup format, it’s very possible that one guy might have 75 pounds for three days while his opponent will have about 20 pounds for three days. It could be brutal for some anglers.”

A few top-name pros such as David Dudley, David Walker and J.T. Kenney have all reported having rather poor practice rounds. Each noted that a good day has been about five or six bites – not the hand-chaffing, 5-pound culling frenzy that has been Falcon’s norm over the last year.

“It’s definitely off compared to how this lake normally fishes,” noted Keith Combs of Del Rio, Texas. “The last time it was this high was in 1987. And it’s come up fast this time. I was just here in September, and there was not a green bush in the water. Now there’s 20 feet of water over those bushes.

“But the fish are still here, and some guys are going to catch them big, just like always,” Combs added. “The fish are bunched up really tight, and if you can get on a wad of them, it’s insane how fast you can catch 30 pounds. But those bunches are much harder to find with so much water in the system. Two months ago everyone in the tournament would have had at least 20 to 25 pounds, but I don’t think it’s going to be like that now.”

Some pros speculate that if the lake would just quit rising and stabilize somewhat, it would help get the fish back into more predictable locations. But as for now, the bass are still getting used to their new real estate in Falcon Lake.

Logistics

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. each day from the Zapata County Park and Public Boat Ramp. Weigh-ins will be held each day at the County Park beginning at 3 p.m. and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

The entire field competes all three days with the winner of each head-to-head matchup in the Pro Division determined by the heaviest total weight from all three days. These 30 winners will advance to the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup.

In the Co-angler Division, the top 30 competitors based on total weight will advance to the Forrest Wood Cup. With a total purse of $2 million, including as much as $1 million going to the winning pro, and a world-class outdoor show, the Forrest Wood Cup is bass-fishing’s crown jewel.

Thursday’s conditions

Sunrise: 7:01 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 49 degrees

Expected high temperature: 82 degrees

Water temperature: 65 degrees

Wind: SSE at 5 to 10 mph

Day’s outlook: sunny and warm