Here is a really great website that I recently came across. Discover Boating! Among its many features, it allows you to look up boat ramps and accesses for just about any lake in the country as well as directions.
Hopefully you will find this helpful someday when you are scoping out a new lake.
Tight Lines,
Rich
www.richlindgren.com
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10 Things you may not have in your boat, but probably should. These are some of the items that are beyond what is legally required and what is commonly carried by anglers. Some stuff is more obvious than others and some items are quite unordinary.
Jumper Cables – Jumper cables have saved my day many a times as well as some other people I have run into. Its even saved a few tournament days. Sure you can always switch your cables over to the trolling batteries, but when you only have a minute or two to spare to get back for weigh-in, jumper cables save a ton of time.
Buoys – I know many a guys pass ob buoys for GPS, but on windy days there is nothing like a buoy for a reference point, especially in these Boater/Non-Boater tournaments where co-anglers are not allowed to run the boat, so if you are trying to hold on a deep hard bottom spot in the wind, its nice just to be able to motor back to that spot and start fishing, instead of trying to feel your way around for it again and again. Bass Pro Shops carries a great selection of buoys.
Extra Life Preserver – Its nice to have for those impromptu evening fishing trips with a buddy or coworker. You hate not to take someone because you only have one life jacket. Also, you can make someone’s day at the tournament take-off when they forgot theirs and you can lend them one.
Old-Fashioned Ice Fishing Depth Finders – This is for fish health! If you are not familiar with this item, it is basically a .5 – 1oz lead weight molded to a gator clip. I use these to clip on to the pectoral fin of a fish in my livewell that is starting to turn on its side. The basic premise, is that the fish does not have to fight and waste energy to stay upright and it recovers easier and you do not kill the fish and save on dead fish penalties at the scale.
Rope – Handy for tying up to docks, bridges & trees. Also good to have when you need a tow or try to tow another boat back to safety.
Small Anchor – An anchor can make life easy on a windy day and you have a real tight group of fish. Plus, I really like for sight fishing. Once you locate a nice fish, back just far enough away so you can see what you are doing and gently hold the boat with the anchor. Less trolling motor noise, more bites!
Toilet Paper – When nature calls there is not always a restroom available and often boat ramp facilities are often out of this key supply.
Cable Ties – I find these are handy for batteries that come loose out of trays, for re-securing transducers and many other things in the boat.
Multi-Tool – It’s a great single tool that can make those wireing repairs, loose screws and bolts. Rather than a toolbox, this tool can do most everything and take up a lot less room. You really cannot go wrong with a quality tool like the Leatherman Wave or Gerber 600 Fisherman.
Quality Side Cutters – Great way to remove really deep hooks from fish and can often save a fish that otherwise might go belly up in your livewell. Its also handy for cutting hooks that are buried into your hand or skin.
Hopefully you find these tips useful and makes your future fishing trips safer and more productive.
Rich
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PICTURES ADDED!!!
Ryan & I got up at 4:30am and headed to the ramp, launch and checked in with plenty of time to enjoy the rolls provided by the MN Pole Benders. I left drawing the boat number up to Ryan, he picked a respectable 16th out of 40. As we pulled up to our starting point, there was another boat setting down about 75yds to the right and we ended up each fishing one side of the point, 3-5ft. I quickly got one about 3lbs on a finesse carolina rigged (pegged Tru-Tungsten 1/8oz sinker 24″ from hook) baby watermelon Ring Fry. The other boat caught a couple small keepers on a black chatterbait. After fishing awhile we started working the flat over the next point. I caught one small keeper on a blk/purple Outkast Swim Jig with a Black Gulp Minnow Grub trailer. Then Ryan & I each got on keeper on a the baby Ring Fry off the point and I lost one that we saw jump, probably 1.5lbs. We fished one more mid-depth point in the rain and headed out to a deep spot on the main lake.
We pulled up to my primary deep hard bottom area and there were 4 tournament boats working up shallower. Within 25-30 minutes we boated 5 really nice keepers (including our big fish of the day), 3 on Carolina Rigged Lake Fork Creature (Bull Bream) and 1 on a C-rigged Senko (Cinnamon). The keys to the c-rig seemed to be the Tru-Tungsten weights and crawling it slower than slow. You could really feel the gravel and small rocks in 10-14ft with the tungsten weights. When the Carolina Bait slowed, I switched to a DT10 (Bluegill) and got another 3lb plus fish. I got one more bit that pulled an appendage of my creature and then the action stalled. We worked the area with jig worms, drops shots, 10″ Lake Fork Worm and other baits with no more bites. It was 10:45 and we decided to leave and try some other areas.
