MONSTER BASS Challenge

By Ronnell Smith/BASS, Editor.
 

When the team of 8 Bassmaster Weekend Series anglers arrived at Angler's Inn, they had no idea what to expect from the famed Lake El Salto. It did not take long, however, for them to realize they were just a cast away from the fish of a lifetime or, better yet, a fish that would net one angler the $25,000 first-place prize.

Practice: The practice round on Friday was when the anglers took the time to learn the lake and get a better handle on just how it would fish. What they learned was that, even though the lake had been drawn down, there was still ample deep water points, drop off and fields of standing timber to work with everything from jigs and crankbaits to Carolina and Texas rigs. Guys acclimated to fishing shallow water were pleasantly surprised as well, what with plenty of shallow flats to fish.

Day 1: With $25,000 purse hanging in the balance, each angler gave it his best shot on the opening day. Many started out the morning by
fishing buzzbaits, but the mid-day anglers were throwing deep-diving
crankbaits--mainly Bomber Fat Free Shads in the citrus shad color--and Carolina rigs for fish situated in the depths ranging from 20 to 25 feet. Such moves paid off, for the big fish of the day, a 7-11, caught by Richard Osborn, would nail a Bomber and prove to be a fateful catch. Numerous fish in the 6- and 7-pound range would be caught on this day, and many much larger fish would tear off.

Day 2: Just two full days of fishing to go and a target of 7-11 to beat, the 8 anglers competing in the Monster Bass Challenge were getting antsy. They knew much larger fish were out there, they knew a larger fish would likely be hooked--they also knew that landing the huge, hard-fighting fish of El Salto was the real issue. Among the 5s, 6s and 7s caught that day was another 7-11 caught by Eric Stong of Kansas, which made the tournament very interesting. (Osborn caught the second-biggest fish of the day, a 7-10.)

Day 3: It was big bite or nothing for the anglers on the last day. Most threw swimbaits, big worms and large crankbaits in hopes of getting their lures in front of a fish besting 7-11. But despite the large
number of fish caught--and there were fish of 7-pounds caught--no one could top the 7-11 caught by Osborn. (Because he also had a 7-10, Osborn beat out Stong, who took second place and a $11,000 prize.)

Even though several of the guys came from places where big fish are not entirely uncommon, every one of the anglers was thoroughly impressed with the quality of the fish at El Salto. There really is nowhere else like it, several of the anglers said.