By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
It's been 16 years since a Bassmaster Classic has taken place this late on the calendar. The 51st edition of the event, which gets under way today and runs through Sunday at Lake Ray Roberts in Texas, will play out on a flooded big-fish venue that will offer competitors several options for racking up weight.
The tournament, delayed 3 months from its original dates to allow for further easement of coronavirus restrictions, likely won't resemble the summertime Classics that took place in the earliest portion of this century. A cold winter in the Lone Star State and heavy recent rains will bring some springtime qualities to the derby. Shallow water will play in a big, big way.
It's extremely difficult to tab favorites for this one as just about any fishing style could prevail. The one sure thing is that big bites will be necessary – the lake is home to a lot of largemouths weighing in excess of 4 pounds.
Before delving deeper into the bite, here's some intel on the lake:
BassFan Lake Profile
> Lake name: Ray Roberts
> Type of water: Impoundment on the Trinity River
> Surface acres (full pool): 29,350
> Primary structure/cover: Standing timber, rip-rap, boulders, stumps, brush piles, milfoil, pondweed, hydrilla. Lake is undeveloped (no houses or docks).
> Primary forage: Shad, bluegill, crawfish
> Average depth: 25 feet
> Species: Largemouth
> Minimum length: 14 inches
> Reputation: Not a great fishery for numbers, but excellent potential to catch 6- to 10-pounders
> Weather: Hot – temperatures should reach the mid 90s on all three competition days with a few clouds and moderate wind
> Water temp: Mid 70s
> Water visibility/color: Mostly clear; some creeks have stain
> Water level: 4 feet above normal pool
> Fish in: Various depths
> Fish phase: Post-spawn, summer
> Primary patterns: Flipping, topwaters, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, worms, jigs swimbaits, jerkbaits
> Winning weight: 60 pounds (3 days)
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 3.5
> Biggest factors: It’s Texas, so the big bites are always going to loom large
> Biggest decision: Staying shallow or heading out away from the bank in hopes to fire up a school
> Wildcard: A deeper-water hot spot where fish are grouped up.
Here’s a look at how Lake Ray Roberts lays out, thanks to Navionics:
Bruisers Out There
Lake Ray Roberts, a 34-year-old impoundment on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, was a better numbers fishery in the latter part of the 20th century than it is today. Presently, 30- or 40-fish days are uncommon, even for the anglers who know it best, but a dozen bites can produce a 25-pound-plus stringer.
There are enough oversized fish available to put the all-time Classic weight record (69-11 by Kevin VanDam in 2011 at the Louisiana Delta) in jeopardy. And due to the present conditions, they can be caught in a lot of different places.
All the flooded shoreline cover (willow trees, buckbrush, various types of weeds, etc.) will be attractive to many in the Classic field who'll have no qualms with putting their trolling motors on high speed and covering a bunch of water. Those who prefer their fish more grouped up and want to take advantage of their all-seeing electronics can head for the offshore ledges or the plentiful standing timber.
"I think it's setting up to be a very interesting Classic because guys can do several totally different things," said Dannie Golden, who's operated the Get Bit Guide Service on Ray Roberts full-time for the past 20 years. "It could be won shallow or deep, or with a combination of those. I could see guys taking advantage of the early bite up shallow and then transitioning (to deeper water).
"The shallow fish aren't bunched up and there's just so much cover, but if you flip into the right bush, there are good ones to be had."
Golden said that despite the high water level, much of the lake is extremely clear as all the green vegetation is acting as a filter.
"It's flooded once or twice a year for the last 6 years and when it stays up for a while, it takes on sort of a brackish color that we call 'Texas tea'," he said. "That's starting to happen now. It's a rich color and the fish seem to like it."
He noted that bags registering in the mid 20s to low 30s are usually required to win single-day local derbies, but repeating those weights for multiple days is a stern challenge.
Chris Johnston said he got more bites during practice than he'd expected.
"You might see the winner catch 25 one day and then back it up with a couple of 17s. I can see the winning weight ending up in the upper 50s and maybe cracking the low 60s."
Notes from the Field
Following are practice notes from a few of the anglers competing in this event.
Seth Feider
"I was expecting the majority of the fish to be offshore and for it to be a deep-cranking, football jig-type thing in 15 to 30 feet of water, but now I believe the majority are shallow. I'm not going to say it won't be won deep, but I'd say that 90 percent of the fish are on the bank.
"The only thing that's bugging me is I spent a lot of (practice) time fishing out deep and I only caught three fish, but they were big, big ones. I've seen some nice ones, 4-pounders and maybe a 5, up shallow. I don't know if you need to fish shallow and then go for a couple of deep kickers or fish solely deep. I don't think I can catch four out deep, although if I did they'd probably weigh more than five up shallow. I just don't have the confidence to stay out there all day and try to catch five."
Chris Zaldain
"Everything's late. I saw three fish on beds and whenever there's spawning activity, that gives me the opportunity to throw big stuff. I've had some really good looks at some big baits.
"This is a Classic where you have to go for it – because things here flip-flop so much and it's so hard to be consistent, you have to treat it like a one-day tournament three days in a row. You have to catch everything you can on that pattern, that day, because tomorrow there's a 90-percent chance it won't be like that. This place is notorious for that."
Cory Johnston
"I'm surprised by how many bites we're getting. I was expecting five to seven, but we're getting 15 to 20. It's better than I expected – the high water helps and there's going to be some big ones caught.
"The high water takes a lot of the deep game away and I don't mind that at all. I feel pretty good; I'm going to need a little luck on my side, but I think that goes for everybody here. There's a lot of guys flipping and you need to get two big bites and fill it out with 3 1/2-pounders. I think if you have 60 pounds and the end, you'll win."
Shane LeHew
"I thought it was going to be an offshore tournament and I spent my first day of practice idling a bunch of stuff and that didn't work out. I think most of the fish are up shallow, which is surprising for June. There's still a shad spawn, which is another thing that's surprising for June, and a mayfly hatch. To me, it's fishing more like the beginning of May.
"I thing somebody's going to catch a big bag and ride it to the end. The water (level) staying consistent is good, but I wish it would fall a little. There's a lot of places the fish can get to but we can't.
"I didn't get a lot of bites in practice doing any one thing, but I'm confident because I'm going to do something I like to do, whether I catch fish or not."
Buddy Gross
"The water being 4 feet high has pushed them all toward the bank and that kind of hurts my feelings. I was wanting to fish offshore and I came here and pre-practiced and I did nothing but idle, but it looks like it's going to be a bank deal. I don't know if that'll win, but it's going to play a lot.
"I think I can go to the bank and get some bites – I set the hook on several in the little practice we had (Wednesday). I think I can catch a limit, but I don't know how big it'll be. If I do get a limit, I may try to go offshore. I've seen some singles, but the singles are hard to fish for."
Weather Forecast
> Fri., June 11 – Mostly Sunny - 93°/74°
- Wind: From the S at 13 mph
> Sat., June 12 – Mostly Sunny - 95°/75°
- Wind: From the S at 7 mph
> Sun., June 13 – Partly Cloudy - 95°/76°
- Wind: From the NNE at 5 mph