We hit a couple other weedlines and rows of docks, caught several keepers, on Swim Jigs & Tungsten Jigs, but nothing big enough to cull out our 2.5# small fish. I figured by working the docks we were playing good defense even if we did not manage any big bites. We eventually returned to our deep spot at around noon, we worked it over again with several baits including creatures and jigs, but no more action. We were having some starting battery issues so we opted to work the bar next to the landing for the last 30 minutes. No more bites, and we headed in about 10 minutes early to get a good spot on the beach and to ensure we were not late as we figured to have 20+ lbs in the well.
We weigh in with about half the field already weighed, had to wait to make sure Laura (my wife) was there before we brought the fish up. Our total for 6 fish was 20.85lbs with a big fish of 4.87lbs. When we weighed it was top weight and big fish so far. We ended up in 3rd, the same two teams from the previous year took 1st & 2nd, but our big fish held.
We were a little more than a pound out, we need one more 4lb bite. Those two 2lb fish held up back. I think we may have been a little late getting out to the deep spot, I think we only caught the tail end of the bite. Overall we fished very well and you can hardly complain about 20+lbs, the only fish we lost would not have helped. Looking back I wish we would have moved deep a little earlier.
See Results
I republished this posting to add pictures that had been missing for a long time 
Rich
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I tried to get an early start knowing it would be a busy independence day on Lake Marion. Launched the boat around 6:30am and I headed out to my favorite deep area to test it out and hardly a nibble from panfish, let alone a bass bite. I then went up on top of the flat and started pitching a Gambler B.B. Cricket with a 1/2oz Tru-Tungsten worm weight checking to see if they were up in the weeds, no much happening there either. I then buzzed across the lake to check a sand shelf, I first probed with the Reaction Innovations Vixen and then a jig and then a Ring Fry.
I then went though the narrows and checked some of the mid-depth areas Ryan and I found fish on just a couple days ago. The very first spot I got two fish on a Carolina Rigged Lake Fork Creature in a Bull Bream color. I then hopped around and found some fish on Swim Jigs, chatterbaits & senko type baits. I was feeling pretty good about getting quality fish, but not finding and 3lb + fish, which are important on this lake. It will likely take over 20lbs to win on Saturday.
I then tried flipping some weed clumps again, but went quite awhile without any bites. Then right around 1pm, I found an area where I got one about 3.5 and 2.5 in just a few minutes on a Tungsten Jig. By that time, it was time to get off the lake and get read for a 4th grill out at the neighbors.
Looking ahead, I would feel much better if m deep fish were going, as they can be really good fish out there. None the less, I believe we have a solid pattern that we should be able to get 12+ pounds fairly early and then we can give some of my deep areas a go and try some other shallow cover to get a couple kickers and we will have shot at a high finish. If any of you are interested, head out to Casperson Park on Lake Marion for a 1pm weigh-in.
Rich
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John (club member who is fishing as non-boater) and I tried to get an early start from the cities, but we still did not manage to get on the water until 9:30am. The action was still quite good when we first arrived. We started on a weedline in Lower Whitefish where we caught 13 on a DT6, mojo rigged Baby Ring Frys and Texas Rigged Baby Brush Hogs. We then moved up shallower and I caught 3 nice fish on a jig. We then spent some time graphing a few weedlines. We fished another weedline and caught 5 keepers, drop shot Fluke and Baby Brush Hogs. We then checked some slop, not much action there. Few small fish on a Bronzeye Frog.
We then hit a few shallow pockets on the way back the landing and boated a few more keepers. I caught 3 nice fish on a 5/16oz Bluegill SWL Spinnerbait. 36 keepers later, it was time to get off the lake and get back to the hotel, and Famous Dave’s for dinner.
Day 2 we were on the lake a little after 6am. We headed up to Trout Lake. I started with a DT6 and got a few quick fish and John picked some up on a Baby Brush Hog early. I switched to a Reaction Innovations Vixen topwater in the bluegill pattern and caught a couple short fish. The area produced several bass, but not much for size. We then hopped over to another point, not as many fish, but some better quality. Caught those fish on a drop shot Fluke and texas rigged baby brush hog. We then worked a bunch of docks, it was slow going, I caught several fish on a jig but not the quality I was looking for. Not going to get it done in this tournament. We had to head home early today, so we hit one more area towards Pig Lake on the way back the Hay landing, managed one keeper on a jig. This day eliminated more water where as Sunday I found some areas that I will probably use.
