The second event of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series is coming up on Lake Amistad, Texas, March 8-9, and it should be a good one. Amistad is what BassGold.com classifies as an upland reservoir, which means it’s an excellent pattern lake, and historical BassGold pattern data shows that winning and high placing limits have been caught using a variety of techniques.
In other words, there should be something for everyone at this event, but some areas and techniques definitely have produced better than others.
Before looking at an Amistad “Pattern Report” for March, bear in mind a few things:
- Weather always plays a role. BassGold crunches many tournament patterns over several years to provide its recommendations, so it covers most weather scenarios.
- This is just a quick overview of the info BassGold has, but it’s still a lot of info. That’s gold, and you can get more gold by applying what you know to what BassGold shows.
- BassGold’s data is based on thousands of tournament patterns, which means it’s not what should or might work, it’s what definitely has worked. Have confidence in it even if it’s counterintuitive. BassGold’s pattern info was second-guessed several times on the Bassmaster Elite Series last year, and ended up being right every time.
Macro Factors
The Macro Factors graph below shows that bank beating hasn’t been as productive as fishing deeper. Main lake offshore structure has produced the most wins and high finishes this time of year. Main lake points and creek channel structure tied for second in wins, though points are second-most-productive for high finishes.
Habitat Factors
There’s a variety of places to find fish, as you can also see in the Habitat Factors graph. Winning patterns include everything from ledges/drops to spawning beds, with rock the overall winner.
Baits
Bait wise there’s also a lot of variety, but for wins, spinnerbaits and worms (including Senkos) have accounted for the most wins. Lizards/creatures, football jigs and crankbaits were second most effective. For second to fifth finishes, football jigs and swimbaits have fared best.
Weight wise, the Weights by Month graph in the Pattern Report shows that locals and pros need in the mid-20s per day to place, and high 20s/low 30s to win.
The bottom line is you should find a way to catch ’em that matches up with your fishing style, but bear in mind that BassGold shows what definitely has worked in prior tournaments.
