Huddleston Swimbait in Rainbow TroutSwimbaits were a bigh part for almost all of the Top 12, much of that is probably due to the large bass and the hitch, which is a minnow that’s endemic to central California and looks similar to a golden shiner. It can reach a length of 14 inches.

There was a point during the first day of practice for the Clear Lake Bassmaster Elite Series when Steve Kennedy was convinced that California’s largest natural body of water harbored no bass under 4 pounds. He started out throwing a swimbait, and it took him awhile to catch anything that didn’t meet that standard.  He eventually discovered that 3s – and even 2s – did swim there, and he was forced to bring a couple in that class to the scales on day 1. But over the final 3 days, his average weigh-in fish went nearly 7 pounds.

The Alabamian caught 122-14 to set a new BASS total-weight record en route to his first Elite Series victory. He overtook 3-day leader Greg Gutierrez of California with a 32-10 stringer on the final day.  His total over the last 3 days was a preposterous 102-14. Had he skipped day 1 entirely, he still would have finished in 6th place in the greatest slugfest in tour-level tournament history.   Click here to view and awesome video compilation from BassZone.com

Below you will find a compilation of reports from BassZone.com, BassFan.com, Bassmaster.com and what I witnessed on the web & TV coverage.

Practice
The first day of practice was overcast with intermittent rain, and Kennedy had no trouble getting quality bites on a swimbait – a lure he used for the first time at the season opener at Amistad. He went through the Narrows, which divides the upper and lower portions of the lake, and quickly caught five that he estimated would weigh about 23 pounds.

In hindsight, he thinks that stringer probably went 28 to 30 pounds. His initial guesses were based more on length than girth, and just about every Clear Lake bass would be deemed obese by the people who put together those body-mass index charts. Their weight-to-length ratio might be higher than anywhere in the world.

He continued to get bites that day, and bent down his hook at 11:30 so he wouldn’t put anymore fish through the stress of being boated.  Wind that topped 30 mph at times showed up on the second practice day, so he stayed in the northern part of the lake near the launch at Lakeport and fished shallow tules and willows with a football-head jig.  Steve caught plenty of fish, but the north end’s quality did not match that of Day 1’s practice on the South end.

The wind laid down for the final practice day, and he went south again and ran all new water. He didn’t get a single bite on the 6-inch Basstrix swimbait that had been so productive 2 days before.  With similar conditions in the forecast, he determined that the jig would be his best bait for the first day of competition.

Days 1 and 2
> Day 1: 5, 20-00
> Day 2: 5, 29-13

Kennedy said the jig-in-vegetation pattern produced 60 or 70 bites on day 1, but the best five averaged just 4 pounds each. Again, he couldn’t get bitten on the swimbait.  He admitted, in the wake of a 61st-place finish at the California Delta, that he began to think he might be in a slump.  Kennedy was afraid that some might view last year was a fluke of sorts.

He caught another 20 pounds on the jig on day 2, then had a joyous reunion with his swimbait fish from the first practice day. He culled up to 29-13 and climbed 39 places to a tie for 12th with a 49-13 total.  Late in the day, he pulled up on a rocky point in the Narrows that dropped into 50 feet of water. It was flat on one side and steep on the other, and on the flat side he could see 15 fish that ranged from 5 to 10 pounds.

“I already had almost 30 pounds, so I didn’t want to catch a 5- or 6-pounder – that wouldn’t help me. I wanted one of the big ones.”  He’d been buying swimbaits, both large and small, throughout the western swing, and he began experimenting with some of the bigger models on that pod of huge fish. He tried an Osprey in two different colors, and a couple of brutes bumped it, but wouldn’t commit.

“I finally tied on the big Huddleston rainbow trout. I had a 9 swim up behind it and suck it down, but I missed her.” That was a bit of a downer, but the foundation was in place for a glorious day 3.

Photo: ESPN Outdoors Steve Kennedy got help from BASS tournament director Trip Weldon (left) and emcee Keith Alan in holding up his tournament-best 40-07 limit on day 3.

Days 3 and 4
> Day 3: 5, 40-07
> Day 4: 32-10
> Total = 20, 122-14

Kennedy went straight to the rocky point to begin day 3, and those giants were still right where he’d left them the previous afternoon.  