I will get to prefish one more day on Saturday before the tourney, I will be concentrating on deeper weeds to find a more consistent big fish bite. I expect to probe some coontail clumps with Tru-Tungsten Jigs.
Tomorrow will be final day of Marion practice and Pan-O-Prog preview.
Rich
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Ryan & I got a bit of a late start on Saturday morning, probably did not make the first cast until almost 7am. We started out by checking my #1 deep spot and I got a small keeper on a Carolina Rigged baby Ring Fry using two small tungsten sinkers to add extra noise. Ryan then picked up a short fish on a 3″ Fluke rigged on a drop shot. That was all the action we got there and I was very disappointed. We tried two more deep spots and all we got were a few nibbles from some panfish.
We then went and checked out the shallow areas where Ryan won our club tournament a few weeks ago. We got a few small keepers and I caught a really nice fish off a piece of shallow isolated cover with a jig, close to 4lbs. Ryan got a decent keeper on a albino Bronzeye Frog out of some weed mat. We then decided to head under the bridges to the west side of the lake where I had caught a some nice fish back in June. Ryan ended up getting two decent keepers on a Albino Bronzeye Frog and I got zero bites.
We then came back out to the main lake and backed off the areas where we fished this morning into some mid-depth zones. I caught a really nice fish and lost another one very quickly on a mojo rigged baby Ring Fry. We then hopped around trying duplicate this area and caught several more nice keepers, I caught them on the mojo rig and Ryan boated a few with a Killer Craw Ring Fry worked Texas on a 1/4oz Tru-Tungsten Sinker. A pattern was finally starting to emerge and it was time to head home. Although, these might not be winning fish, its seems to be a much more stable pattern to getting a quality limit and then we can gamble for a few big fish from there. This was a productive day on the lake and I had one more practice day to figure out some more.
Rich
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(Minneapolis, MN)… Minnesota’s best junior bass anglers are set to compete on Lake Washington near Mankato, MN, the site of the Minnesota Bass Federation Nation’s Youth Tournament of Champions. The Minnesota’s Bass Federation Nation Youth Tournament of Champions (TOC) is an event where competitors qualify from youth clubs all over the state to vie for top honors and a birth to the B.A.S.S. Junior World Championships (JWC). On June 30th, 2006, two young anglers will punch their ticket to the Junior World Championships to be held in February on Lake Logan Martin in Alabama. Along with the earning a birth in the JWC, each winner receives plaques and product packages from every sponsor. The tournament headquarters and weigh-in site will be Westwood Marina and Grill on the shores of Lake Washington. Weigh-in and awards ceremony will begin at 2:00pm. This is the 5th year that Minnesota will crown Junior State champions. Forest Lake was the site of Minnesota?s inaugural youth championship in 2002. This is the second time it will be held on Lake Washington. The 53 contenders in this event are split into two age groups, 11-14 and 15-18. They fish two anglers in a boat captained by an adult federation member. The contestants qualified from their respective junior clubs. Minnesota has seven Junior Bassmasters clubs ranging from as far south as Fairmont and as far north as Bemidji. Several state champions from previous years are trying to repeat and make a return visit to the Bassmasters Junior World Championship (JWC). Last year’s State Champion, Don Brennhofer, in the 15-18 age group, is from nearby Belle Plaine, MN. He is anxious to return to the JWC. This is no easy task, as several other strong youth anglers have the same goal. Dave Saterbak, Maple Grove, who represented Minnesota at the JWC in 2005 in the 11-14 age group, is now moving to the 15-18 group and has his mind set on winning again. “The great thing about the Minnesota Junior State Championship is that none of the kids walk away empty handed. Our junior sponsors have really stepped up big for the kids,” says Youth Director Todd Saterbak. “We really appreciate the support we get from Berkley, MG Lures, All-Terrain Tackle and Mojo Rods.” If you are interested in seeing Minnesota’s best young anglers, Lake Washington is the place to be Friday, June 30th. Find more info @ www.MNBF.org About Minnesota Bass Federation: Get out there and check out the weigh in this Friday! |
Rich
