Douglas Lake has already seen two major tournaments this year, so we already have some intel on how the lake – an upland reservoir, meaning an excellent pattern lake – has been fishing.
With the B.A.S.S. Nation Southern Divisional headed there, we took at quick look at what BassGold says should be working that time of year on that lake. Remember that BassGold’s recommendations are based on actual tournament patterns. So you’re looking at what actually has worked, not what someone thinks should work.
Before taking a look at what BassGold says, bear in mind a couple things:
- Weather always plays a role. BassGold crunches many tournament patterns over several years to provide its recommendations, so it covers most weather scenarios, but always factor in current conditions.
- This is just a quick overview of the info BassGold has. It’s fish catching gold, and you can get more gold by surfing the pattern details in BassGold and applying what you know to what BassGold shows you.
Where to Fish
Figuring out this one isn’t a slam dunk in the sense that there isn’t just one prevailing pattern. Several can work. Ott DeFoe knows the lake well, and recently told Bassmaster.com that “the lake gives you a lot of options.” That is demonstrated – sort of – in the Macro Factors graph, which tells you where you want to start fishing.
The graph shows several places that have turned out high finishes, but only three areas have factored in wins: main lake offshore structure and shoreline are tied for the most wins, and river (upriver) is second.
So you do have options, but not a ton. And surfing the pattern details in BassGold will fill out the macro picture more, like anglers at times fish the same patterns near the shoreline (which may not mean shallow) as offshore (which may mean for suspended fish).
When it comes to habitat, no surprises: This is an upland reservoir, and wood, rock and ledges/drops (in that order) dominate in winning and high finishes.
What to Throw
Douglas is in crankbait country, and BassGold’s bait graph shows that cranks are responsible for a third of wins and high finishes on Douglas this time of year.
For the past month on the lake, it’s been all umbrella rigs – which do show up on the baits graph but not a lot, mostly because the rig is so new to bass fishing. In any case, that’s a suspended fish and prespawn fish deal, so depending on which phase the fish are in U-rigs could work again at Douglas.
Weight Needed
More than 20 pounds per day were needed to win the Bass Pro Shops Southern Open held earlier this month on Douglas. Maybe that’s an umbrella rig anomaly, but the historical Weights by Month graph in this Pattern Report shows that you’ll most likely need in the high teens to 20 pounds per day to win.
Check out BassGold.com, a B.A.S.S. partner. Like your depthfinder, the more time you spend with it, the more you’ll get out of it. Save 15 percent on the one-year subscription price by using code BASS132 (case sensitive) when you sign up. Note that BassGold offers a three-day free trial.
