After Cold Snap, Stage Set For Post-Front Classic

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

For months, most of the talk about this year’s Bassmaster Classic centered around one thing – the weather. It’s the one variable, especially at this time of the year in the Midwest, that can be maddeningly unpredictable.

As Will Rogers once famously said, "If you don't like the weather in Oklahoma, wait a minute and it'll change."

The 53 competitors have been here since last week and it’s changed plenty and it’s expected to change again before everyone blows out of Tulsa. They’ve seen sun and wind and snow flurries so far, and their last-ditch attempt to formulate or refine a strategy on the water Wednesday was highlighted by a winter storm that dropped a blanket of snow upon them in the morning.

Additional precipitation in the form of freezing rain is expected Thursday, which could knock the water temperature down a few degrees in some locales, but it seems to have held steady since Sunday. Come Friday, however, the weather should take a backseat to fishing and rightfully so. Chilly but somewhat stable conditions are expected for the competition days, which should set the table for a post-front tournament that could favor those that know the lake best. In short, it’ll be a grinder’s delight.

Blocking out the effects of the cold and focusing on the task at hand shouldn’t be that difficult for the seasoned veterans and those accustomed to base layers and bibs and parkas and battery-powered socks. However, for those new to the unforgiving Classic limelight, the conditions could pose an even greater challenge. It’s hard enough to prepare for the sport’s marquee event under ideal conditions. Factoring in potentially icy roads, slick boat ramps, frozen rod lockers and numb fingers – all non-fishing factors – could creep into one’s psyche or at least divert a portion of their focus.

“That’s a big part of it,” said Mike Iaconelli, the 2003 Classic champ. “For the guys who’ve never fished a Classic, that pressure’s obvious. I think the cold is a big one. I can remember the (2010) Lay Lake Classic that Kevin (VanDam) won. A lot of the guys were out of it before the tournament even started because of the weather. You have to be more prepared and that’s got to be part of your game plan.”

Before getting into more specifics about practice, here's more about the lake itself.

BassFan Lake Profile

> Lake name: Grand Lake O' the Cherokees (Grand)
> Type of water: Lowland impoundment
> Surface acres: 59,200 at full pool
> Primary structure/cover: Points, ledges, some laydowns, riprap banks, tons of docks and brushpiles
> Primary forage: Gizzard and threadfin shad, crawfish, bluegill, crappie
> Average depth: 35 feet
> Species: Largemouths, smallmouths and spotted bass
> Minimum length: 14 inches
> Reputation: A super lake for numbers with potential for 20-pound-plus bags, but big bites can be hard to pattern
> Weather: The sun could make a cameo appearance on Sunday, but until then daytime highs in 30s and overnight lows in the teens and 20s will test some wills.
> Water Temp: Mid-40s, a degree or two higher in the backs of some creeks
> Water visibility/color: Stained. Less than 2 feet in some areas, clearer in the middle and lower sections
> Water level: Normal
> Fish in: 0 to 25 feet
> Fish phase: Winter
> Primary patterns: Jerkbaits, cranks, jigs, spinnerbaits, spoons, swimbaits, dropshot, flipping docks
> Winning weight: 56 pounds
> Cut weight (Top 25 after 2 days): 21 pounds
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 3 for Grand
> Biggest factor: Pressure. Some live for it, others crumble in its presence. A shaken bottle of soda has an easier go of it than a Classic competitor this week.
> Biggest decision: When to go. Finding enough places that’ll hold up to a pattern is going to be paramount this week. Deciding when to pick up and go to the next stop could separate the winner from the pack.
> Wildcard: Kicker bites. There are plenty of 5- and 6-pounders swimming at Grand and a few showed themselves in practice. Triggering just a couple, or even a batch of 4s, to bite could carry someone to the top.

Temp Talk

So what effect did the all the volatile weather have on the water temperature? We won’t know the full impact of Thursday’s freezing rain episode until boats slip off their trailers and into the lake Friday morning, but many competitors noted that they saw nearly identical readings on Wednesday from when they were last on the water Sunday.