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Prior to practice for the Champlain FLW Tour, Tracy Adams didn’t know whether he’d focus on largemouths or smallmouths. Tournaments at the long lake on the New York/Vermont border can be won with either, so it often pays to keep an open mind in regard to species. He eventually settled on the green fish, and the decision produced the first tour-level win of his career. He went into day 4 with a 2-ounce deficit to leader Dion Hibdon, but caught the biggest bag on the final day and won by 1-06. Here’s how the Top 5 got their fish. Practice The thickest concentration he located was in a milfoil bed that was 7 to 9 feet deep and 150 yards off shore. He found two other similar beds, but those got muddied up by the wind and were of no use when the tournament started. He also found some fish in willow bushes along the bank, and those would be crucial on day 4. Competition His day 1 limit was nothing extraordinary, and it landed him in 33rd place. As always at Champlain though, a few ounces here and there lead to big moves in the standings, and he was the epitome of that phenomenon on day 2. His second-day bag was just 1-03 bigger, but it moved him up 26 places. He made the cut in 7th. The milfoil fish continued to bite on day 3 – but only until about 9:30. The wind had changed directions and began blowing from the north instead of the south, and that apparently triggered the shutdown. Weights had been zeroed after day 2, and his 16-12 bag put him 2 ounces behind Hibdon, who’d also experienced a downturn with his own fish in a nearby grassbed. The Missourian’s stringer was more than 3 pounds lighter than the ones he’d brought in on the first 2 days. The milfoil fish bit early again on day 4. But when they turned off again, He ended up combining four willow fish with one he’d caught in the grass, and together they equaled his best bag of the tournament. He quit fishing at about 1:00 to take some of the stress out of the long ride back to the launch. Pattern Notes Winning Gear Notes |
2nd: Kevin Vida is a threat to win at any venue that features big numbers of smallmouth, and he came up just 1-06 short of his first tour victory here. His preferred pattern was sight-fishing for bedding bronzebacks, but that was difficult on the middle 2 days due to clouds and wind. But even when he couldn’t see the fish, he could still catch them because he had their locations pinpointed.
His bags consisted of 18 smallmouths and two largemouths. He caught both largemouths on day 3 (they were fish on a flat that he’d seen earlier). Vida relied on two baits – a Mizmo Bad Boy Tube & a Berkley Power Jerk Shad .
> Tube gear: 6’6″ medium-heavy Fenwick Techna AV rod, Abu-Garcia Cardinal 503ALB spinning reel, 10-pound Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon line, 1/4-ounce Bite-Me jighead, Mizmo Bad Boy Tube (green-pumpkin surprise).
> Jerkshad gear: 7′ medium-heavy Fenwick Techna AV rod, Abu Garcia Torno 3006 casting reel (6.3:1 gear ratio), 17-pound Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon, 3/0 Gamakatsu Hook , Berkley Power Jerk Shad (pearl).
> Main factor in his success – “My new Solar Bat Sunglasses – I have to give them credit. I got a new pair with high-contrast yellow lenses, and they opened up a whole new world for sight-fishing. Even on cloudy days, I could find fish. It’s an amazing lens.”
3rd: Dion Hibdon’s plan for this tournament has been well-chronicled: He came in 75h in the points and wanted to move into the Top 48, which would give him his first berth in the FLW Tour Championship (FLWTC) since 2003.
Along with his father Guido and Northeastern Stren roommate Ricky Doyle (Champlain local), he determined that his only chance to achieve that goal was to catch some big largemouths from the
> Jig gear: 7’6″ heavy-action American Rodsmiths flipping stick, Shimano casting reel (6.3:1 gear ratio), 20-pound Seagaur Carbon Pro Flourocarbon line, 5/8oz Luck E Strike or 1-ounce Terry Odom jig (bluegill), Luck E Strike Guido Bug trailer (green-pumpkin).
> Main factor in his success – “I fished for big fish with a big bait and I never gave up on it.”
4th: Scott Martin has made three straight Top 10s here and won in 2004. He loves to catch Champlain’s smallmouths and tries to avoid largemouths entirely – unless he finds a spawner that might help him.
He sight-fished for bronzebacks the majority of the tournament and caught them on a Berkley Power Tube. His first 2 days went precisely according to plan, and he went into day 3 with considerable confidence that he’d gain his second straight victory here.