He caught a 9-08 and an 8 on back-to-back casts. On his first seven heaves with the 5-ounce Huddleston, he boated seven fish that combined to weigh an estimated 35 pounds.

“Once I had (five of those) in the boat, I went out looking for more big fish. I put the trolling motor on high and covered tons of new water.”

He hit a few more points, then switched his focus to docks once the sun got high. He culled a 6-03 with a 6-06, and culled the 6-06 with another 8-pounder.

The 40-07 bag was easily the biggest of his career, and it cut the nearly 17-pound margin between him and 3-day leader Greg Gutierrez to just 1-10.

Naturally, he went back to the point in the Narrows to start day 4, but it had lost its magic. Between the boats that followed him, the helicopters circling overhead and the fact that he’d put a big whacking on the fish the previous day, it was all but barren. He caught a 3 1/2-pounder but, in accordance with California state regulations, had to release it because it was hooked outside the mouth.

He moved south to the next point and caught a 5-plus, but it was foul-hooked too. He didn’t put a fish in his livewell until his fourth stop, which was another point.  He switched to a the jig for a while and caught a few 2 1/2- to 3-pounders that left him one fish shy of a limit. He arrived on a dock in the south end, where he’d seen three fish of 5 pounds or better the day before, at about 10:30.

He threw the Huddleston down the deep-water face of the dock and caught a 9-pounder on his first cast, which ended up being his 5th fish and gave him the confidence to stick with the huge swimbait on the final day.

The next cast produced a bite that he said was considerably bigger than the 9. That fish pulled the split-ring off the hook that held it and was gone. He’d obtained larger split-rings from Bill Smith the night before and put them on most of his big swimbaits, but for some reason had neglected to make the switch on that one.

After another missed bite followed by a lull in the action, he moved to another spot where he’d found fish and caught some on the Basstrix that improved his bag. He then went back to the dock at 1:00 and caught a 5 and an 8 on his first two casts with the Huddleston.

“At that point I knew I’d broken the (4-day weight) record and I was pretty excited about that, but I didn’t think I’d won. Then a couple minutes later, I hooked a 10-pounder.”

But like his first fish of the day, that one was hooked on the outside of the head and had to be thrown back. With just a few minutes left to fish, he caught a 5-pounder to complete his 32 1/2-pound bag.  “What a roller-coaster that day was. I had the biggest fish I’d ever caught in my hands (the 10-pounder) and had to let it go, and I had one that was even bigger pull the split-ring off.

Gear Notes
1 – A Huddleston Swimbait in Rainbow Trout
Huddleston Swimbait in Rainbow Trout
Most of the big fish came on this lure. This was also the lure that Steve recovered from the bottom of Clear Lake after breaking off a 10 pounder.

2 – A BassTrix 6″ Fat Minnow in the Hitch Color. 
This lure was used when the bass did not respond to the BIG swimbait.

3 – A 3/4 Ounce PJ’s of Arkansas Football Jig with a Kinami Double Tail Grub
All 20 pounds the Steve brought to the stage on day one, were caught on the football jig.

> Big swimbait gear: 7’11” heavy-action Kistler Helium 2 LTX rod, Shimano Curado casting reel, 30-pound P-Line Fluoroclear line, 8″ Huddleston Deluxe swimbait (rainbow trout).

> Small swimbait gear: 7′ heavy-action Kistler Helium 2 LTA rod, same reel, 15-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, 6″ Basstrix Paddle Tail swimbait (hitch).

> Jig gear: Same rod, reel and line as small swimbait, 3/4oz PJ’s Finesse Baits football jig (green-pumpkin), Kinami Double-Tail grub trailer (green-pumpkin).

While the other top finishers relied on swimbaits for their primary pattern, their back-up patterns varied greatly, though. While Kennedy relied on a football-head jig, his closest pursuers used everything from a small finesse worm to a big topwater bait.

2nd: Skeet Reese has fished well everywhere he’s gone over the past 6 months – he now has five consecutive Top 10s on his ledger, including three runner-up finishes. He has more than two decades worth of experience at Clear Lake, and he was a popular pick to win this event.

