Effects Of Winter Storm Make Fishing Tough For Bass Central Open On Lake Lewisville
Although temperatures have been warming, the residual effects of the winter blizzard that blanketed the Dallas area the week of the Super Bowl are still being felt in Lake Lewisville as anglers prepare for the opening tournament of the year on the Bassmaster Central Opens schedule.
“I was fortunate to get a few bites Monday, but today they have been hard to come by,” said David Mansue, a retired New Jersey law enforcement officer who now calls Hemphill, Texas, home. “I am hoping the water will warm up and some of the fish will move to the bank and be easier to get to.”
Two weeks ago Dallas was covered with a record snowfall of 12.5 inches, followed by an ice storm that sent water temperatures plummeting in area lakes. Lake Lewisville is a half hour’s drive north of Dallas, so it has felt the brunt of the unusual winter weather.
Mansue, who practiced on Lake Lewisville last week, said the water temperature then was 41 degrees.
“We had a rather warm week in Dallas this week and the temperatures came up considerably. The high was in the low 50s, but then a cold front came in and chilled things down about 6 or 7 degrees.”
Although 2011 Bassmaster Classic Champion Kevin VanDam weighed in 58 pounds, 12 ounces, including a 12-pounder, in the June 2005 Elite Series event on Lake Lewisville, no one expects that kind of outcome in the three-day Open which begins Thursday.
Because it is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lake, there are very few docks and boathouses, and, Mansue said, there is no grass, so anglers will have to target rock and wood structure.
He said anglers likely will have to stay on the move to catch the winning weight because the bait and fish are moving a lot.
“A small crankbait around that wood and rock and maybe a spinnerbait will be the way to go,” he said. “Try to burn it down the bank. It’s quite possible that could win the thing for somebody.”
While he considers the jig to be his forte, Mansue said he’s not sure this tournament is one to rely on the jig – “but I sure will have one out on the deck.”
Mansue competed in the BASS Top 150 and the BASS Tour before it became the Elite Series while he was still working as second in command of a 55-man police department in New Jersey.
“I’ve been on the road now for 10 or 11 years and this is something I can concentrate on now that I am retired,” he said. Mansue, who won the 2009 Northern Open Tournament on the Chesapeake Bay, is fishing the Central Opens, Southern Opens and the PAA Tour events this year.
A full field will compete Thursday and Friday, with the top 12 anglers and top 12 co-anglers advancing to the final round on Saturday.
Many of the anglers, including Mansue, have already signed up to host wounded soldiers in a special tournament Saturday on Lake Grapevine, just to the west of Lake Lewisville, if they do not qualify for the championship round.
About 15 three-angler teams will participate in the no entry fee Wounded Warrior Benefit Tournament.. One of the team members will be a pro who provides the boat, and the other two team members will be soldiers. Each boat can bring in one five-fish limit.
“All of us who participate on the pro side hope we will be fishing Saturday, but if not we still win,” Mansue said. “We get the opportunity to take some real American heroes on the water and enjoy a day of fishing with them – and hopefully, catch some fish. It will be a great experience for them and for us as well to honor those men and women who have made such a sacrifice for our country.”
Bassmaster Opens Central Division
Feb. 24-26, 2011
Lake Lewisville
Lewisville Lake Park
