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Zapata, TX – In a word, what is soon to unfold in this dusty border town could best be described as “unbelievable.” At least that’s the word that was repeatedly thrown out in an attempt to try and frame what’s going on at the third stop of the 2008 Elite Series at Falcon Lake.
This week’s Lone Star Shootout will be just that, and all fingers point to the record books suggesting that every one of them will be re-written by the time Sunday comes. 78,000 acres is a lot of water to cover and certainly affords a ripe inventory of possible ways bass will be caught, so when asked to describe the go-to bait or area, the pros just grin and say, “yes.”
Yes to everything it seems as there isn’t a program that could be written for the week that won’t produce a 20-pound stringer each and every day; however, 20 pounds a day won’t sniff the top 50 this week…and back to “unbelievable” we go.
It’s going to be a shootout, the likes of which has never before been seen. Tales of 50-pound practice days, while hard to fathom, have happened. Usually, when you ask an Elite Series pro what Friday’s cut-weight will be, you get a solid answer that might vary by one pound between 10 different anglers.
At Falcon, the best you can hope for is a sheepish grin and a dazed look with some stuttering response of “big…just big man.”
Will records fall? Likely. Are there going be some big fish weighed this week? Definitely. What’s it going to take to pull off the win? Just think B I G!
Ish Monroe
“It’s going to be a slug-fest.
“They’re catching them anyway that you want to catch them right now. You can pull up to bushes and catch 30 pounds, or go out into 25 feet of water and catch 30 pounds. Even the guys that are junk fishing are catching 30 pounds a day.”
“Honestly, I have no idea where to even begin in predicting what it’s going to take to make the cut, let alone win.”
“I’m thinking a lot of this week is going to come down to a good combination of luck and skill. I’ve seen a guy go for three hours and only have 10 pounds and pull up on one spot and put 30 pounds in the boat. That’s just a luck deal, but the point is that everyone is catching them this week.”
“There’s just so many big fish in this place is unreal.”
Mike Iaconelli
“I’ve fished a lot of places in my life, and had some pretty amazing days on the water, but I’ve never seen anything like Falcon Lake. It’s just unreal the amount and size of fish that I’ve run through this week. “
“If I was a betting man, I would be putting a lot of money on this tournament to break every record there is. I can almost guarantee it!”
“It’s nice to be whacking them everywhere you go, so iIt’s going to be a fun week…I can tell you that.”
“You get out there, and start catching them, you just want to keep on catching them. But it all boils down to quality because I honestly don’t think that five pounders are going to do much for you this week…even though they’re fun to catch.”
Zell Rowland
“I’ve been to a lot of lakes, and up until the week started I always thought that Clear Lake was about as good as it could get. I can tell you right now that if we would have been here a month ago this place would’ve blown Clear Lake away. It’s still going to make most any other place in the world look pretty horrible though, I’ll tell you that much.”
“The biggest struggle I’ve had this week is not hooking any fish. When you go to shake them off, they try harder to eat it. So I’ve tried to stay out of the places I want to fish and just ran water that looked good – and I’ve still done pretty good.”
“This lake just has a tremendous amount of seven-, eight-, and nine-pound fish in it. You can pull up on a spot with a big school and every one of them will be a 10 pounder. I think it’ll take over 100 pounds to be in the top 12 Sunday.”
Jared Lintner
“It’s just crazy – it’ll break all the records definitely.”
“I just haven’t been able to catch big ones consistently. It’s pretty sad when you have to abandon three- and four-pound fish to go look for something bigger because you know that they won’t do you a bit of good. That’s made it challenging for sure.”
“Falcon isn’t like any other lake we’ve ever been on – even Clear Lake. At Clear Lake it’s all about bait selection. Here, I’ve caught a fish on every bait I’ve thrown and every where I’ve stopped. So I think it comes down to a little bit of skill and a whole lot of luck because you’re going to have to be on top of a big wolf-pack of 10-pound fish…plus you have to get them out of all the cover.”