He would have won, too, had Kennedy not gone bonkers and weighed in more than 72 pounds over the last 2 days. Reese was the most consistent angler in the field over the tournament’s entirety. He was the only one who never weighed a bag under 25 pounds.

He employed a combination of a swimbait, a jerkbait and a shaky-head worm.

> Swimbait gear: 7’6″ medium-heavy Lamiglas XFT764 rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel, 20-pound prototype Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon line, 8″ Osprey swimbait (hitch).

> Jerkbait gear: 7′ medium-action Lamiglas SR705R Skeet Reese signature series rod, same reel, 15-pound prototype Trilene fluorocarbon, Lucky Craft Jerkbait (ghost minnow).

> Worm gear: 7’3″ medium-action Lamiglas Skeet Reese signature series dropshot rod, Mitchell 308Xe spinning reel, 1/4oz unnamed darthead jig, 7″ Berkley Power Shaky Worm (watermelon-red).

3rd: Greg Gutierrez, another Californian, had originally planned to fish shaky-heads around docks to catch 15 to 17 pounds, and then go try to flip up a couple of kickers.  “Then I saw where some giants had moved into a creek,” he said. “I thought if I could get in there early, I could catch those fish.”

Those fish (which he caught on a swimbait), some other big ones that were hanging around rockpiles and the ones that fell to the flipping stick later in the day allowed him to weigh the biggest bags on days 1 and 2. He had an 11-pound lead at the midway point.

He couldn’t sustain the momentum, though. He caught just 41-07 over the final 2 days, which was just a pound more than the charging Kennedy weighed on day 3 alone.  His swimbait fish had completely run out by the end of day 3, so he resorted to a Zara Spook to get his initial limit on the final day.

“My pre-spawn fish had morphed into spawners, and I wasn’t prepared for that. I was so locked into fishing offshore structure, and I just couldn’t make the changes I needed to in the time frame I had.”

> Swimbait gear: 7’11” heavy-action and medium-heavy Okuma Guide Select rods, unnamed casting reels, 20-pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid fluorocarbon/copolymer line, 8″ Osprey and 5 1/2″ California Swimbabes Baby “E” swimbaits.

> Jig gear: 7′ heavy-action Okuma Solaris rod, Okuma IDX 150 casting reel, 15-pound Yo-Zuri H2O fluorocarbon line, 3/4oz homemade football-head jig (black/brown), unnamed twin-tail trailer (purple/blue flake).

> Flipping gear: 7’6″ heavy-action Okuma EVX flipping stick, Okuma IDX 150 casting reel, 20-pound H2O fluorocarbon, 3/4oz Tru-Tungsten weight, 5/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook, Zoom Brush Hog (black/red).

> Spook gear: 7′ medium-heavy Okuma Solaris rod, Okuma VS casting reel, 15-pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid line, Zara Super Spook (clear with blue head).

Photo: ESPN Outdoors A tip from Scott Rook put Gerald Swindle on his way to a Top-5 finish.

4th: Gerald Swindle caught a mediocre bag on day 1, but was solid as a rock the rest of the way. The key to his improvement was a bit of advice from 10th-place finisher Scott Rook.

“I was fishing swimbaits in the morning and then switching to a shaky-head, but Rook came by and tipped me off,” he said. “He told me the fish were suspended, and I should keep throwing (the swimbait) and not let up.

“After that, I put the worm up. I was done with him.”

> Swimbait gear: 7’4″ Quantum Finesse Flipping Gerald Swindle signature series rod, Quantum PT casting reel, 20-pound Spiderwire G-String line, 6″ Basstrix swimbait (hitch).

> Worm gear: 6’6″ Quantum spinning rod, Quantum GT 30 spinning reel, 10-pound G-String, 1/4oz unnamed jighead, 5-inch Zoom Finesse Worm (green-pumpkin).

Main factor in his success – “Persistence in staying on the dock pattern with the swimbait. It might take you all day to catch a big bag on it. If you get 30 to follow it and one to eat it, that’s fine.”

Performance edge – “The swimbait, absolutely.”

5th: John Murray spent the vast majority of his time on a spot that had been productive for him over the years. It’s a stretch of docks in the southern end that has a major breakline, and fish stage there in preparation for the spawn.