According to FLW Tour pro Darrel Robertson, a native of nearby Jay, Okla., and an avid Grand Lake angler for years, the magic number for a good bite seems to be 45 degrees in late February or early March.

“Last year, they caught a lot of fish, but it was all on the Alabama Rig,” he said. “Of course, it never got real cold – I don’t think it even got below 45 degrees last year.

“If it’s 42 degrees,” he continued, “it’s tough to catch fish on that lake. You can catch them, but it’s just a few places. You’ve got to be around clear water, though. I’ve caught some really big stringers there, but the conditions have to be just right. February used to be my favorite month to catch a 26-pound stringer, but everybody figured out how we were doing it.”

B.A.S.S. prohibits the use of umbrella rigs so if the conditions do align just right, Robertson would scale down his arsenal to just two baits.

“I’d be throwing a jig and a jerkbait,” he said. “If the water temperature’s about 45 degrees, I would look for them to have a pretty decent tournament.”

In addition to temperature, clarity will come into play a lot this week as anglers will be seeking out the clearest water possible. The deeper cuts, pockets and creek arms will be the safest bet for that.

“You can go to Eucha Lake or Beaver Lake and in 40-degree water temperatures you can catch fish because the water’s clear,” Robertson added. “It just seems to me that if you get some dingy water it’s just harder and harder to catch fish the colder it gets. They’ll be looking for the clearest water they can find. That real cold, dirty water isn’t going to work a lick.”

Which Way?

The book on Grand is that it features three distinct sections and depending on the prevailing conditions, each of them could harbor the winning stringers this week. There’s also a train of thought that somebody may pick off some keepers from key stretches in each section en route to the top.

The upper lake is home to three feeder streams – the Neosho, Spring and Elk rivers – and can be sensitive to rain and wind and they’ll be no shortage of either today.

The mid and lower sections of the lake figure to get the most attention as deeper, clearer water is easier to find and structure is plentiful, ranging from countless coves, cuts and pockets, chunk rock banks and sunken brush near boat docks to offshore ledges.

One thing you won’t find here, no matter the area of lake you’re in, is grass. Grand is held in high esteem as one of best non-vegetative fisheries around, so the green stuff won’t be a player at all this week.

Field Notes

Here are notes from the final practice day from some anglers who'll compete in the 43rd Classic.

Dean Rojas
“It was cold (Wednesday). It was a lot like our practice period, but we had some snow out there. The water level’s the same and the water temperature’s pretty close to being the same. It was just a matter of looking around.

“It’s not supposed to be this way (weather-wise) when the tournament starts so I didn’t really put a whole lot of emphasis on it. It’s wintertime. You never know what’s going to bite. It could be a pound-and-a-halfer or it could be a 3-pounder. You just hope that you get those big bites on game day. (Wednesday) was just a matter of looking around and eliminating a couple of things so I can focus on what I need to do on the weekend.

“I have a gameplan. It’s just a matter of a spot being open or feeling the wind direction is right. A lot of it will be a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants deal. I don’t have a set pattern, but I have a good idea of how I want the day to progress.”

Casey Scanlon
“I had a pretty decent practice. I caught a lot of fish every day until (Wednesday). I tried some new stuff and only got three bites, but they were all 3-pounders, which isn’t horrible. I was able to catch a couple big fish each day and I think I have a pattern going for the big fish and hopefully it’ll work out.

“Every one that I’ve caught has been relating to the same thing. Whether I can catch five in a day, I don’t know. This is not a tournament to get 2nd place in and I have a lot of spots like that so I’m going to do it all day long and hopefully get five big ones.

“I think 18 pounds is going to be pretty good. It wouldn’t shock me to see a couple 25-pound stringers. It’s going to be real cold Friday, but I don’t think it’ll hurt the bite. I imagine you’ll see several stringers over 20 pounds. That’s what I going for. I don’t know if I can catch it, but that’s what I’m going to try to do. I’m throwing about four different baits and I can catch fish on all of them. The bigger fish are coming on two different baits.”

