Rayburn Day 2 Midday Update
Afternoon bite expected to turn on
Day two of the Costa FLW Series Southwestern Division event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir seemed to bring a slower start than day one. We saw a few small to midsize fish but the fish were significantly less active than on day one.
Around 10 o’clock, we found Kansas pro Danny Sheppard working ditches and hay grass in Veach Basin. He had three small fish in his well, but his analysis probably summarized what many competitors were facing today.
“I need the water to be another 2-3 degrees warmer,” Sheppard says. “The cool nights are hurting us.”
As Sheppard explains, the mid-morning water temperature of 55-56 degrees was cooler than the range in which he caught fish a day earlier. Blame the cold front that passed through a day before the event for the drop in water temps; but bright, clear post-frontal skies mean lots of water warming.
Due to the cooler conditions the bite probably won’t fire up until the afternoon when water temps have a chance to rise. Boats in that later flights should likely see and advantage today since they’ll have plenty of time to leverage the afternoon bite.
Look for a mix of Carolina rigs, lipless crankbaits, square-bill crankbaits, spinnerbaits and flipping baits to account for most of the afternoon catch. Some angers are targeting bed fish, while others are looking for classic prespawn staging areas.
Working in the anglers’ favor are the lake conditions — mostly smooth, with barely a ripple. For the top pros that are able to replicate a pattern throughout the lake, these conditions will provide a perfect opportunity to do so.
Tune into flwfishing.com at 3 p.m. CT to see who will make the cut for the top 10 to fish on Saturday.