Leaderboard looms large at Sam Rayburn
American Fishing Series field angling to make cut on day two
JASPER, Texas – The bass fishing on Sam Rayburn Reservoir didn’t live up to its reputation Thursday as one of the premier largemouth fisheries in the country. And with water and air temperatures still below normal Friday morning – not to mention a chilly northwest wind – it’s likely this lake in southeast Texas won’t produce the 20-pound-plus stringers for which it’s famous.
But personal comfort aside, none of that is of much consequence to the 294 FLW American Fishing Series anglers competing here today. What is of the utmost importance is outfishing enough competitors to make the top-10 cut, to be determined at Friday’s weigh-in. So though the size of Sam Rayburn stringers is relative to fishing conditions, it still matters.
Most of the pros and co-anglers fishing this week’s Texas Division event likely hoped to see the sun come out today and the wind die down after fishing in wet, rough conditions yesterday. While weather reports aren’t calling for sustained rains again today, anglers here will still fish in unfavorable conditions: cloudy, cool and misty. The wind shouldn’t gust as hard as Thursday, but it switched to the northwest Friday, which won’t much help boaters as they try to stay on any fish they can find.
One could easily classify the conditions at Sam Rayburn this week as gloomy, but they aren’t quite dismal. Four anglers managed to crack the 15-pound mark at weigh-in yesterday, and co-angler Bo Standley reeled in a 10-pound, 3-ounce lunker – a reminder of why so many love to fish these waters.
Clearly there are quality bass to be had, but getting them to bite when they’d rather hang tight is the conundrum. The Pro Division only weighed 21 five-bass limits yesterday, and the Co-angler Division offered up just five.
Those who did find success Thursday tended to fall into two rough categories: those fishing deeper, many concentrating on ledges and points, and those fishing shallower, many along grass lines or at the edges of feeder creeks. Catches were reported coming from a variety of baits: Carolina rigs, Texas rigs, lipless crankbaits, Senkos, swimbaits, stickbaits and more.
At the core of every competitor’s strategy today will be adding enough weight to yesterday’s to end up near the top of the leaderboard – or to stay there. Following competition Friday, the full field will be cut to the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers, who will fish Saturday’s finale for a shot at top prizes of $25,000 plus a Ranger boat package or $15,000, respectively.
Tournament details
During the Feb. 4-6 tourney, anglers will take off from the Umphrey Family Pavilion, located at 5438 Rural Route 255 West, at Sam Rayburn Reservoir at 7 each morning. Weigh-ins will be held at the Umphrey Family Pavilion beginning at 3 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The full field of pros and co-anglers will fish all three days, with the winners determined Saturday by heaviest accumulated weight. Pros will fish for a top award of $25,000 plus a 198VX Ranger boat with 200-horsepower outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers will cast for a top award of $10,000. If the co-angler meets the Ranger Cup guidelines, they will earn an additional $5,000.
The American Fishing Series consists of four divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast and Texas. Each division will consist of three tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points that could earn them a trip to the American Fishing Series Invitational on Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Ala., Nov. 4-6. The points champion from each division will qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup and a fifth Forrest Wood Cup qualifier will advance from the Invitational that is open to the top 50 anglers from each division.
The Sam Rayburn Reservoir American Fishing Series tournament is being hosted by the Jasper-Lake Sam Rayburn Chamber of Commerce.
For bass-fishing fans unable to attend the festivities in person, you can catch all the weigh-in action live at FLWOutdoors.com with FLW Live. Show time starts at 3 p.m. Central today.
Friday’s conditions
Sunrise: 7:05 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 48 degrees
Expected high temperature: 56 degrees
Water temperature: 48 to 49 degrees
Wind: NW at 10 mph, gusting to 26 mph
Maximum humidity: 96 percent
Day’s outlook: cloudy with temperatures steady near the mid-50s; winds NW at 5 to 10 mph