Greg Gutierrez
“The brush and depth is the key player. I’ve caught fish everywhere, but the key if figuring out the key depth and structure that the big fish are holding on. A three- to four-pound average isn’t going to do a thing – not even get you a check here.”
“After spending a lot of time on the water this week, I’m realizing that a six-pound average is the requirement in order to make the first cut. From there, it could get stupid because there will be several guys who unlock the big-fish secret.”
Gerald Swindle
“I’ve never seen so many trees in my life. They should’ve called this the ‘Aspirin Tournament,’ or the ‘Goody’s Headache Powder Event,’ or something. It’s just crazy. This tournament will come down to not who can find the fish, but who can land them.”
“Everyone will have the opportunity to catch a bunch of fish, but getting them out of the trees is tough brother. The guys who are out deep will definitely have the advantage.”
“There’s going to be a lot more luck involved this week than most people care to admit. There’ll be some guys who hook into a 10-pounder that decides to swim out of the trees, and there will be guys who hook a 10-pounder than decides to bury up…that’s all luck.”
“But I like this kind of tournament. I like fishing anywhere that gives me the opportunity to get out of bed in the morning and have a legitimate shot at catching a 10-pound fish.”
Jeff Reynolds
“This is unbelievable – the best lake in the country. I’ve decided to go with my nylon cattle rope instead of braided line this week because it’s just ridiculous. They don’t make line strong enough to horse these fish around.”
“We thought that we’d really seen something at Clear Lake, but this place just blows it away. Everyone always says that you have to swing for the fence. Just fishing at Falcon means that you’re swinging for the fence because you can go anywhere on the lake and catch the fish of a lifetime. It’s crazy.”
“I’ve covered a lot of water this week, and have been able to eliminate some water. The real trick is getting them to the boat, and that’s where you’ll just have to have some luck on your side.”
Mark Menendez
“Can you say ‘ridiculous?’”
“It’s taken me a couple days to be able to discern the difference between a four-pound bite and a six-pound bite. You just have to hope that when you crack on one it’s a six-pounder because that’s the only thing that will help you.”
“I think the limit record will go down, and I think that the total-weight record will fall. All of the Top 12 guys will have to have over 100 pounds, no doubt.”
Casey Ashley
“It’s been hard to get a good bite consistently and even harder to get them to the top of the water when you do.
“This place is just a fisherman’s dream because you can literally catch bass doing anything you want to do anywhere you want to go. We’ve never been anywhere like this.”
“There’s everything from stained water to dirt water to rivers to shallow to deep – and it’s all productive. The key, again, is finding that consistent six-pound bite…and getting them to the boat. Execution is going to be the difference make because everyone will catch fish this week.”
Terry Scroggins
“Before we got here, everyone was saying that it would take 23 to 24 pounds a day to make the cut. I think that’s a little light because this is like nothing we’ve ever seen. It’s just awesome.”
“Most lakes that we go to, you try not to set the hook. Here, there’s just so many fish that you don’t have to do that – plus, you have to be able to find quality bites. You just can’t believe the amount of four-pound fish that swim around this lake.”
“For that reason, the luck factor will play huge roll this week. You not only have to find them, but you have to get them out of the cover.”
Boyd Duckett
“What an unbelievable place. I think everyone in the pack is catching 30 pounds a day. I think the records are all gone. One thing about it, it’s pretty easy to establish a pattern because they’ll eat just about anything.”
“You have to figure out where the big ones are swimming, and I think that it’s sort of a mixture between deep and shallow. The key is timing…I think. This place is just a freak of nature, so I don’t really know to be honest.”
“I’m just glad to be out of Florida where there’s more normal fishing where you sit in one spot and hope that a big fish swims by. At this place, you can literally pull up on a single bush and catch 40 pounds.”
NOTE:
The Legend, Harold Allen,
and Mark will be on the water at 9:00am on
Thursday. Live Chat will begin at
9:30 CST. Hey, it really is all
about being there when the records fall.
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