How do you find and catch bass in a crowded, murky lake that has no grass and little wood cover, with a lot of bare banks and a possible oxygen problem down deep? The Bassmaster Elite 50 pros are about
to show what they can do under such circumstances, as they pick apart Lake Lewisville, Texas. This is the third of four E50 events, and the first time a tour-level tournament has hit these waters.
Limits have been pretty easy. Instead, talk has been about how tough it is to catch the quality fish. Pros are also concerned that the lake will fish small, and that pleasure-boat traffic from nearby Dallas–Fort Worth will negatively impact the fishing. Generally, the consensus seems to be that trolling-motor batteries will get a severe workout, and the more casts made, the better.
Top 10 To Watch
The fish may be farther along toward their summer patterns than they were at the last E50, and there's no aquatic grass, so schooling fish may become a strong factor alongside the shallow patterns. Considering all of the above, here are BassFan's picks (in no particular order) for the Top 10 to watch at this event.
1) Alton Jones – Made his third E50 Top 12 at Dardanelle last month, lives in Texas, and is on a strong comeback roll after a weak regular Tour season. He has a long way to go to make the Bassmaster Classic, though, since he's 24th in the E50 points. He needs a Top 12 finish here.
2) Rick Clunn – With a ticket to the Classic in his back pocket and a Top 5 at Dardanelle, he's fishing well and should do even better as the post-spawn moves into summer.
3) Brent Chapman – Too consistently near the top not to put together a win. It's coming soon. How about here?
4) Kevin VanDam – Never, ever underestimate the energy, intuition and dogged determination of KVD, who sits at 4th in the State Farm-BassFan World Rankings and is already Classic-qualified from the regular Tour season.
5) Edwin Evers – Versatility may be a key in this tournament, and he seems to be have had no trouble finding fish here. He has the Classic made via the Open Championship, so he can afford to take some chances and go for the win.
Evers already has his Classic spot – which means he can take chances – and he's from Oklahoma, so he knows shallow, muddy water.
6) Kevin Wirth – In the midst of a strong E50 showing (he's 5th in the E50 points and 14th in the world) and appears to be onto something here at Lewisville
7) Aaron Martens – Talk about being on a roll – he won the Bassmaster Angler of the Year title, made the cut at the recent E50 on Dardanelle and finished 3rd, ranks 5th in the world and is 10th in the E50 points going to Lewisville. Even if the offshore bite is weak, count on Martens to use his electronics to find a wad of willing biters – maybe even a few big spotted bass.
8) Davy Hite – He feels good, he's fresh off a win at Dardanelle and he's ready to rumble. At 2nd in the E50 points, he has to stay in the Top 10 to make the Classic.
9) Zell Rowland – Topwaters over the brush and Carolina rigs with his namesake Zellamander could be the ticket for another strong finish.
10) Mike Iaconelli – On top of his game and leading the E50 points, he'll enjoy the challenge of an unknown body of water. The big problem here, if he decides to put together another junk-fishing milk run like he did at Dardanelle, will be recreational boat traffic and crowded fishing conditions.
Others To Watch
> David Fritts – Even though the deep-structure bite seems poor, he can adjust his mindset to more subtle shallow structure and still do well.
> Mark Davis – Along with Fritts, Davis may find the shallow-structure cranking bite that'll be the ticket to another Top 12 performance.
> Gary Klein – Knows how to grind out a limit in tough situations, and this lake might dish out some tough bites.
> Dean Rojas – He's coming off a Top 12 at the last E50 and knows he needs to move up two spots to make the Classic. Can he frog his way to another high finish? Or is it time to let the frogs rest a while? We're about to find out.
> Jeff Kreit – Gotta think that an Oklahoma angler knows how to deal with a murky bass lake.
> Larry Nixon – Likes summer fishing and his old-fashioned, slow-worming approach might get the big bites.
Weather Forecast
Here's the Weather Channel's forecast for the tournament days.
Wed., June 1 -- Partly Cloudy -- 83°/66°
> Wind: From the NE at 6 mph
Thurs., June 2 -- Mostly Sunny -- 86°/70°
> Wind: From the SE at 9 mph
Fri., June 3 -- Isolated T-Storms -- 86°/71°
> Wind: From the S/SE at 11 mph
Sat, June 4 -- Partly Cloudy -- 87°/71°
> Wind: From the South at 12 mph
Notable
> The heavy pleasure-boat traffic over the weekend muddied up the shallows to 40 or 50 feet out from the shoreline.
> The Top 10 in the season-end E50 points qualify for the 2005 and 2006 Bassmaster Classics.
> The six-hole finals course is like a mini-lake unto itself with feeder creeks, points, drops, riprap -- everything the main lake has. Presumably, it will fish the same as the rest of the lake, too.
