Top 5 Patterns from Lake Texoma Day 1
Pittsburg, Texas, pro Joe Don Setina took the day-one lead in the Rayovac FLW Series Texas Division event on Lake Texoma with 20 pounds, 9 ounces. Setina was targeting spawning fish in flooded brush.
Click here to read about Setina’s leading pattern. Here are the details of the rest of the top five.
2. Eric Wright — 19 pounds, 2 ounces
His day was cut short by a serious motor issue, but Eric Wright, of Balch Springs, Texas, still managed to take second place with 19 pounds, 2 ounces. His catch included a 7-12 that won the day’s Big Bass award.
Going into day one, Wright knew how he wanted to fish, and despite his mechanical issue, the plan came together well.
“I went straight to sight-fishing right off the bat,” Wright says. “Yesterday [in practice], I found a big fish up there cruising with about a 2-pound male. This morning I had to back off of her about 50 feet, and I just kept flipping and flipping and flipping. Finally, she turned on it and ate. I could barely see the shadow of the fish. She was really skittish, but that big fish is really what made my day.”
Wright says his motor started malfunctioning around 11 a.m. Eventually, he was able to run at idle speed, so he limped back as far as he could, secured his boat per FLW rules, contacted Tournament Director Ron Lappin to confirm his plan to ride in with a fellow competitor and then proceeded to the weigh-in.
Prior to leaving his boat, Wright finished off his day with a much-needed fish.
“I got back up GrandPappy Marina, and I only had four fish at the time for about 17 pounds, and in the last five minutes I caught another keeper for a five-fish limit," Wright says.
He caught four of his keepers by pitching a creature bait to deeper beds, and he boated one other on a weightless soft jerkbait fished over a shallow flat on the outside of flooded brush.
3. Ray Hanselman — 17 pounds, 2 ounces
After back-to-back Texas Division wins on Lake Amistad and Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Ray Hanselman laid a firm game plan for Texoma and did not stray.
“I’m not sight-fishing at all. I’m just fishing shallow in the bushes, similar to what I did at Rayburn,” he says. “These are all postspawn fish. There’s only a handful of places you can see them on this lake, and there are some of the best sight-fishermen in the world in this tournament. Also, it’s late in the spawn cycle, so I knew there would be enough postspawn fish for me.”
Hanselman targeted one main area with several smaller subsections. He caught fish flipping and also on a spinnerbait.
4. Randy Sitz — 16 pounds, 4 ounces
Randy Sitz of Prosper, Texas, started his day sight-fishing and got off to a good start with two early keepers.
“I got those fish this morning before we ever got any sun,” Sitz says. “I couldn’t see them, but I kind of knew where they were. I was fan-casting for about 30 minutes. The female bit first, and about 30 minutes later I caught the male – both on a Missile Baits D-Bomb.”
Sitz then went to another set of bed fish, but another angler had already found them. He ran down to the Denison Dam and caught his remaining fish off beds and then struggled the rest of the day.
Sitz weighed four fish, the last of which ate a ChatterBait with a Lake Fork Magic Shad swimbait trailer. That last fish came approximately 100 yards away from his third bed fish.
5. Brian Ankrum — 15 pounds, 13 ounces
Preferring to “stay away from the crowds,” the pro from Natalia, Texas, committed himself to avoiding the shallow sight-fishing game and sticking with an area that he found during Tuesday’s practice.
“I think it’s mostly postspawn fish that I’m catching,” he says. “I think I had a few that were spawning in practice, but everything today was deeper — about 5 to 8 feet deep around pretty heavy brush.”
Ankrum declined to mention specifics, but says that he found one flipping bait that produced all day for him.
Rest of the Top 10
6. Robert Brown, Round Rock, Texas — 15 pounds, 10 ounces
7. Bradley Hallman, Norman, Ok. — 14 pounds, 8 ounces
8. Craig Frilot, Breaux Bridge, La. — 14 pounds, 3 ounces
9. Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas — 13 pounds, 15 ounces
10. Jeff Reynolds, Calera, Ok. — 13 pounds, 14 ounces