FLW Outdoors will explore uncharted waters when it takes its $195,000 Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail Championship to Lake Conroe Oct. 15-16. But the 50 pro and 50 co-angler qualifiers aren’t likely to be disappointed in what they find once they get there.
The 21,000-acre East Texas impoundment near Houston harbors a bountiful population of quality largemouths that should be getting increasingly aggressive with early fall cooling trends.
“There should be plenty of fish caught, but the guy who wins it will be the one who devises a way to get the bigger bites,” said Butch Terpe, a veteran Conroe fishing guide.
Native vegetation stands in pockets and coves north of Farm-to-Market Road 1097 should be holding plenty of fish. But Terpe predicts the better limits will come farther south by flipping jigs and soft plastics around shoreline boat docks and concrete breakwaters. Cranking around riprap at bridge crossings and the dam could also pay off.
Terpe’s call: 30 to 35 pounds to win it.