EARLY STORY LINES
1. Rain Gains
An exceptionally wet winter led to a big fluctuation in
ouachita’s water level. The lake level was about 568 feet on
Feb. 19, 2018, but by march 3 it had risen to 584. by com-
parison, the previous three cups on ouachita (2007, 2011,
2015) saw water levels ranging from about 571 to 574.
The lake level experienced several ups and downs fol-
lowing the rains, but settled at about 577 in late April,
where it remained until press time in early June.
The U.S. Army corps of engineers will likely have the
water level back near normal by tournament time, but
high water tends to leave lingering influences.
“in 2015, we had similar conditions where the water
had been really high for a long time, and that allowed a lot
of those fish to stay shallow because it kept the water a lit-
tle cooler,” says 2015 cup champ brad Knight. “i’m inter-
ested to see if the same narrative happens again.”
The quality of the shallow bite in 2015 resulted in
divergent strategies, with both deep and shallow patterns
in play. if the shallows are off this year, the deep bite
could easily dominate the top 10.
JULY 2018 I FLWFISHING.COM
2. Grass Blast
A dry 2017 allowed for vast hydrilla expansion
throughout much of the lake. Arkansas native Larry
nixon surmises that this expansion, which has covered
humps and points while also spreading into creek
mouths, will congregate fish, thereby increasing the
potential for big limits – depending on the condition of
the grass by August, of course. even though there was
hydrilla in the lake in 2015, and it didn’t really factor into
the outcome, nixon believes the current grass situation
will put more patterns in play.
According to local bFL pro and guide chris Darby,
most of the hydrilla is in the eastern end of the lake, and
in some of the larger and more popular creeks. he says
the water temperature in June was nearly a month
ahead, which might spike more growth.
The critical factor, says Darby, is water level. As it falls
throughout summer, as is typical, the grass could top out
and provide a really strong flipping bite, or even frogging
opportunities. regardless, hydrilla should be a factor,
and scattered patches of milfoil might play, too.
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