“It’s a place I’ve always fished over the years, and I fished it in the (Bassmaster Open) 2 years ago and caught them really good,” he said. “I was excited when I got there and nobody else was there.  He alternated between a swimbait and a finesse worm. One or the other was highly productive each day, but usually not both.

> Swimbait gear: 7’6″ medium-action Powell 765CB rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel, 17-pound prototype Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon line, 1/2oz jighead, 6″ Basstrix swimbait (rainbow trout).

> Worm gear: 7’3″ medium-action Powell 733 spinning rod, Daiwa Sol spinning reel, 3/32oz jighead, 5-inch Yamamoto Slim Senko (green-pumpkin).

Main factor in his success – “Really working over that one area that I had all to myself.”

And a quick summary of 6th through 12
Kelly Jordan (6th place, 102-10, Mineola, Texas)
Lures and patterns? “Pattern was fishing staging fish, trying to find the areas where they do their last little feed before they spawn. I’ve been throwing a swimbait and just hope to find an area where they are smoking.”

Biggest factor? “The swimbait is my predominant deal. Every fish I’ve weighed in but one was caught of a swimbait, a Basstrix.”

Paul Elias (7th place, 101-15, Laurel, Miss.)
Lures and patterns? “I’m fishing different than anybody else in the tournament. I’m crawling a lipless crankbait slow, slow, slow. “

Biggest factor? “Slow. And having patience.”

Peter Thliveros (8th, 99-4, Jacksonville, Fla.)
Lures and patterns? “I threw a Storm swimbait most of the week early. After that I slowed down and was throwing a Zoom super fluke. I was working it slow around boat docks, rocky banks.”

Biggest factor? “Slow. I was fishing leftovers, I think, fish that other people weren’t able to catch. All these prespawn fish that were getting ready to move up. That was the only way I could get any bites.”

Jared Lintner (9th place, 97-4, Arroyo Grande, Calif.)
Lures and patterns? “A shad rap to start off the morning, a Basstrix swimbait and an Osprey swim bait. I’ve got like four or five areas. This afternoon when the winds picked up a little bit, they started just biting them.”

Biggest factor? “As soon as we get this afternoon wind, they bite. If I don’t get wind, as soon as that surface clarity gets broken up, they bite.”

Scott Rook (10th place, 97-1, Little Rock, Ark.)
Lures and patterns? “I started out fishing on the banks. Swimbaits in between docks. They started piling up underneath the docks.”

Biggest factor? “If you hit the right (dock), you catch 20 pounds.”

Pete Ponds (11th place, 96-7, Madison, Miss.)
Lures and patterns? “I’m throwing an Osprey. The color meant a lot. A clear one or clear chartreuse. I’m sitting in one area that’s flowing into a little pocket and the fish are chasing the little hitch, the baitfish.”

Biggest factor? “Line size.”
Glenn Delong II (12th place, 80-9, Bellville, Ohio)
Lures and patterns? “I’m fishing a jig and a jerkbait. I’m actually fishing the Clear Lake Oaks, canal systems.”

Biggest factor? “Working the jig out all the way to the boat, instead of everybody else just throwing to the bank and not getting bit. All the bigger fish are out in deeper water.”

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

Man oh Man, the tournament that just concluded a few minutes ago was probably the greatest in B.A.S.S.’s long history.  Skeet Reese trumped Preston Clark’s record from last year with a giant 4 day total of 117-6!  That was short lived fame, because the very next angler Steve Kennedy blew him out of the water with 122-14, nearly 7lbs heavier then what Clark could muster at Santee Cooper last April.   Believe it or not, that is the 3rd time Kennedy has reached the century club in BASS tournaments!  It was unbelievable watching it unfold on the live internet weigh-in.  Kennedy averaged over a 6lb bass for 4 days straight and told stories of a 9lb Goliath that he had to turn loose today because it was hooked on the outside of the mouth, not too shabby for a guy that says he never threw a swimait before practice at Amistad in early March.  It is borderline disturbing how good the bass fishing was this week at Clark Lake.  G-man caught a great bag of 29-4 that was anchored by a 10-6 donkey, and you will get to see him go Ike next Saturday morning  

Congrats to Greg Gutierrez who finished a respectable 3rd and got lost in Kennedy’s heroics the past two days, after day 2 it looked like Greg may run away with this event like McClelland did last summer on Grand Lake.  Gutierrez,  Gerald Swindle, John Murray, Kelly Jordan & Paul Elias all topped the 100lb mark this week.  And poor Peter T, missed the century club by ounces

Glenn Delong managed to bring 3 runts for 5-8 today and fell to 12, which reminds me of the guy I fished with at Amistad.  I am actually stunned that he made the top 12 after what I saw when I fished with him, but maybe nerves got the best of him that first day at Amistad, tough to say.

