Anglers Brace for Rough Weather
Midday Update: Sam Rayburn Day 1
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At the morning takeoff, Texas pro Jim Tutt joked about putting on his rainsuit in the warm, dry sanctuary of the cove where the Rayovac FLW Series Texas Division event on Sam Rayburn would soon commence. However, upon leaving the protected waters just east of the Sam Rayburn Dam, anglers soon found a very different mood that’s likely to worsen as the day progresses.
Cloudy morning skies generally foretell some type of weather system coming or going, but this afternoon and evening will see some pretty fierce meteorological mayhem making its way across the Midwest and Mississippi Valley regions.
Located in southeast Texas, Rayburn will probably escape the severe thunderstorms, which are forecast to produce hail, damaging winds and possibly tornado activity to the north. Nevertheless, morning lake advisories were already calling for winds of 30 mph.
This is impacting anglers in multiple ways. First, the strong winds complicate boat positioning, so those fishing outside of protected pockets have their hands full. Also, a roiled lake makes it harder to run from spot to spot.
Lastly, and perhaps of greatest concern, is the potential for lightning. Stephen Johnston, who guides on Rayburn, says this part of the state sees a lot of the flashy stuff, so prudence and self-preservation will likely keep a lot of boats tucked in somewhere safe.
As for the action on the water, most pros observed by FLW’s reporters were flipping and pitching tight within the cover. Tutt, who started his day flipping within the flooded trees, did try his hand at fishing the perimeter with a soft-plastic stick bait. He was making long casts parallel to the trees. Tutt caught a pair of nice keepers – one estimated at about 5 pounds – but few other big bites were witnessed early on in this competition. That’s not to say they aren’t catching them, however. With a lot of flooded cover, it’s easy to disappear on the lake right now.
Stay tuned to FLWFishing.com for FLW Live, which begins at 3 p.m. CT.