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San
Antonio, Tx. – The Bassmaster Classic, often called the "Super Bowl of Bass Fishing,"
will take place later this month.
Later this year, FLW will hold its Tour Championship and award another seven figure first place prize.
But neither of those events promises to be a
heavyweight slugfest with record-breaking
potential. The Falcon
Lake stop on the Elite Series might be the most anticipated tournament of the year.
It could be the record breaking stop.
The BASS Elite Series Lone Star Shootout
will be held on Falcon Lake the first week of April. If the early scuttlebutt proves to be accurate, our collective eyes will be opened in a manner that hasn't been achieved since.…two years ago when the Elites first visited Amistad.
Until that date, it was assumed that 100 pound tournament totals were out of reach unless the pros hit the California waters at exactly the right time or traveled to interior Mexico. But Amistad showed that it was possible elsewhere. Since that time, Clear Lake pushed the excitement meter a bit farther. If Falcon is to live up to its billing as the best of the best, it'll have to be pretty darn impressive, as it takes a lot more than it used to in order to get today's jaded fishing fans excited.
The BZ consulted with WBT pro Debra Hengst, who has fished Falcon for over 20 years and guides there, to give us the skinny on how it compares to Amistad and how it will fish in early April.
BZ: Lots of fishing fans assume that Falcon will be a carbon copy of Amistad? Is that the case?
Hengst: They're totally different. It's four hours down the Rio Grande and it's not as clear, not as deep as Amistad. It's more like Lake Guerrero (in Mexico). Amistad has the same weesatch bushes and cactus, but not as much as Falcon. It just takes brute strength to get these fish into the boat. It seems like they could pull a bulldozer around in circles.
Falcon used to have hydrilla in the 90's but it didn't last. I'm not a biologist, but I think it's probably dormant. It probably has something to do with the rising and falling of the water.
The quality of the fish is excellent on both of them, but its remoteness has kept Falcon good. People just don't want to travel that far, but once they go, they'll return again and again. Zapata is totally not Del Rio. Not that Del Rio was all that built up before BASS came, but it had more than they had at Falcon.
BZ: What is the primary cover or structure that the fish relate to?
Hengst: For years, all we fished were rocky ledges. There are of course a lot of flats and there are also rocky demolished buildings under water. When the lake was almost 60 feet low, that was the time to mark up your maps. We thought it would never come up again, but it did, and it flooded a lot of that new fertile cover. The other pattern that often works is the hardwoods. Sometimes they'll be in the hardwoods and not on the rocks, or the other way around.
BZ: What stage of the spawn will the fish be in when BASS arrives?
Hengst: There will still be a few spawning, but for the most part they'll be post-spawn. In my opinion, we have two spawns, sometimes three, each year. Those fish have acclimated themselves to the rising and falling of the water and where there's a will, there's a way. I've caught fish with bloody tails and fish with eggs in them in October.
BZ: What kind of weight will it take to win over four days of competition?
Hengst: In the post-spawn period, it will definitely take at least 25 to 28 pounds a day.
BZ: How much will it take to make the top 50 cut after two days?
Hengst: So much can change between now and then, but it could take as much as 55 pounds. Just to give you some idea, for about 14 years now we've had what they call the OPEC tournament, which is a charity event for Falcon State Park. In 1994, they fished a 10 fish limit and it took 55 pounds to win. By 1996, they changed to six fish total, three on Saturday and three on Sunday and it took 34 pounds. In 2001, it took six fish for 40 pounds. In 2006, it took six fish for 53 pounds. The fishery has improved. As the lake came up and flooded those fertile grounds, Mother Nature took care of things.
BZ: What will it take to earn the big fish award each day?
Hengst: Anywhere from 10 to 14 pounds. Five pounders are common here. They're like two pounders on other lakes.
BZ: What will be the key lures or techniques?
Hengst: I'm kind of partial to a crankbait, something that runs medium or deep, like a Strike King Series 6 or a DD22. Strike King is coming out with a deeper bait and I'm looking forward to that. My preferred color is what I call parrot – chartreuse with a blue back. Red is real big here. They love it all year long. A red shad worm, a red crankbait, sometimes even a red spinnerbait. But if someone gets on the right rockpile or the right demolished building, you could win it on a Carolina rig or a Texas rig.
BZ: Can you think of a wildcard technique that might produce a big catch?
Hengst: A buzzbait can work. Some fish will still be shallow and they like to come up and sun themselves in the afternoon.
BZ: If you were betting on it, which pro would you wager money to win the BASS event?
Hengst: Ooh. I haven't even thought about that yet. What can I say, KVD is a good bet to win anything (laughs). If you're going to force me to choose someone else, for some reason Edwin Evers sticks out in my mind. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a power fisherman.
BZ: Speaking of the pros, how many of them have you seen on Falcon during the offseason?
Hengst: I've probably seen 25 or so of them personally, but you have to remember, I usually stay down at the other end of the lake. I don't know how, but the word got out last year about Falcon being on the schedule and some of them left Amistad and came here before they went out to California. Their scouting trips have given them a chance to run around and get familiar with the lake, find the humps and rockpiles, but the level that it's at now isn't where it'll be in April. Mexico draws water in January and usually again in March.
BZ: Will the weather have an effect on how the tournament plays out?
Hengst: It definitely will in April. The lake is laid out north-south and if we get a norther in, it will blow straight down like a funnel. It gets roughest by markers five and six. There's an area on the Texas side known as Bob's Knob that can get to rolling. At times it's like extreme bull riding. When it rears its head, look out. I don't need to tell them this, but they had better fund a spot up and a spot down or they could be screwed.
BZ: After the first BASS event at Amistad, a number of pros bought property or homes near the lake. Will we see a similar land rush near Zapata this year?
Hengst: I hope not. I believe it won't grow the same way. For one thing, there's no airport. Continental now flies into Del Rio. Further south, there are a whole bunch of snowbirds who make an annual trek with their trailers and campers. Zapata doesn't have an Academy or a Bass Pro Shops. We have one great tackle store and another good one. Falcon Lake Tackle was started by Larry and Barbara Bridgeman. Larry had the store up for sale for years before he passed away last year. It was a ghost town. I'm not sure how he held on as long as he did.
BZ: Is there any chance spinning tackle or finesse techniques will play a role in the winner's catch?
Hengst: No.
BZ: What is the lightest line you can get away with there?
Hengst: Fourteen, and I just use that for one technique. They better bring stout rods and braided line. A writer once asked me what makes the bass down there so mean. I told him that they drink margaritas and live off hot sauce. They're the strongest bass I've fished for anywhere. When one of them hits you, there's no playing around with him.
Miscellaneous
• Her website is www.debrahengst.com.
• She is sponsored by Skeeter, Yamaha, Strike King, Navionics, Texas Sidewinder rods, Sufix, Auto Xtras, Hormann Tire and Automotive, Geneva Enterprises Bass Boat Alarm Systems, Koehler Chiropractic Wellness Center, Hamby's, Mustad, Red Bull, Save Phace, Multi Seal and Anchor Marine.
• Falcon Tackle's website can be found at www.tackleandrods.com.
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