Timeframe Should Mean Fat Fish In Heavy Bags

By B.A.S.S. Communications Staff

FORT WORTH, Texas — Amid preparations for his ninth Bassmaster Classic — this one on his home lake — Chris Zaldain spent some time reviewing notable catches from Lake Ray Roberts, as much for relevance as for motivation. What the Texas pro found stirred his already-high enthusiasm.

“I was going through my old photos and all my big-fish catches on a swimbait, and they were all mid- to late-March period,” Zaldain said. “I went so far as to look at the weather history and conditions during those catches (and they) were almost identical to what it is now in north Texas.

“Lows are in the mid-40s, highs are in the mid-70s, and I’m chomping at the bit. It’s a feeling I’ve never had before in my whole career.”

Competition days will be Friday through with daily takeoffs from Ray Roberts Lake State Park at 7:30 a.m. CT and weigh-ins each day at Dickies Arena in downtown Fort Worth at 4:30 p.m., with doors opening to the general public at 3:15 p.m. Along with the competition, the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo presented by GSM Outdoors welcomes visitors to the Fort Worth Convention Center March from noon to 7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Describing the weather patterns central to his optimism, Zaldain pointed to late February’s severe cold front as the key to setting up the prespawn advancement. Basically, a significant cold system early in the year followed by steady warming defines the formula for prespawn fireworks.

“Four and half weeks before the Classic we saw 14- to 16-degree temperatures for one to two days,” Zaldain said. “That gives the lake a nice little shock and it causes a shad kill, but that’s not abnormal for north Texas. Every year we have a winter where we see those temperatures in the teens.

“By early March we started seeing daytime temperatures in the mid-70s and lows in the lower 50s. This is setting up to be an absolute prespawn beatdown tournament.”

Pointing to the lake’s mostly hard bottom and freshwater mussel population, Zaldain said Ray Roberts tends to remain clearer than other fisheries in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

With the north Texas spawn typically starting in April, Zaldain’s not expecting Classic anglers to spend much time searching for beds when the prespawn movement offers greater consistency. On the flip side, while the fish will be at their heaviest weight, these east Texas bass don’t sit still for long.

“There will be a lot of fish movement, and that is typical of Ray Roberts,” Zaldain said. “They’re here today and gone tomorrow, so it’s hard to put together a three-day pattern.

“It’s difficult to stay on top of them each and every day, so you’ll have to remain mobile.”

The last time the Classic visited Lake Ray Roberts in June 2021, North Carolina pro Hank Cherry, who won the 2020 Classic at Lake Guntersville just a year prior, became the fourth angler in history to win the Classic in back-to-back years — alongside Jordan Lee (2017-18), Kevin VanDam (2010-11) and Rick Clunn (1976-77). During that 2021 event’s mid-June heat, Cherry caught his fish flipping flooded bushes and throwing a jerkbait along riprap.

Zaldain said this year’s earlier Classic dates will favor modern live sonar tactics, with anglers throwing swimbaits, jerkbaits and jighead minnows as well as squarebills and spinnerbaits. Bottom contact techniques like shaky-heads and flipping/dragging jigs will also produce.

Anglers will target suspended fish around standing timber, with riprap, hard-bottom points and boat docks also playing key roles. Zaldain said anglers typically can establish a pattern and run it throughout the lake.

Zaldain expects that achieving victory at this year’s Classic will require a strong daily average. In 2021, Cherry won with a three-day total of 50 pounds, 15 ounces, comprising daily weights of 20-4, 17-10 and 13-1. In Zaldain’s estimation, this year’s prespawn scenario will likely produce significantly greater numbers.

“I think to make the Day-2 cut, you’ll need 14 1/2 pounds a day,” Zaldain said. “For a winning weight, I believe it will take a three-day (total) of 72 to 75 pounds.”

Across the board, Zaldain predicts that every angler in the Classic field will enjoy exciting fishing days. High points, he said, will showcase the lake’s biggest and best.

“I’m predicting multiple double-digit fish,” Zaldain said. “I’m sure we’ll see an 11-pounder and we’ll see a couple of 30-pound bags.

“It’s gonna be a gun show.”

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