The final day of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite on Oahe Lake has begun.
With only 10 of our anglers fishing this 370,000 acre fishery, it’s amazing that we’re still seeing Oahe fish small. Bryan New and Matt Robertson have started the final day within casting distance of each other, albeit amicably. Taku Ito and Austin Felix started off close to one another as well, relatively speaking.
There are lots of smallmouth scattered around long stretches of Oahe. But there have been very small areas and specific locations where the bass are catchable. These consistent areas are premium locals and few and far between. But even these spots are starting to feel the heat of more than a week of steady boat pressure.
It doesn’t seem possible that these smallmouth, which have rarely seen a lure throughout their whole lives, would become conditioned to boats and baits this quickly. But that is exactly what we’ve seen play out this week.
The question that will be answered today, will an angler survive on the juice that’s gotten him here? Or will someone fish loose to seal the deal on something new today?