It will be great to read Bassmaster.com BassFan.com & BassZone.com to see how all the guys caught them, from what I can gather swimbaits was a big part of most of these anglers’ successes this week.

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

The weights were off the charts yesterday at Clear Lake from Top to Bottom.  Early reports from today suggest it could be even better today.  BassZone.com has a Blog that updates throughout the day and a live on water chat room.  Great source of info and then at 5pm Central go to Bassmaster.com to watch the live weigh-ins, you should see some giant bags.  Word is that Greg Gutierrez has over 30lbs again today.  The one disappointment was Derek Remitz right near the bottom with only 13lbs, but I would expect for him to make a charge today, my fantasy team needs him to

Also sounds like there is a sight bite at Tennessee’s Ft. Loudoun-Tellico for the FLW tour.

I am off to the Mpls Sport Show in a few minutes, should be a good time.
Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

I told you a few posts ago, that I would find out how Trevor Rogge caught his fish to take 2nd in his first ever BASS Open event.

Prefishing Trevor covered water from 1ft to 30ft. The only place he was able to locate females was in 1-2ft swimming a jig in the back of creeks. He located about 4 good creeks that had at least one 4 lb plus fish in them. The problem was finding good numbers of keeper bass.  “Catching a limit I felt would be hard because I was searching most of my day. I caught some smallies down by the dam on the last day of practice but catching 5 would be challenging and many were only 2 pounds or less” said Rogge. The place Trevor ended up fishing was in the back of Walnut Creek where he felt was the only place that had numerous fish. According to Trevor “I caught a 4 pounder prefishing and saw another 2 in a short amount of time. I never thought it had almost 30 quality bass in such a small area”.

The first day had a huge fog delay. By the time the fog went away his primary spot had warmed up a lot and was prime for the picking. Trevor was able to go straight there and catch them swimming a green jig and chunk. He also caught a 3 pounder on a bed. The rest were cruising. He also missed a 3.5+ that his partner caught shortly after he missed it. He also laments sticking a nice one on a Senko that came off after a short battle. Those two bites would have pulled his bag close to 20lbs.  His non-boater partner caught 12+ and was leading the co-angler side on day 1.  Day 1 he was 10th flight so that afforded extra time to fish the warm water.

Day 2 he was first flight and it was colder. Despite the cooler conditions he managed 8 keepers and fished hard for a second kicker but never got her. Had to work the jig much slower and rely on the Senko a little more. His day 2 partner caught 1 nice fish to go with three others for 10 pounds & made the cut.

Day three was similar to day 2. Stayed much cooler all day and I had to be in early. Only caught 1 on a jig as a follow up to a fish missed with the Senko. The big 6.5 and a keeper spotted bass came on the senko fished really slow. Regretfully missed a fish that swam at him like a bullet that was probably close to 2 pounds. (OUCH) And his co-angler caught a 3’10 in the last 5 minutes that he felt he desperately needed. “I hated leaving the door open but thought if the others caught 12 or less I would be fine. Unfortunately Clark caught 2 kickers to get close to 15 and I came up 1 solid keeper short. I did all I could and did not feel comfortable making a long run to look for fish. I had a great time and more than exceeded my expectations though. But losing by such a small margin and not catching 4 small ones to clinch the win burns at my soul if you know what I mean. I definitely had the right spot but needed just a little help from the fishing gods on Day three. Catching that 6.5 was great though with the photographer watching”, explained Rogge. The guy who won was also in Walnut but he found a bunch of bedding bass. Trevor only saw 2 fish locked onto a bed the whole time.  Here is a link to how the winner Brian Clark caught his bass.

