Conroe A Little Slow, But Big Ones Out There

The vast majority of the top-ranked bass anglers in the world are gathered in one place this week. Considering how rare that situation is in the two-tour era, it wouldn't be right if the fishing were easy.

It won't be.

Lake Conroe, site of the Toyota Texas Bass Classic for the second straight year, is a tough place to get a grip on right now. The 50 anglers who'll compete – the top point-earners from the Bassmaster Elite Series, FLW Tour and PAA Tournament Series, along with a small handful of exemptions – will try to solve a puzzle that seems to have no pat solution.

Summer has put up a valiant fight this year in east Texas to keep from giving way to fall. Some of the fish have surrendered to autumn's call, whereas others are still doing the same things they've done for the past 3 months. And still others seem to be undecided as to what to do next.

With this much talent pursuing them, though, it's a given that many are going to see the inside of a boat. And considering Conroe's propensity for nurturing giants, a certain percentage are apt to be quite large.

Lagging Behind

Much of the country endured a late winter this year that was longer and colder than normal, and the pros found most of the fisheries to be a little bit behind on the seasonal progressions when the tour campaigns got under way. That same scenario is evident for this event, but temperatures are at the other end of the spectrum.

High temperatures throughout the region in recent days have reached the 90s. The forecast for the tournament days predicts a slight cool-down, but the mid- to high-80s will still be the norm, and there hasn't been any significant rainfall for several weeks.

What that adds up to is a confused fishery. It's high-time – on the calendar, anyway – for the bass to move shallow and start chasing bait, but all of the conditions aren't yet in place.

"If we'd already had some cool weather, most of those fish would be up shallow," said Bassmaster veteran Zell Rowland, who guided on Conroe before becoming a full-time tour pro. He'd hoped to be competing this week, but stumbled during the previous PAA event at Tawakoni and finished outside the Top 15 in the points.

"I don't think it's been cold enough for them to get up there. A lot of those fish will be setting up in about 10 to 12 feet of water, and mostly all of those will be brush-related. If you're not fishing shallow, the ideal thing would be sitting in 15 to 20 feet of water and throwing to 8 to 12, but that lake has always got some shallow fish somewhere."

"A crankbait like a (Bomber) Fat Free Shad will get down to them on 12- or 14-pound line," he continued. "But a lot of guys might not want to throw a bunch of $20 baits in there because you probably won't get some of them back."

He estimated that 80% of tournaments at Conroe are won on the southern portion, which harbors more big fish than the upper end. When asked to pick a winner, he went with Tommy Biffle, who had a sizzling summer with victories in the final Elite Series tournament and the first PAA event.

"I look for Biffle to be strong if he'll use his noggin. He's going to fish shallow, and it's one of those lakes where if you catch them here today, then don't even go back to that place tomorrow. You need enough water to run around and keep duplicating what you're doing.

"If I was going to fish this tournament to win it, I'd try to find three or four shallow areas for the morning for flipping or throwing a Spook or something like that. The I'd try to know the right ledges where I could run around and throw a crankbait. I think a guy could catch 18 to 20 pounds a day."

Might have to Go Deeper

Dave Lefebre won last year's edition by fishing a jig on docks and seawalls near points. He averaged 15 1/2 pounds a day – more than half of his 46-12 total was contained in his 24-08 day-1 sack. He narrowly held off Andy Montgomery, Todd Auten and Aaron Martens, who all ended up within a pound of his total.

He predicted that the weights will be similar this time around, but the fishing will be different in the absence of the big cold front that swept through the area on day 1 last year.

"I don't think the vast majority of the fish have made their mad rush to the bank yet," he said. "There seems to be a little bit of everything going on.

"Out of the Top 10 last year, most of the guys were fishing in a foot of water. This year it might be better for the guys who are fishing deep. I think that's going to be the biggest difference."

Additional Practice Notes

Here are practice notes from some other anglers who'll compete at Conroe.

Kelly Jordon
"It's warm and the lake hasn't turned over yet like it did last year during the event. The deep-fishing should be a little better, but it seems to be spotty across the board.

"I think it's going to be another shootout. You just have to make the right move at the right time and kickers are going to be the name of the game, along with a limit every day, of course. I'm going to have to decide how much time I'm going to give the deep fish to show up.

"I've found a couple of places where I think I can catch a limit for sure, if I need to fall back on that. There might be some good ones in there, but it's been kind of inconsistent for me."

Russ Lane
"It's been pretty slow for me – I haven't caught a lot. I had a fair first day, but the next 2 days weren't good at all. I tried to find some off-the-wall stuff, but I wasn't able to do it, so I'll be going back to what I did the first day.

"When I came here I thought there'd be a lot of fish moving to the backs of creeks with the bait, but I haven't seen them there. It seems to be more of a summertime deal than anything. I think the ledges will come into play – I don't know if a guy can catch five out there, but if you get a bite, it could be a good one.

"I'll try to mix it up a little bit and fish a few shallow places in the morning, and then get out and crank the ledges and brushpiles and see if I can get a good one."

Scott Suggs
"I've found one thing that's kind of encouraging, but with the quality of fishermen that are here, I'm sure somebody else has stumbled across the same thing I have. From what I can see, it's going to be a lot of putting your trolling motor down and getting after it.

"There are so many boat docks you can fish, and you might fish 60 in a row and then the 61st one will have a bass on it. You could get two or three bites real quick in one little section and you'll have to be on your toes because you might not get bit again on the next 50.

"It seems like there might be a lot of fish suspended out away from everything. It's one of those deals where you could be fishing along and they come up schooling out of the clear blue – that could very easily happen in this deal. I look at it right now as a wide-open ball game."

Notable

> Jordon won Thursday's pro-am tournament as he teamed with amateur partners Jay Gulley and Chris Mahfouz to catch 18-04. Lane's team was 2nd with 17-12 and Brian Snowden's was 3rd with 15-15. Lefebre won last year's pro-am as a prelude to his tournament victory.

> For a list of fan activities associated with the TTBC, click here.