He stumbled a bit on day 3 though, and attributed it primarily to “bad note-taking.” He hadn’t accurately kept track of which bedding fish had been caught by himself or someone else, and wasted some time running to a few that were no longer there.
> Sight-fishing gear: 6’10” Kistler Magnesium tube rod, Abu Garcia Cardinal 803 spinning reel, 8-pound Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon line, 1/4- or 1/8oz Matzuo rattling jighead, 4″ Berkley Power Tube (watermelon seed).
> He switched to a 7’6″ medium-heavy Kistler Helium rod when the wind was at its worst. “It was made special for me 2 years ago, but now it’s a production rod.”
> Like Vida, he said his sunglasses made a big difference. His were made by Panoptx. “They have a lens that’s called copper, and it really enhances your sight-fishing ability. The clarity is that much better.”
> Main factor in his success – “A 55-gallon drum of confidence and a plan – a plan for fishing and a plan with God.”
5th: Shinichi Fukae of
He fished for smallmouths exclusively during the tournament and primarily targeted humps. He didn’t sight-fish.
> Worm gear: 6’6″ medium-light St. Croix Legend Elite Spinning Rod, Shimano Stella C3000 spinning reel, 6-pound Duel (Yo-Zuri) fluorocarbon line, 3/32- or 1/8oz unnamed jighead, 5″ Gary Yamamoto Cut Tail or Shad-Shaped Worm (both green-pumpkin).
> Main factor in his success – “It’s a lake I like a lot and I was able to use my finesse skills.”
It will be interesting to see how the weights compare when the Bassmaters Elite Series visits Champlain in a few weeks.
Rich
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Early Times has launced a Tagged Bass Challenge! All you have to do, is catch a tagged bass out of these Participating States and Lakes and enter it in the month of July. Sounds like a sweet deel, too bad I will not be anywhere near any of these lakes until October. Maybe I will lobby Leinenkeugels to do something like this in the Upper Midwest!
Find Contest description and The Official Rules at www.earlytimes.com
Good luck to all of you that have access to these lakes!
Rich
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Deep Stuff Dominated at the recent Kentucky Lake Bassmaster Elite Series was the first event of the season where deep patterns dominated. The majority of the top finishers spent the entire tournament working the vast system of main-lake river ledges. It was spot-on-spot fishing that demanded exacting presentations and a knack for timing.
Here’s how the winner, Morizo Shimizu, and the rest of the Top 5 caught their fish.
Winner: Morizo Shimizu fished shallow on day 1, shallow and deep on day 2, mostly deep on day 3, then only deep on day 4. His deep baits were a Texas-rigged worm and 3/4-ounce jig. He threw them on river ledges that had brush or were near brush. When he fished shallow, he threw a spinnerbait and jig, and also flipped.
> Jig gear: 7′ medium-heavy Evergreen rod, Shimano casting reel (available in
> The Bysclaw trailer is a crawfish-style plastic that he designed.
> His Texas-rig consisted of an unnamed 9 1/2″ curlytail worm (cranapple color) with a 5/0 Gamakatsu Worm Hook and 1/2-ounce weight.
> Main factor in his success – “After I came here from
2nd: Kevin Wirth, Kentucky local, who carried a 3-pound lead into day 3 but ultimately, fell short of
> Worm gear: 7′ medium-heavy Airrus Casting Rod, unnamed casting reel, 12-pound Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon, 3/8oz weight, 4/0 Gamakatsu Round Bend w/ Berkley 10″ Power Worm (blue-flake).
> Jig gear: 7′ heavy-action Airrus rod, same reel, 17-pound Vanish, 3/4-ounce unnamed football-head jig, generic double-tail grub trailer (green-pumpkin).
> Hair jig gear: 6’8″ heavy-action Airrus Rod, same reel, 12-pound Vanish, 1/2-ounce hair jig (white, no longer in production).
> Crankbait gear: 7′ Airrus cranking rod, same reel, 10-pound Vanish, Rapala DT16 (white with greenish back).
> Main factor in his success – “Home water had a lot to do with it. I used my knowledge a lot – just knowing when the fish got in a pattern and what the fish were actually doing, and being able to keep up with it.”
