We sat down and made our picks for the Pickwick Lake Bassmaster Elite Series. Factoring in the grass, staging prespawn bass and warming trends this week, the bass should be looking to chomp come tournament time. Pickwick has already kicked out several bass over 10 pounds this spring, so we expect to see some exciting catches this week. Most pros were hoping the bass would stay ganged up before going up to spawn as the water rapidly warms this week and next.
We picked some along the lines of the Fantasy Fishing groups and some picks were just based on the favorites to do well here so that you'll have multiple options in some of the more complex groups. We like to mix it up with a lot of options but as you can see from our picks in this tournament, sometimes it's just hard to "not" pick someone after they burn you in a few events.
TODD'S PICKS (Team Momentum)
A. Kevin VanDam – He’s "Epic Win" – "no pain, no pain!" Seriously how can you not pick him after his start to this season.
B. Gerald Swindle - Coming off a second place while being brutally sick with food poisoning shows how tough G-Man is.
C. John Crews – Quietly on his game. Can adjust to the changing conditions.
D. Pat Golden – Huge momentum brings confidence. I think he’ll continue to be up in the standings here.
E. Keith Combs – Still a hard category to pick from. Struggled between O-Foe, Said, and Combs. Combs is charging hard and is burning me every time I don’t pick him.
JASON'S PICKS (Team Consistent)
A. Kevin VanDam - Uh I didn't pick him in the first two events. Smooth mooth on my part. That won't happen any more this season.
B. Cliff Pace - this fishery suits Pace's methodical style. He can catch them out offshore and up shallow. So if the prespawners are staging he'll do well and when they make a move we expect he'll still do well.
C. Kevin Short - Prespawn, crankbaits, and Kevin Short on Pickwick Lake all seem to fit this year's tournament so we had to go with Short on this one.
D. Chris Lane - The field is going to be constricted to Pickwick because of issues on Wilson and that means everyone is going to be looking for the best grass areas. Lane is a master of that. I look for him to top 10 here.
E. Ben Parker - never pick your friends. Or maybe it was their nose. I forget. But Ben is a buddy from around these parts and this lake will fit his style. I'm sure he put his Humminbird Side Imaging to use finding the best schools on the lake staging to move up.
TERRY'S PICKS (Team Grass Bass)
A. Dean Rojas - He can both sight fish and frog em, two patterns that might play here. But he's also good around the prespawn with other patterns.
A. Kevin VanDam - Really? Any explanation needed here?
B. Tommy Biffle - This tournament should set up well for a prespawn Biffle Bug and flipping bite as the fish move shallow when the water warms this week.
B. Mark Menendez - He has a lot of experience on this pond and is due for a break out tournament. This one sets up a lot like the Dardanelle event he won.
D. Cliff Crochet - He loves the frog, did well here before and is on a bit of a roll. Confidence is high.
