If you watched Bassmaster LIVE on Day 3 of the Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Pickwick Lake, the bite seemed to be the best it’s been all week. There was a whole lot of action caught on camera yesterday, with LIVE cameras in the top 10 boats. But by the numbers, was the bite really better? Let’s take a look.
The first thing we have to consider is the number of boats on the water. Days 1 and 2, there were 91 competitors duking it out. On Day 3, only the top 47 remained. So, the total number of fish catches should be cut nearly in half if everything else remained consistent, with 44 less anglers on the water. But, the 47 left were certainly on the fish better than the 44 that were eliminated. So, we should see a little better than half the fish catches on Day 3 since there were a few more than half the anglers on the water and the ones that were still out there were fairing the best this week.
That’s indeed was what the numbers showed, with 330 fish catches on Day 3 compared to 658 on Day 1 and 605 on Day 2. For a better comparison, let’s look at the number of catches per angler each day.
| Bass Per Angler | |
| Day 1 | 7.23 |
| Day 2 | 6.60 |
| Day 3 | 7.02 |
Interestingly, we saw an increase in productivity per angler from Day 2 to Day 3 but Day 1 was actually the best day so far, based solely on the number of bass logged into BassTrakk per angler. That makes sense too that Day 1 was a little better since the fish hadn’t been beat up on yet and we saw more current generated that first day compared to the last two.
Breaking down the number of fish catches per hour, we get a good look at the best feeding windows on Pickwick right now. And similarly to Days 2 and 3, we saw that the mid-morning bite was the most productive.
| 7 a.m. – 8 a.m | 29 |
| 8 a.m. – 9 a.m. | 45 |
| 9 a.m – 10 a.m. | 69 |
| 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. | 55 |
| 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. | 45 |
| 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. | 40 |
| 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. | 25 |
| 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. | 19 |
| 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. | 3 |
| Total: 330 |
Those low numbers late are a bit deceiving though. We have to keep in mind that half the field was due in at 3 o’clock, so many of those with a long run would have been done fishing by 2 to 2:30. And less fish are entered into BassTrakk later in the day, as small keepers are often still being caught but not accounted for, since the anglers already have a limit and the small bass don’t affect the bottom line.
What’s most interesting to look at then with all this in mind is the quality fish catches– the ones over 3- pounds. For most of the anglers, a 3- pounder still enters the bag no matter what time of day it’s caught. There were 95 bass caught on Day 3 over 3-pounds, compared to 170 on Day 1 and 130 on Day 2. For comparison’s sake, when figuring 3-pounders per angler we get:
| 3-pounders Per Angler | |
| Day 1 | 1.86 |
| Day 2 | 1.42 |
| Day 3 | 2.02 |
So, Day 3 was the best day weight-wise, as we saw more big fish caught than any other day. Here’s the breakdown by weight per fish of those caught over 3- pounds on Day 3.
| 3-pounders | 66 |
| 4-pounders | 21 |
| 5-pounders | 6 |
| 6-pounders | 2 |
And the best time of day to catch big ones?
| 3-pound-plus fish per hour | |
| 7 a.m. – 8 a.m | 9 |
| 8 a.m. – 9 a.m. | 12 |
| 9 a.m – 10 a.m. | 15 |
| 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. | 15 |
| 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. | 15 |
| 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. | 14 |
| 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. | 8 |
| 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. | 5 |
| 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. | 2 |
With all of this in mind, if you’re looking to go fishing on Pickwick Lake in the next couple of weeks and you want to catch a good fish over 3- pounds, it looks like the best time of day to do it (between 7 AM and 3 PM anyway) is the window between 8 AM and 1 PM, more precisely 9 AM to 12 PM when nearly half (45 out of 95) of the bass over 3- pounds were caught.
This also means that we’re just now entering into the most productive time of the day for big ones here on Championship Sunday if all the other variables hold from yesterday to today.