3rd: Kevin VanDam also fished the drops and ledges, where he worked a crankbait and jig. But he mixed up his structure to include some points and creeks. On day 4, wind forced him into a temporary shallow move, where he caught a limit and culled a few times on a lipless crank. “I fished a lot of different spots – some creeks, points, drops, shelves – all summer-type structure,” he said. “I fished a little bit of everything. “He noted he used the crankbait as a search bait. Once he got a bite, he’d slow down and pick the area apart with slower stuff.
> Jig gear: 7’4″ heavy-action Quantum PT Series rod, Quantum Energy 1160 casting reel (6.3:1), 17-pound Bass Pro Shops XPS fluorocarbon, 1/2oz Strike King Denny Brauer Premier Pro-Model Jig (brown and Texas-craw), Strike King 3X – Denny Brauer Chunk trailer (green-pumpkin).
> Crankbait gear: 7′ medium-action fiberglass Quantum Tour Edition rod, Quantum Energy 750 casting reel (5:1), 12-pound XPS fluorocarbon, Strike King Series 6 Crankbait (powder-blue back/chartreuse belly).
> Main factor in his success – “Persistence. I just really worked the spots thoroughly and worked a lot of places until I hit them.”
4th: Skeet Reese worked a worm out deep, but he was the only one of the Top 5 who dropshotted. Four of his five fish every day came on a dropshot, he said. “I was fishing a new Berkley Drop Shot Power Worm, in oxblood color. “And I caught my biggest fish each day on a 10″ Power Worm. He said his tournament “boiled down to two spots. That was pretty much where I caught all my fish the last 3 days. If I’d known what kind of fish were there, I’d have done a heck of a lot better than I did. On day 1, I only caught 12 pounds and I was scrambling around all day.” About his spots, he said: “I was fishing outside ledges, and 12 to 20 feet of water seemed to be the best.”
> Dropshot gear: 7’3″ medium-action Lamiglas SR743 Dropshot Special rod, unnamed spinning reel, 8-pound Vanish, 3/16-ounce tungsten weight, 1/0 straight-shank worm hook, Berkley Drop Shot Power Worm (oxblood)
> Lamiglas has had a Dropshot Special rod for a few years, but his was a new prototype. “It’s 7’3″, but the final version might be 7’4″,” he said. “It’s a longer rod with pretty moderate action. The first half of the rod is fairly soft with a lot of flex, but you’ve got a great feel of the bait, and when you go to set the hook, there’s plenty there to drill them.”
> Anglers mostly Texas-rigged their worms this week. “I guarantee more people are going to be dropshotting after what they saw this week,” he noted.
> Texas-rig gear: 7’6″ medium-heavy Lamiglas 764 rod, unnamed casting reel, 14-pound Vanish, 5/0 hook, 3/8oz Tru-Tungsten weight, 10″ Power Worm (green-pumpkin).
> Main factor in his success – “I think for me it was scaling down and fishing the smaller bait. These fish have been extremely heavily pressured. In the areas I fished, the smaller baits seemed to produce better than the bigger baits.”
5th: John Crews cranked and jigged the ledges. About his spots, he said: “Everything had to be close to deep water. Everything I was fishing was within a cast of 25 to 30 feet of water. “I caught fish in a lot of different depths, but the majority were in 12 to 20 feet.”
> Jig gear: 6’10” medium-heavy Shimano Crucial Casting Rods, Shimano Chronarch Super Free 100MG Reel, 14-pound Berkley Vanish Transition Fluorocarbon Line, 5/8oz Spro prototype “football-head-like” jig with a peanut-butter-and-jelly skirt, twintail grub trailer (green-pumpkin).
> He said the Transition Fluorocarbon Line was key for two reasons. One, it allowed him to feel his way along the bottom. “I could feel every little rock and pebble, and I could feel it coming up to a limb. When that happened, I knew not to pull back – I worked it over the limb.” The other bonus came above the water. Transition turns to hi-vis when out of the water. “I had a couple of bites on slack line, and I saw the line jump and set the hook.”
> Crankbait gear: 7’6″ medium-action Shimano cranking rod, Shimano Chronarch casting reel (5:1), 10-pound Berkley Sensation line, Norman DD22 crankbait (shad).
> Main factor in his success – “I’d say that I focused on one section of the lake and tried to find every good deep spot in that section. The section was about 15 to 20 miles. You had to bounce around from spot to spot to find feeding fish. Once you caught one, most of the time you could catch more there.”
Somehow Rojas and his Bronzeye Frog did not make the Top 12 this week, but he did finish 27th and gained on IKE for AOY Race.
Rich
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