Midday Update: Rayburn Day 1
Afternoon bite heating up in Texas
“The best is yet to come” fairly summarized the first half of day one for anglers fishing the Costa FLW Series Southwestern Division opener presented by YETI on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. The event began amid a warming trend following stormy weather that battered the area Monday and Tuesday. With the lake heating up each day, many of the anglers that FLW reporters spoke with on the water said their better practice bites came later in the day. Today’s abundant sunshine will likely ignite the afternoon bite too as the water temp continues to rise.
With the lake a couple of feet low, it’s staggering to see the amount of shallow cover taken completely out of play. However, the fish have to go somewhere, and minimized cover tends to congregate them in more defined areas such as the ditches and drains leading into spawning pockets and deeper wood or brush flanked by bands of golden hay grass.
Most of the catches this morning came on reaction baits – a mix of lipless crankbaits, swimbaits, swim jigs and vibrating swim jigs. Some pros also reported catching fish on wacky- and Texas-rigged Yamamoto Senkos, while the Carolina rig produced early fish for others.
Notwithstanding the generally slow start, a few anglers were able to establish early momentum. Pro Gary Caruso (above) had three for about 10 pounds by 8:30, and one of his keepers went about 6 pounds. Caruso was working an old roadbed with reaction baits.
Charles Dubroc and co-angler Ryan Pierce each had three good keepers by 9, while Nick Butler showed off a 4-pounder that ate a swimbait mid-morning.
James Caldemeyer (below) reported a limit, including a 4-pounder, by 10:45. He was working pockets with a mix of reaction baits and soft plastics. His strategy was to stay at the less-crowded lower end and fish each bank slowly and methodically.
With the weigh-ins set for 3 p.m. at the Umphrey Family Pavilion, we’re expecting to see a fine sampling of what this powerhouse can produce.
Tournament details
Location: Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Brookeland, Texas
Date: Feb. 23-25, 2017
Host: Jasper-Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce and Jasper County Development District
Presenting sponsor: YETI
Format: Costa FLW Series tournaments are three-day events. The entire field of pros and co-anglers fishes on days one and two. The top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers based on cumulative weight after two days make the cut to fish on day three. The winner in each category is the angler with the heaviest three-day cumulative weight.
Takeoff: 7 a.m. CT at Umphrey Family Pavilion, 5438 RR 255, Brookeland, TX
Weigh-in: 3 p.m. CT at Umphrey Family Pavilion