Well, that is what I was able to get from Trevor Rogge, not bad for a MN boy.  Wish him luck as he is fishing the other two Open this year and is well positioned to qualify for the Classic & Elites in 2008.  Derek Remitz could use some company, so wish him well.

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

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This report on final pattern is a little late, but oh well.

The bass in deep, clear and relatively cool Lake Amistad never turned the corner that was the spawn. Sure, a few bed-fish were found here and there, but nearly everyone in the final Top 12 targeted staging fish inside or immediately adjacent to spawning coves.

Winner Derek Remitz, a rookie, took a little different tack. Of the three options available – spawning fish, staging fish, and early pre-spawn fish – he chose the latter. His fish were just coming out of their winter pattern and beginning to stage out deep in the main lake.

Photo: ESPN Outdoors

It was the right choice. Across 4 days, when others in the field struggled to stay consistent, he continued to improve. On day 4, he whacked 31-06 – his biggest sack of the tournament – and spanked 2nd-place Mike Iaconelli by nearly 8 pounds.  Not bad for a MN Sod Farmer

And he beat 12th-place finisher John Murray by a massive 33 1/2-pound margin. He threw a jig deep all 4 days, and never traveled more than 5 miles from the launch.

Remitz who hails from Minnesota but now lives in Alabama, had fished Amistad only once before, in a Stren Series event the season before.  At that previous event, he ran a pattern that involved ledges. It was a good one, but he decided to start shallow on the first day of practice last week. He didn’t find much, which convinced him he needed to concentrate on deep water instead.  So he went out on the second practice day and did exactly what he did the year before.

“It turns out this year it held up,” he said of the pattern. “What I was doing was sitting on ledges in creeks, or the main river channel. (The ledges would) be in either the mouth of a spawning cove, or the little pockets they spawn in, or (next to) main-lake flats. But you had to find the underwater bluffs.”

He tried to find as many bluffs as he could, and on pretty much each one, there’d be a 10- to 15-yard stretch where he could catch one or two fish every day. He wasn’t looking for many bites – just seven or eight a day – because nearly every bluff-fish he caught was 5 to 6 pounds.

“I never did make it to any spots I fished last year – I fished really close,” he noted. “I caught right at 30 pounds on Tuesday (day 2 of practice). Then I went out Wednesday and found about six or seven more deep spots, on top of what I already had. I figured I’d go shallow if I had to, but I’d live or die by the deep fish. And I didn’t have a whole lot of pressure to deal with out there.”   Derek even checked the shallows late on Wednesday afternoon before practice was over, and there was not much happening.  That solidified his decision to fish his pre-staging bass.

Competition was straight-up, and pretty much a repeat of practice. He fished close – within 5 miles of the launch – and bounced around from bluff spot to bluff spot.  He made a huge stride on day 3 when he caught an 8-pounder and moved into the lead. He caught a 9-pounder on day 4 to close it, which was a Purolator Big Bass.

Winning Pattern Notes
He fished the tops of straight bluff walls. The top (where it became a flat) was usually 25 to 35 feet deep, and the bluff plummeted to anywhere from 50 to 80 or 90 feet.

He parked his boat right on top or just off the edge of the sheer bluff – above where it dropped off – and made semi-parallel casts with a football-head jig along the top of the bluff. He followed the bottom with his jig, and tried to get it to fall on a ledge just over the deep side of the bluff.

“Some (bluffs) had little stair steps down at 35 or 40 feet, and I’d catch a few on that too,” he said. “I really had to fish slow – almost dead-stick it. They’d pick it up while it was on bottom. I think the fish were pinned to the bottom, and I tried to keep it right on the edge.”

He felt his fish were staging for the spawn, but weren’t as far along as the wood-fish nearer the bank. “It was kind of a winter or early pre-spawn pattern. I suppose when they were cruising, they’d stop there. They might be there for a day or a week while staging, then move right up on the flats to spawn.”

Winning Gear Notes
> Jig gear: 7′ medium-action St. Croix rod, Shimano Curado casting reel, 16-pound unnamed fluorocarbon, 3/4-ounce Omega Custom Tackle football-head jig (Ozark special, which is brown with green flashabou), 5″ Yamamoto Hula grub (green-pumpkin/candy).

