We anticipated that the fishing would be a little tougher during the second day of competition for the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite on Lake Oahe, and that theory proved true. Let’s take a look at how Day 2 stacked up against Day 1 on Oahe.
Actual numbers from weigh-ins:
| Day 1 | Day 2 | |
| Total weight | 1,120-pounds, 03-ounces | 928-pounds, 06-ounces |
| Fish weighed | 428 | 403 |
| Limits | 78 | 69 |
BassTrakk recorded a similar drop in production, with only 70 fish over 3- pounds entered into BassTrakk, compared to the 118 we saw on Day 1. The breakdown of the size of those fish can be seen below.
| Day 1 | Day 2 | |
| 3-pounders | 93 | 49 |
| 4-pounders | 24 | 19 |
| 5-pounders | 1 | 2 |
Looking at the timeline for when those bites over 3-pounds came, we can identify some of the best windows on Day 2 and compare them to Day 1.
| Day 1 | Day 2 | |
| 6 a.m. – 7 a.m. | 1 | 1 |
| 7 a.m. – 8 a.m. | 17 | 3 |
| 8 a.m. – 9 a.m. | 21 | 8 |
| 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. | 24 | 9 |
| 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. | 15 | 24 |
| 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. | 17 | 10 |
| 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. | 10 | 11 |
| 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. | 9 | 3 |
| 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. | 4 | 0 |
| 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. | 0 | 1 |
| 4 p.m. – 5 p.m. | 0 | n/a |
The most productive timeframe certainly shifted a bit on Day 2, with the best bite coming between 10 and 11 AM, compared to the better bite happening between 8 and 10 AM on Day 1. This is likely more about the anglers making adjustments instead of the bass simply biting better later.
One of the common complaints from the anglers on Day 2, these bass get weary of boats, baits and line faster than any other they’ve ever seen. Not getting bit those first few hours led anglers to modify their boat positions, downsize from 8-, 10- and 12- pound fluorocarbon leaders to 6 and sample new spots where they hadn’t yet beat up on during Day 1 of competition.
It makes very little sense that these fish would become so conditioned so quickly, considering there’s very little bass fishing pressure on this massive lake. But that is what we’re seeing. With a day and a half of fishing left, it’ll be interesting to see if this constant evolution in approach will be the key to winning.