Mike McClelland
“I feel like I learned some stuff (Wednesday). I wish we wouldn’t have even gone out, personally, but I took advantage of the opportunity and expanded and looked at some new water. I really can’t say I saw any noticeable (changes). I tried to catch some in some areas I’d practiced in and not caught them and still didn’t catch them. I also explored some new stuff and had a few bites.

“I am absolutely committed to what I’m going to do and there’s nothing that’s going to keep me from doing it. I do feel that a big key is going to be covering a lot of water and I am going to fish as many places throughout the course of the day as I can. I don’t plan on sitting on anything for a long period of time. It’s not to say I won’t alternate back through it later in the day.

“This lake fishes a pattern really well and when they’re biting you need to be moving. I don’t think anybody’s going to catch a lot of fish off of one place at one time. You might catch three, four or five fish out of an area over the course of 3 days, but it’s not a deal that’s set up right now to sit on a place and catch them that way.”

Skeet Reese
“I fished all new stuff (Wednesday). I have a slight theory and I’m trying to see if there was any validity to it and hopefully it’ll hold up. I was just looking for different things. I had a decent number of bites today, but how big they all were I have no idea.

“I’m going to fish based on the weather and let the fish tell me what’s happening. I figure Friday is going be about as tough a day of fishing as you’re going to have with high pressure and bluebird (skies) and miserable cold. I’m pretty confident they won’t bite as good as they did today.”

Jonathan Carter
“I found some new water (Wednesday) and I’ve got a little bit of a pattern going, but not as much as I’d much. I’m catching 2- and 3-pounders instead of 4s and up. I’d rather have something else. I’m hoping I can hit fewer spots on Friday, but I’ll probably look at at least three. It’s been a great experience. I’ve really enjoyed it. I could do this all the time.

“The water temperatures came down. I was seeing 44 and 45 degrees where I’d been seeing 46 or 47. I’m alright with cold water, I’m used to that. The closer you get to the rivers, the dingier it gets. You can get a couple feet of visibility toward the lower end.”

Shaw Grigsby
“I’d pretty much dialed in what I want to do during our 3-day practice last week so (Wednesday) was more about what I could expand or could I figure something out in some areas I’m not going to fish. It was more exploring, which was good.

“I didn’t have a great day by any means, but on the bright side I know I won’t be spending time on anything that I fished (Wednesday). That eliminates stuff where normally I’d be going, ‘I gotta try this or I have to go here.’

“I’m boat 51 and I remember at the Red River, I watched four boats go into an area I had before I could get off the dock because I was boat 38. I think, in my 15 Classic, I might’ve been in the first flight one time. I’m very used to shafted by the draw, so to speak. In this case, being boat 51, I’ll probably drive down and go, ‘Nope, can’t go there,’ and then drive some more and go, ‘Nope, not there,’ before finally getting to a place I can get on. That’ll be my day. Am I optimistic? I know I can catch some, but I don’t know if I’m going to be able to fish the stuff I want to. Obviously, the next day I can go where I want to go.”

Boyd Duckett
“I didn’t find anything that I liked better than what I already had so I didn’t really get anything out of (Wednesday). I found some pretty good fish on Sunday, so I’m still right where I was.

“It’s cold, but you have to stay positive. It’s the only way you can win any of these. Mental toughness is extremely important. It’ll probably be tougher when it gets real cold and if a guy doesn’t have any real good ones and he’s out there in the wind freezing. It’s hard to believe you’re winning when it’s like that.”

Mark Dove
“Until (Wednesday), if my practice had been a disease, I would’ve needed to get better to die. I had a pretty good Friday and a pretty good day (Wednesday), but in between it sort of sucked. I was basically looking for new water.

