Posted By: Mark Jones
Keith Combs breaks down Conroe strategies - 02/24/18 06:05 PM
Pete Robbins took some time to interview Keith ahead of the Conroe event. Hope this provides some insight to those headed down to Conroe.
Think Shallow for BBT Success at Conroe
By Pete Robbins
The upcoming Lake Conroe stop of the 2018 Big Bass Tour has big shoes to fill. The season’s first event, on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Florida, produced three fish over 10 pounds, including a 10.80 pound giant. But even if the tour hadn’t made its way to the Sunshine State first, Texas would have to live up to its own great example – last year’s Conroe event produced four fish over 10 pounds, as Wayne Whitehead’s 10.53 edged out Colby Weber’s 10.52 by less than the weight of a single shad.
The weather is predicted to be warm in the days leading up to this year’s three day tournament, and while the temperatures in the 70s will be accompanied by overcast conditions, Texas pro Keith Combs said that won’t in any way stem the massive movement of big Conroe bass to the shallows.
“They’ll be spawning,” he said. “And if not, they’ll be very, very close to where they’re going to spawn. A guy needs to think shallow.” With three TTBC wins and an Elite Series victory in Texas, along with multiple other trophies earned in the Lone Star State, he’s a big bass specialist and has the mentality to hunt big fish rather than seek out numbers. That’s important, because last year it took a 5 pound or better fish to claim a check in all but four of the hourly competitions, and in one hour it took a 5.89 pounder to get paid.
Combs is known best for his deep water prowess, so the fact that he’d be looking in the skinny water is a telling fact, and he noted that “they will get in the dirt on Conroe.” Even when structure fishing, on rocks or roadbeds, he’d look in the 4 to 6 foot range rather than deeper.
“It has been a pretty cold winter for southeast Texas, but that broke off about a month ago,” he explained. “There have been a couple of fronts but those fish want to spawn.”
At just over 20,000 acres, Conroe is not a big lake, and Combs said it has “big fish from one end to the other,” but he’d focus on the upper end of it, just because it has more of the spawning habitat that he prefers. He expects that section of Conroe to be crowded, as will the backs of the major downlake and midlake creeks with ample wood cover. “It’s easy to pick out the stuff that is going to produce,” he said, but that wouldn’t deter him from fishing in a crowd. Instead, he’d just make an effort to slow down and dissect the best pieces of cover and key ambush points.
He’d head out with three main categories of lures on the deck of his boat, ready to pick off big fish whether they were still en route to their spawning grounds or had already arrived.
The first would be a citrus shad Strike King KVD 2.5 square bill crankbait. He’d fish that on rocks like bridge pilings and on the edges of road beds.
The second would be a Carolina rigged green pumpkin or junebug Strike King Game Hawg. He’d throw that on flat points leading up into the spawning grounds.
Finally, he’d tie on a green pumpkin Magnum Caffeine Shad, rigged weightless, to deadstick around visible brush like willows in 2 to 4 feet of water.
Those three choices would help him dial in the bite, although he said it’s possible that an angler could also do well fishing a craw colored Red Eye Shad in the middle of pockets and around Conroe’s many docks.
The key, he said, may not be any single bait as much as keeping your back to the main lake, constantly facing the bank.
“There will be some big ones caught,” he said. “Think shallow.”
PRO TIP: While Conroe isn’t big, its many lower lake seawalls can turn it into an inland ocean at times, as boat wakes bounce off of them and then collide. Anglers making the run from the lake’s middle or upper reaches down to the weigh-in site at Papa’s on the Lake will have to use their time wisely. One way to do that is to double dip. Remember, you can only weigh in one fish per hour, but by holding that fish until the 45 or 50 minute mark, not only do you maximize your chances of it counting, but you’re also close by to weigh in again the next hour, with a different fish, as soon as the scales reopen. That maximizes your time with a line in the water, increases your chances of cashing a check, and minimizes the rough water boating.
Think Shallow for BBT Success at Conroe
By Pete Robbins
The upcoming Lake Conroe stop of the 2018 Big Bass Tour has big shoes to fill. The season’s first event, on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Florida, produced three fish over 10 pounds, including a 10.80 pound giant. But even if the tour hadn’t made its way to the Sunshine State first, Texas would have to live up to its own great example – last year’s Conroe event produced four fish over 10 pounds, as Wayne Whitehead’s 10.53 edged out Colby Weber’s 10.52 by less than the weight of a single shad.
The weather is predicted to be warm in the days leading up to this year’s three day tournament, and while the temperatures in the 70s will be accompanied by overcast conditions, Texas pro Keith Combs said that won’t in any way stem the massive movement of big Conroe bass to the shallows.
“They’ll be spawning,” he said. “And if not, they’ll be very, very close to where they’re going to spawn. A guy needs to think shallow.” With three TTBC wins and an Elite Series victory in Texas, along with multiple other trophies earned in the Lone Star State, he’s a big bass specialist and has the mentality to hunt big fish rather than seek out numbers. That’s important, because last year it took a 5 pound or better fish to claim a check in all but four of the hourly competitions, and in one hour it took a 5.89 pounder to get paid.
Combs is known best for his deep water prowess, so the fact that he’d be looking in the skinny water is a telling fact, and he noted that “they will get in the dirt on Conroe.” Even when structure fishing, on rocks or roadbeds, he’d look in the 4 to 6 foot range rather than deeper.
“It has been a pretty cold winter for southeast Texas, but that broke off about a month ago,” he explained. “There have been a couple of fronts but those fish want to spawn.”
At just over 20,000 acres, Conroe is not a big lake, and Combs said it has “big fish from one end to the other,” but he’d focus on the upper end of it, just because it has more of the spawning habitat that he prefers. He expects that section of Conroe to be crowded, as will the backs of the major downlake and midlake creeks with ample wood cover. “It’s easy to pick out the stuff that is going to produce,” he said, but that wouldn’t deter him from fishing in a crowd. Instead, he’d just make an effort to slow down and dissect the best pieces of cover and key ambush points.
He’d head out with three main categories of lures on the deck of his boat, ready to pick off big fish whether they were still en route to their spawning grounds or had already arrived.
The first would be a citrus shad Strike King KVD 2.5 square bill crankbait. He’d fish that on rocks like bridge pilings and on the edges of road beds.
The second would be a Carolina rigged green pumpkin or junebug Strike King Game Hawg. He’d throw that on flat points leading up into the spawning grounds.
Finally, he’d tie on a green pumpkin Magnum Caffeine Shad, rigged weightless, to deadstick around visible brush like willows in 2 to 4 feet of water.
Those three choices would help him dial in the bite, although he said it’s possible that an angler could also do well fishing a craw colored Red Eye Shad in the middle of pockets and around Conroe’s many docks.
The key, he said, may not be any single bait as much as keeping your back to the main lake, constantly facing the bank.
“There will be some big ones caught,” he said. “Think shallow.”
PRO TIP: While Conroe isn’t big, its many lower lake seawalls can turn it into an inland ocean at times, as boat wakes bounce off of them and then collide. Anglers making the run from the lake’s middle or upper reaches down to the weigh-in site at Papa’s on the Lake will have to use their time wisely. One way to do that is to double dip. Remember, you can only weigh in one fish per hour, but by holding that fish until the 45 or 50 minute mark, not only do you maximize your chances of it counting, but you’re also close by to weigh in again the next hour, with a different fish, as soon as the scales reopen. That maximizes your time with a line in the water, increases your chances of cashing a check, and minimizes the rough water boating.
