Hammer Down

Balog’s Bass War

October 24, 2024

I find myself daydreaming about fishing destinations. Truth be told, I don’t venture far from my central Florida home. With access to places like Rodman Reservoir and Orange Lake relatively easy, it doesn’t make sense to burn a bunch of diesel in search of a new lunker lake. But I still think about it.

The California big-bass boom had me monitoring the pulse of places like Casitas and Castaic. Clear Lake seemed like a fantasy.

I fished Lake Fork, but just once, post-prime.

Later, the rise of Chickamauga got me thinking. The concept of catching a 13-pound bass in Tennessee just wouldn’t register. I pondered the best way to target giants in such a strange place.

Now if I was really eccentric – and some of my friends are – I’d have to consider Japan. In my youth, it was Cuba, later, Mexico. Reports of monsters still carry across oceans.

But today, at this very time, picking the best spot for the biggest bass on earth is easy. O.H Ivie.

Ivie has filled the headlines for Texas bass fishermen, dominating the state’s ShareLunker Program. Fifteen of the 18 “Legacy Lunkers” submitted statewide in 2023 came from Ivie's waters. Since 2020, the lake has easily been the best in the world for fish surpassing 13 pounds.

Built in 1990, O.H. Ivie experienced a bass boom in the early 2000s. A number of the original trophy bass catches were used as brood stock in the Texas ShareLunker program, where their offspring were stocked into the lake. Biologists consider today’s second wave to be a tribute to the effectiveness of the program. Rising water levels through the early part of this decade have also helped boost the bass population.

This week, Ivie will be featured for another reason, as it’s sure to be a stop in the MLF Team Series tournament headquartered in nearby Early, Texas. Rules of the event prohibit us, or the competitors, from knowing the exact fishing locations. But three major reservoirs fall within the 60-mile cut-off of Early, including Ivie, Brownwood and Proctor. None are particularly large or host major bass tournaments. The competitors will go in cold.

Here is a perk of this format, one of many. The Team Series features only 24 anglers, allowing small venues to host the events. Small venues typically equate to less fishing pressure and better fishing. In the case of Texas, that means big bass.

Nothing in lake surveys for Brownwood or Proctor indicate either lake being particularly productive, however each claims a lake-record bass over 13 pounds, so anything’s possible. In scenarios like this, we often see an accomplished pro get on a pattern that suits their style; something obvious but never exploited. Perhaps dock fishing, or fishing a frog where others wouldn’t. Maybe even punching. Anglers of this caliber can then run the pattern throughout the lake, catching more fish than locals ever thought possible.

O.H. Ivie, then, will represent the best chance for a magnum stringer, especially if a team can lock down a big fish or two. While this body of water experiences drastic fishing pressure during prime time, the fall period should allow for a little room to spread out, as most sportsmen are busy in the deer woods. Ivie giants will likely be relating to baitfish as migrations move through shallow water. Expect big things from power-fishermen willing to gamble.

By now, most of us have seen the impact that professional bass tournaments make on an area in terms of visiting anglers. The painful memories of the “discovery” of Lake St. Clair still haunt me, when my local fish factory turned into a clown show. Regardless, those selling things like gas and groceries rejoice, and will likely do so in Early, Texas.

It’s a smart move by the folks of Early and encompassing Brown County. By harnessing the first significant publicity around a major bass tournament, they automatically put themselves on the map for visiting anglers. Most won’t even consider other communities for an initial visit. MLF, in essence, does the vetting.

I’ll be watching, and drooling, like so many other bass junkies, resisting the temptation to again check the distance from my home to Early, Texas.

Twelve hundred miles.

That’s a lot of diesel.

(Joe Balog is the often-outspoken owner of Millennium Promotions, Inc., an agency operating in the fishing and hunting industries. A former Bassmaster Open and EverStart Championship winner, he's best known for his big-water innovations and hardcore fishing style. He's a popular seminar speaker, product designer and author, and is considered one of the most influential smallmouth fishermen of modern times.)