“I’m still looking, but it seems overall from all of the tournaments I’ve fished, I’ve done better in the tournaments where my practice was not so good as opposed to when I was just killing them in practice. That’s always the best deal when it just comes together. I know just enough to think I might be able to catch them. I’m probably going to start from mid lake to the dam. That’s a lot of water.”

Edwin Evers
“It’s going to be completely different come Friday. We’re going to have sunshine and no clouds or snow. I think it’ll make for some better fishing. I’d rather have sun.

“I fished all new water (Wednesday) and eliminated a bunch and found a few more things. There are two patterns that are working for me. You better catch ‘em. It’s going to take some weight (to win).”

Ott DeFoe
“Fishing wise, I don’t know that I really accomplished anything. I caught just a few fish and didn’t have that many bites really. I had it in my mind to go out and figure out how to catch bigger ones and do stuff a little different and I couldn’t really get bit doing anything different. I went back to the way I’d been catching some and was able to get a few bites doing that. I don’t know that I figured out anything else. I just know what I’m going to do now, there’s no question about it.

“I don’t really think they’ll go anywhere (before Friday). You may have to change techniques a little bit to catch them, but I don’t think they’ll go too far. Catching fish is not going to be an issue. I might be very wrong and come in Friday with one or two, but I don’t see that happening. Just catching the big ones is going to be the deal, getting them to bite and getting them in the boat.”

Mike Iaconelli
“Practice was good. I always practice the same. I never like to go back and visit where I think I’m going to fish in the tournament. (On Wednesday), I fished a lot of new stuff and eliminated a lot, but I feel like I might’ve added a couple things to my pot. That’s what the (official practice day) is all about. It’s not about going back to your areas and jacking those fish. It’s about expanding a little bit and eliminating more stuff and I did that.

“The clarity and temperature have been about the same. From pre-practice until now, I’ve been from one end to the other and I’ve seen clarity changes, but water temperature wise, I’ve seen 44 to 46 as an average. It’s a little warmer some places and colder in others, but it’s not like you’re finding 55-degree water somewhere. I’m not overly concerned about the cold affecting the bite. I think it actually may make it a bit better.

“I have three confidence patterns and a fourth that’s a longshot. I like going into any event with three patterns and I feel like I have that. I have a good feeling about. The nice thing about this one is I don’t want to say I’m the underdog, but nobody’s paying attention to me. I’m not from Oklahoma and I had a (crappy) year last year. Everybody’s kind of leaving me alone so I’m going with it.”

Yusuke Miyazaki
“It’s been tough so far. I was thinking the fishing would be better. I don’t know if this cold weather is affecting them or not. I found a couple of areas that have decent fish and hopefully by tournament time, they’ll still be there.

“The problem was I did the same thing for a couple days in practice and one day it was good and the next day it was bad and the next day it was okay. It hasn’t been stable. I’m working with just two patterns because in this tournament, I need bigger fish so I’ve been trying to stick with my big-fish pattern all day long. If I don’t catch them, that’s the way it is in this tournament. In this one, it’s all about going for it.”

Launch/Weigh-In Info

Anglers will launch their boats at 7 a.m. CST at Wolf Creek Park & Boat Ramp, which is located at ‪16th Street & Annawake‬ off Highway 59 in Grove, Okla. Daily weigh-ins begin at 3:30 p.m. (doors open at 3 p.m.) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the BOK Center (200 South Denver
, Tulsa, OK, 74103).‬

The Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo will be held at the Tulsa Convention Center (100 Civic Center, 
Tulsa, OK 74103) during the following hours:

> Friday: 12:00 – 8:00 p.m.
> Saturday: 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
> Sunday: 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Notable

> Brent Chapman and Aaron Martens . To read their practice reports, click here.

Weather Forecast

> Fri., Feb. 22 - Mostly Cloudy - 38°/19°
- Wind: From the W at 10 mph

> Sat., Feb. 23 - Cloudy - 42°/30°
- Wind: From the E/SE at 6 mph

> Sun., Feb. 24 - Partly Sunny - 58°/39°
- Wind: From the S at 18 mph