> Main factor in his success – “I think just having the patience to stick it out – only getting eight to 10 bites a day, but not getting too nervous or worried. I’d make a milk run. If I didn’t get bit, I’d turn around and run it opposite on the way back and pick off one or two fish here and there.”

2nd: Mike Iaconelli, Reigning BASS Angler of the Year Mike “Ike” Iaconelli was the most consistent angler of those in the Top 5. He caught a 26-pound average and never weighed a light bag. His undoing was he never weighed a heavy one either, and couldn’t match Remitz with 30-pounds-plus on days 3 and 4.

Ike fished pockets off the main lake, they weren’t creeks necessarily – they were big, main-lake pockets and giant coves., most of his time was spent in the Blackbrush & San Pedro areas.  The key to it was they all had points leading into them. And on the points were submerged bushes and trees, if you could see the trees sticking out the top of the water, they were not as productive.

He noted the fish would stop and park on the trees and bushes before moving further back into the cove to spawn, and he “intercepted” them as they staged.  Most of his prime bushes and trees were in 8 to 15 feet of water – “the classic pre-spawn zone” – although he did catch a few shallower and a few deeper. Conditions determined which technique he used.

“When the light was low, which was generally in the morning, I’d throw baits that would fish the outsides of those bushes,” he said. “The two baits I used to do that were a swimbait and a jerkbait. The swimbait was a California SwimBabes Baby “E” in a bluegill color, and the jerkbait was a Berkley Frenzy Diving Minnow.

Most pros fished the hearts of the bushes to get their fish, pitching the edges just did not draw the quality strikes.  For that Ike said he used a 5-inch Berkley Beast in green-pumpkin and a 1oz Tru-Tungsten weight. Although on TV coverage, it looked a lot more like a Sweet Beaver then a Beast…..

> Swimbait gear: 7’6″ Team Daiwa LT flipping stick, Team Daiwa Millionaire casting reel, 20-pound Berkley Trilene Sensation line, California SwimBabes Baby “E” swimbait (bluegill).

> Jerkbait gear: 6’3″ medium-action Team Daiwa-S topwater rod, Daiwa Millionaire, 15-pound Trilene XT fluorocarbon (prototype), Berkley Frenzy Diving Minnow (shad).

> Beast gear: 7’6″ Team Daiwa Cielo flipping stick, Team Daiwa Zillion casting reel (7.1:1), 1oz Tru-Tungsten Denny Brauer Flippin’ weight (black), 4/0 heavy wire Tru-Tungsten flipping hook (prototype), 5″ Berkley Beast (green-pumpkin, with orange Spike-It dye on the outside of one claw, chartreuse Spike-It dye on outside of the other claw).

> On why he dyed his Beast claws – “I used the Spike-It markers, and I was trying to imitate a tilapia or bluegill. That’s what I feel the big fish feed on here.”

> On his reel – “The high-speed reel was critical because the bait was falling quickly and they’d hit it halfway down, so you needed to recover a lot of line.”

> Main factor in his success – “Having confidence in my areas, and having patience enough to wait as these fish kept funneling in. Some made it past me and spawned – I picked up a few bedders here and there – but I intercepted the vast majority.”

3rd: Steve Kennedy caught the biggest bag of the tournament on day 1, and he still led after a disappointing day 2, but he never passed the 30-pound mark again.

He ran two patterns. The first involved a swimbait, the second, flipping.

“Going into practice, I didn’t really know how to throw a swimbait, so I just started throwing it everywhere,” he said. “I threw it shallow and caught a big one, then got out on the tip of a point, counted it down to like 30 feet, and caught an 8-pounder.”

When competition began, he caught an 8-pound striper on his first cast, then an 8-pound black on the next. So in three consecutive casts on that one point, he caught two 8-pound largemouths and an 8-pound striper.

“I was targeting isolated trees in deeper water, and also the ends of points,” he noted. “Those big fish are suspended out there. I can’t imagine how you could catch them, other than with a swimbait. None of the standard baits are made to fish like that – big jerkbaits don’t get deep enough. That slow fall, and slow reel, gives them time to come up and eat them.”

