By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Pre-practice for the 2016 Bassmaster Classic at Oklahoma's Grand Lake concluded last week and the 55 qualifiers won't get another look at the venue until late February.
For those who saw it in the waning days of 2015, the lake wasn't a pretty sight. Significant rainfall in the area pushed the water level to as much as 12 feet over normal pool for this time of year and it was inundated with mud all the way down to the dam.
"I believe that for anyone who came over during the high-water situation in late December, making any cast was probably fruitless," said James Watson, an FLW Tour regular from neighboring Missouri who earned a Classic berth by winning last year's Table Rock Lake Bassmaster Central Open. "The last day I was there the water was as high as I've ever seen it and it looked like it was getting ready to go over the spillway.
"Everything should be different in March. It'll be slowly drawn down and it should be about normal if it doesn't get flooded again. The (pre-practice conditions) were a blessing in disguise for guys like myself, James Elam, Jason Christie, Edwin Evers and anybody who knows the lake really well."
Following are pre-practice notes from some Classic qualifiers who trekked to Grand last month.
James Watson
"I went over four times and I never wet a line. My experience at Grand has always been later in the year, so I went out for about 3 hours a day, each day with a different friend of mine who I consider to be among the best fishermen around there. They're guys I've competed against most of my life and I had them show me some of their areas where they spend time in the early part of the year.
"Everything those guys assisted me with was nothing that I'd ever fished before. It added so much to my where-to-go list. I'm very confident."
Keith Combs
"I spent 8 days over there and I caught it at a decent time. The level had dropped and it was just coming back up with I left in the second week of December.
"I've never fished a tournament on Grand. It's a neat lake and I like the water color, and I couldn't believe how many baitfish are in there. It looks real similar to the stuff around home (in east Texas). I think you're going to be able to fish just about any way you want to.
"I only fished for maybe 3 hours in 8 days. I wanted to learn the lay of the lake and find some isolated logs or brush that could give me a couple extra fish if they're on them. I think it'll be won in less than 10 feet of water, or maybe I should say within 10 feet of the surface because there could be fish suspended over 100 feet. I don't think dragging a jig in 25 feet in that muddy water is going to be the deal.
"I like the way the lake looks and I think it suits me. I hope it's a wide-open slugfest when we go back."
Chad Pipkens averaged just a bite or two a day on his pre-practice trip.
Chad Pipkens
"I spent 5 days on the lake before all the weather came and I felt like the fishing was terrible. It was warm, which made it real nice to ride around, but the fishing wasn't great.
"I spent about 10 hours in the boat each day and I saw as much of the lake as I felt I needed to see, but I didn't catch much of anything. I was getting one or two bites a day. I found fish in some areas, but they were in a funk and the bait was suspended and the conditions just weren't good.
"I marked a lot of piles and outcroppings because I think when we get back there the fish are going to be up and moving and it's not going to be won off one thing. I wanted to see a lot of water because there's probably going to be one section of the lake where seven of the final Top 10 will be on one 5- to 7-mile stretch. I want to be one of the guys on that stretch."
Clifford Pirch
"I went over there and spent a couple days looking at the lake, but I never made a cast. With my pre-fishing history, I'm leery of falling in love with anything or even leaning toward anything too early. I just felt like I needed to see it and get a handle on what type of fishery it is and understand how I need to be thinking when I go back.
"I don't know how I'd gauge my confidence factor one way or the other – I'm just going to go in real level-minded. I saw ways that I could fish that are ways I like to fish and saw some things that'll help me figure out how to go about attacking the lake, but I avoided getting real specific on purpose. That may or may not be the right way to go about it, but I felt like it was the way I had to do it."
Brent Ehrler
"I went in early December when it was high, but not flooded. I didn't feel a need to go right before the cutoff because in 2 months, things are going to change a lot. I just wanted to go look around an in 2 1/2 days, I probably fished an hour total.
"If it's still high and muddy with the Classic comes, that'll change the way the fish act and I don't know the place well enough to know what to do. The guys who live close who've fished it more will know what to do when that stuff happens and the rest of us will have to scramble to figure out a way to catch them.
"I definitely like the lake and I like that time of year more than anything. If we have normal conditions I think I can do well. I'm not only excited because it's my first Classic, but it's also one that I could potentially compete in."
Randy Howell described the fishing conditions on his pre-practice trip as "messed up."
Randy Howell
"Me and Boyd Duckett went down there Dec. 14 -20, right when the rain just started, and they'd had some before we got there. The water came up about 4 feet the first day or two we were there. Fishing-wise, it was messed up – it was just so muddy.
"I didn't fool with fishing a whole lot. I spent my time riding and looking and idling. I'd gotten pretty familiar with the lake last time (the 2013 Classic) and I kind of refamiliarized myself with getting around again. That place has so many long creeks and it seems like it has more idle zones than when we were there last time.
"I looked for scenarios for whether it clears up or it doesn't, or whether the water is normal level or high. I spent time from one end of the lake to the other.
"I like the lake and it's my type of fishery. It'll be mostly shallow fishing that time of year and having the Classic a little later (the first week of March instead of the third week in February), it should even set up better."
Jacob Powroznik
"I was there for 10 days and I fished a little, but it was mostly just riding around. The water was a little high but the weather was really beautiful – in the 60s every day. It was perfect for cruising around.
"I think it's going to be really good. It fishes a lot like a lake at home, Buggs Island, that time of year. I like fishing that way – in that colder water you're not going to find a wad of them, but you find one here and one there.
"One good thing about Grand is it's got a ton of bass and if you're not getting bit, you're doing something wrong. I think if you can catch 18 to 20 pounds a day, you'll be right there with a chance to win it."
Notable
> Watson said he came across Evers planting brush piles in the back of a cove from a pontoon boat on one of his pre-practice days. "I came up behind him and I wasn't in my own boat, but I have a distinctive voice and he knew who it was," Watson said. "I asked him if he had the proper permits for that and he said, 'No, I don't have any permits, but I know I can throw a Horny Toad in this stuff."
