Cold front conditions and murky water didn’t deter ArmyBassAnglers Pro Jason Blackmon at the inaugural Anglers Quest Individual Series opener held on Sam Rayburn January 5th as he notched a top 5 finish in frigid and windy conditions.
“The water temperatures dropped 9 degrees during the course of the week and the recent heavy rains really stirred up the water.”
Blackmon launched his Returning Heroes Home trademarked wrapped Skeeter ZX200 in 25 degree air and stiff north winds blowing about 20 MPH.
“My Skeeter was the difference first thing that morning, it cut through the big rollers at Sam Rayburn with no problems!!”
After three straight days of practice and 2 tanks of fuel later, Blackmon found his fish on the inside edge of the hydrilla in about 6 feet of water.
“I spent three straight days working both shallow to deep and then back shallow. The fish I located in practice pointed me to the inside edge of the grass as the most consistent pattern around the lake.”
Using Oakley’s superior HD Technology Straight Jackets allowed Blackmon to position his Skeeter right along the inside edge of the hydrilla. After locating the inside edge of the grass, Blackmon went to work with his Castaway Skeleton Series 7’6” flipping stick matched with an Ardent XS 1000 and 25lb Lake Fork Trophy Tackle FluoroHybrid Pro line and a ½ oz JAROD Jigs custom Black/Blue flash Grass Jig.
“During practice the bites were vicious. The jig would enter the water, I’d let it sit for about 10 seconds, and on the first hop the fish were ripping that jig out of my hand.” Conditions would change dramatically from the last day of practice however.
“Its funny how tournament fishing works and how weather conditions change the behavior of the fish. For three days there was not one gust of wind on Rayburn. Come game day you couldn’t get the wind to stop blowing. Normally the wind actually helps the bite, but in my case, I was relying on there not being any wind. The conditions changed and I did not adapt to these conditions very well.”
I would like to thank all of our sponsors for supporting us on the water and allowing us the opportunity to spread the word about the mission of the ArmyBassAnglers. Having the support of top notch sponsors really makes the mission of “SUPPORT.DEFEND.FISH.” possible—HOOAH!
For more information on ArmyBassAnglers visit them at ArmyBassAnglers.com.
