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Del Rio, TX
– After last week’s Lone Star Shootout at Falcon Lake, the fourth stop of the 2008 Elite Series schedule at Lake Amistad seems to be shaping up like a rude awakening from a fantastic dream. The fact of the matter is that after last week’s show, almost anything pales in comparison.
But Amistad – just upriver from Falcon on the Rio Grande – is anything but a rude awakening and is quite capable of spitting out its fair share of giants. While we won’t be seeing 40-pound stringers, it will most certainly live up to being a “Battle on the Border” as it’s been billed.
Just three years ago this 65,000-acre gem was bass-fishing’s crown jewel. The question at large is if this crown jewel been tarnished as a result of all the publicity it’s received? Whatever the case may be, the fishing at Amistad this week will not leave anyone disappointed.
The anglers are reportedly catching vast quantities of fish, so a staple will be additional gauze and Neosporin for the already battered hands of the 109 Elites who will compete here in this week’s Battle on the Border.
Unlike Falcon, where 25 feet was considered deep and the water was stained to murky, Amistad has gin-clear water and boasts and average depth of 45 feet. Lures of choice here will include big football-head jigs and swimbaits most likely, and anglers will have to maintain a four-pound average (or better) in order to stay alive – child’s play compared to last week, but considerable compared to most anywhere else in the country.
The BASS ZONE caught up with a few heavy-hitters to get their take on conditions at Amistad, and what their prognosis of “the week after” looks like.
Fred Roumbanis
“It could be even better than it was the first year we were here. I’ve been spending some time trying to figure out something a little different, and it seems to be working right now.
“The water level has sort of changed things up somewhat too because it’s higher than it was year, but it’s still kicking out some nice fish. I’ve had a really good practice, and if you know where to look, they’re there.
“There are still quite a few bed fish, but the post-spawners aren’t all bunched up like they have been. I’ve been having to hop around more than I would like to maybe, but it seems to be paying off. There will be a lot of fish caught off beds this week, but the deep bite is pretty good too.”
Derek Remitz
“It’s quite a bit different than last year. There are a number of different ways to catch them, but I would have to say that the bigger fish are a lot harder to find than last year.
“I don’t really have anything solid going, or at least anything that I would like to be doing. It’s been pretty tough to get a deep-water bite going. I’ve had to check a few of my spots out from last year, but I was only able to catch one
six-pounder.
“A lot of it has to do with how they cycle I think, but it’s been a pretty hard practice.”
Dean Rojas
“There are a lot of little fish up on the bank, but it’s not the same Amistad as it’s been. The fish seem to be a lot smaller than what they’ve been, so I think it’s going to come down to a numbers game.
“I do have a few big fish located, and some limit spots, but there’s just so much water out there that super important to have a few general areas nailed down. Otherwise, you can burn a lot of time running water.
“There’s a lot of fish up shallow, so I think sight-fishing is going to be a factor the first couple of days. In the end, it’s going to come down to the big bite again. All of these guys are so good that everyone will have a limit. The guy that catches a nine- or 10-pounder one day will be able to distance himself.
Skeet Reese
“From what I’ve seen, it’s not the lake it has been in the past. Different sections of the lake have different stages of the spawn going on, so it’s sort of a matter of what you want to be doing. I haven’t been able to find a consistent big bite though.
“It’s been a real struggle for me to get anything going on. I don’t know, coming from Falcon, it’s just hard to imagine because I didn’t have anything going on and still caught them pretty good. It’s just one of those tournaments where you’ll have to go out and just fish every day.
“My guess is that the guys who are going out a little bit deeper will have an advantage. It’s just a lot tougher than it has been, and a lot of guys have really, really struggled. There will be some big ones caught though.
“Yesterday I saw a couple of big females pulling up getting ready to spawn, and I’m sure that’s going on in different spots all over the place. So, there will be guys who find them and bring some giants in to the scales.”
KVD
“It’s a different lake than what we’ve seen before. Being here a month later, the big females seemed to have moved out. I myself haven’t been able to really get much of anything established.
“I mean, you can go out and catch a hundred fish a day, but they’re all like two pounds. For me, to get a quality bite, has been luck. You can catch a decent fish, and then fish everything around it for two hours and not get another bite.
“So, I think it’s going to come down to someone who finds something unique, or somebody getting the lucky bite. I think that because the water is so clear here that the big fish live deeper than what you’d normally be accustomed to fishing. It’s making for a tough bite.”
Gerald Swindle
“We’ve been laughing about the new Lake Amistad, calling it the ‘land of the peanuts’. You can go into one pocket and find 50 12-inch fish sitting on beds. There’s something going on, and I’m not sure what it is.
“The fishing just isn’t half of what it was last year. Coming from Falcon to here is pretty dramatic.
“I’ve fished out to 60 feet deep, and I’ve ran 30 miles of shoreline. You can catch fish anywhere, doing anything, but for me they’ve all been two pounds. I’m kind of confused to be honest because I haven’t even seen a big fish.
“I marked schools of fish out deep, so I know that they’re there, but the difference will be the big bite. This is going to be a full-blown luck week.”
Mike McClelland
“This place is just absolutely full of fish. I’ve caught more fish – in terms of numbers – than I ever have. The problem is that they’re all babies. We’ve all got it in our heads that it will take a three-pound average to win. I haven’t even seen a three pounder this week.
“I’ve got fish from two feet out to 35 feet, but they’re all the same size. There might be tiny concentrations that may be holding bigger fish, but I haven’t been able to find them. I’m sure someone will, but in the end, it’s going to come down to that one big bite that someone gets.
“I’ve located two areas where I feel like I can catch some quality fish – really three. They’re all within six miles of each other, so I’m just going to rotate through them and hope to hit it at the right time.”
BZ on XM
Satellite Radio Goes On Location The Week
Starting this upcoming Sunday, April 13, 2008, The
BASS ZONE will once again break new ground through a call-in radio show broadcast from on location at the site of the
Bassmaster Elite Series, Battle on the Border in Del Rio, Texas. The show will be broadcast
LIVE from 6am until 7am eastern time on XM Sports Nation, Channel 144, then again at 8:00am until 9:00am
"This is pretty cool stuff we are doing with XM Satellite Radio," said BZ's Mark Jeffreys. "We were the first independent news resource to provide interactive coverage of the BASS events through our live
chats from the water, and now we'll take it one step further with the call-in portion of our XM show. We want the BZ viewers to call in and talk about our insane Texas tour of Falcon Lake and Lake Amistad"
BZ Staff Writer Pete Robbins will join
Mark and the Legend, Harold Allen, from the XM studios in Washington, DC this weekend, and on several other Sundays over the course of the Elite Series season.
Be sure to tune in to XM Channel 144 this Sunday and call in with your questions or comments at
866.XMSN-144 (866.967.6144). For those of you who will be on the water without access to their XM receivers, the shows will be recorded and rebroadcast on The BASS ZONE April 14th
It really is all about being there…..and now you too can be there with Mark and the Legend.
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