Amistad Midday Update – Day 2
Hanselman is already hammering
After weathering a canceled day one, the pros and co-anglers had a beautiful day to get things underway in the Costa FLW Series Southwestern Division. Starting out on Lake Amistad for a tournament presented by Ranger Boats, the weather was cool at takeoff, but sunny and rapidly warming.
Prespawn staging is probably just around the corner, but for now the big and small fish in Amistad are still in their winter patterns — holding on main lake points and structure, lounging in the low grass lining the mouths of creeks and pockets and filling their bellies.
Most of the anglers we saw were following this format; essentially, seeking to intercept the fish that were nosing their way toward prespawn staging areas. Anglers were catching fish on a selection of reaction baits and slower presentations, with crankbaits, Alabama rigs, Carolina rigs and drop-shot rigs doing most of the work.
Ray Hanselman stepped on the gas early, with a solid limit by 8:30 a.m. CT. The Del Rio pro, who swept the division in 2015, patiently picked off several quality fish by working reaction baits over the grass at the mouth of a prominent creek. We checked on him later in the morning and it appeared that his early flurry accounted for most of his weight.
Fishing near Hanselman, Randy Dixon landed several good fish early as well. Joe Beebee was also on the board nicely with a 5-pounder when we found him.
Elsewhere, some were probing farther back into pockets and drains in hopes of finding some early prespawn movement. Most were cranking emergent wood and rocky banks and probing likely structure with drop-shot rigs, but none seemed to be producing like the winter patterns.
Because of the nature of the offshore fishing now, it seems as though co-anglers have plenty of opportunity. Several co-anglers showed off big catches, including Shane Ehrlich’s 5-pounder, a 7-pounder for Jared West and a solid limit for William Barrick.
Today’s show-stopper was an estimated 9-pounder that positioned Jay Childs well to potentially lead the co-angler division. That fish was his first of the day, his first of 2019 and his first on an Alabama rig.
The biggest fish we saw today was an estimated 10-pound carp, which legitimately ate Bronk McDaniel’s drop-shot worm. No kidding, the fish was hooked in the mouth.
On Saturday, the full field competes again, with the winner determined by the heaviest two-day catch. Weigh-in starts live online or in-person at 3:30 p.m. CT.