The sport got its first real taste of Falcon Lake as a competition venue yesterday, when the Texas Stren division opened its season at this impoundment located along the Texas/Mexico border. And the predictions for a wide-open bite were right on. Check it out.
Bob Ramsdell of Sour Lake, Texas, led the 152-boat field after day 1 with a 34-13 limit. Four pros and one co-angler caught better than 30 pounds, and 30th place sits at 23 1/2 pounds.
"It was one heck of a day for fishing," Ramsdell said. "It's the first time that I've been on this lake, and I found two key areas during practice that I went to. I stayed in one area all day. With the fish changing, the bite was better than it was last week during practice. I left my key spot an hour early just to save the fish for tomorrow. In that area I have a lot of water to cover, and I think I can catch a good limit tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if I could do it 3 days in a row. It's holding a lot of fish."
His catch bested the previous opening-day Stren weight record of 34-12, set last year by Dan Schooveld at Amistad. The big bass of the day was 12-01, caught by Michael Herron. It was the 9th-heaviest bass ever caught in a Stren.
And you can bet every pro in the Bassmaster Elite Series field is checking out the weights too. That's because the Elite Series visits Falcon Lake March 3–6.
> The 152-boat field represented a significant participation drop from last year's 200-boat Sam Rayburn opener.
