Photo and Story by Alan McGuckin
It was a golfer at Lake Conroe’s classy La Torretta Resort that provided Terry “Big Show” Scroggins the first clue to get away from the bank, and find fish in deeper depths.
“Heads up, that dude’s fixin’ to drive one right at us,” Scroggins told me as he ducked his Team Toyota Triton under a decorative golf cart bridge, seeking shelter as he began practice for the fan-friendly Toyota Texas Bass Classic.
Those things can happen on Lake Conroe -- a gorgeous, and very commercially developed lake just a few long 3-iron shots north of Houston.
“I want to focus off shore,” said the former high school baseball pitcher, who caught the second heaviest 5-bass limit in B.A.S.S. history – off shore – with a Carolina Rig -- at Lake Falcon, Texas back in 2008.
Compared to many of the waters Scroggins competes on, Lake Conroe is relatively small. Yet oddly, by noon we had only seen four other anglers – Gary Klein, KVD, Aaron Martens and Bobby Lane. Scroggins stopped to chat for more than 30 minutes with Lane, they talked fishing industry politics, and about how brutally tough the bite was thus far on Conroe.
By late afternoon, after dragging lures through numerous brush piles, and down the slope of two dozen points, Scroggins said, “Conroe’s got my number right now, but I’m not worried, some of my best career finishes have come after horrible practices. Like at Clarks Hill, Georgia back in May, I had a horrible practice and ended-up finishing 3rd.”
“It’s just not my style to be a bank beater. I know if I can find the big bite or some big schools out deep, I’ll be in good shape. The really productive deep stuff is much harder to locate. If I get desperate I can always jump up there shallow and fish the docks,” said the 41-year-old, 8-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier.
Good strategy perhaps. But if “Big Show” abandons the deep bite, he needs to watch out for golf balls.
Fans can look forward to seeing Terry “Big Show” Scroggins and bass fishing’s very best pros this weekend when they weigh-in at 3:30 pm at the Lone Star Convention and Expo Center in Conroe, Texas. Top country acts Tracy Lawrence, Blake Shelton, Jeff Allen and Montgomery Gentry will provide on-site entertainment, along with fireworks to round-out Saturday and Sunday’s events. For more information, visit ToyotaTexasBassClassic.com.