When he targeted isolated trees, he threw the swimbait to the side of the tree first, then moved in and flipped.  “It was something I noticed last year – there’d be one tree out of 50 they were on. There would be maybe two or three twigs sticking out, and (the fish would be) 15 or 20 feet down. But you’d never get a bite in any other tree.”

> Swimbait gear: Kistler Helium 2 LTX flipping stick, Shimano Curado casting reel, 30-pound P-Line Fluoroclear line, unnamed out-of-production swimbait (brown/red, but he colored it blue/chartreuse, “So whatever color that makes.”)

> Flipping gear: 7’11” Kistler Helium 2 LTX flipping stick, same reel, same line, 3/4-ounce tungsten weight, 4/0 straight-shank hook, Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver (Spanish fly).

> Main factor in his success – “Taking advantage of that big bite the first day with the swimbait. The bite was really on. I took a chance on the swimbait and caught them and caught them and caught them. I caught the biggest bag of the tournament, which is an extra $8,000. That’s a big payday for what we’re doing.”

4th: Todd Faircloth made the most memorable climb of the event, when he caught the second-best bag of the tournament and moved from 39th to 4th on day 3.

“I caught all my fish during the tournament on a 6-inch Yamamoto Senko, except for six fish on a swimbait the final two days,” he said.

“I caught them all on submerged trees. I was making long casts, because in the clear water, you need to keep your distance. But (day 4) was windy and cloudy and I was right on top of the trees before I could see them.”

He noted his trees were in water from 6 to 20 feet deep, but most of his big fish came out of the 10- to 15-foot depths. Also, the trees were on main-lake flats.

> Senko gear: 7′ medium-action Castaway rod, unnamed casting reel, 20-pound unnamed fluorocarbon, 1/4- and 3/8 oz tungsten weights (unpegged), 5/0 Owner offset hook, 6″ Gary Yamamoto Senko (watermelon/green and watermelon/candy).

> Swimbait gear: 7’6″ medium-heavy Castaway flipping stick, same reel and line, 8″ Osprey swimbait (green with blue vein and clear belly).

> He eventually tore up the Osprey and borrowed a swimbait from Kevin VanDam prior to day 4. “It wasn’t the (King Shad),” Faircloth said. “I believe it was a discontinued Bass Pro Shops model. It was 6 inches with a green back and pearl belly. It was pretty close to what I was throwing the day before.”

> Main factor in his success – “I think it was keying in on the offshore stuff and visible cover. You really have to pay attention to detail when fishing those trees. Being around a big flat area off the main lake – I think they replenish better than in a small pocket of creek. Each day more fish would move in.”

> Performance edge – “I’d have to say it was the Senko. I caught the bulk of my fish on it, and it’s what I found the fish on in practice. I have a lot of confidence in it.”  According to my father who fished with Todd on Day 2, he flipped that Senko all day and the green flake seemed to make a difference for the fish that they were fishing.

5th: Kevin VanDam moved fast and threw a reaction bait. What’s interesting is he threw a swimbait, albeit is downsized version. He changed slightly on the final day and caught several spinnerbait fish, but for the most part, he relied on a Strike King King Shad hard-plastic swimbait.

“The King Shad was my primary bait all week,” he said. “I was basically fishing spawning areas and spawning flats -trying to target the fish just moving in. I was fishing the ditches leading into the areas, lots of bushes and trees – things like that. I went everywhere.”   All the fish caught on the final day showed during the weigh-in were on a Strike King spinnerbait, I also talked to his first day non-boater.  He did use the King Shad, but the spinnerbait, Strike King Zeros, Wild Shiners and other baits played into his daily totals as well

> Swimbait gear: 6’10” Quantum PT Kevin VanDam spinnerbait rod, Quantum PT 1160 casting reel, 25-pound Bass Pro Shops XPS mono, Strike King King Shad (clear body, which he painted into a natural shad pattern).

> He also said his Biosonix BSX unit was key. “The fish I was targeting were keying on bait. I’d never seen bait here before – just tilapia and bluegill – but I saw a lot of shad this year, especially on the first and last days. I was fishing fast with the wind blowing and I was running a really aggressive shad sound pattern on the unit. I have a lot of confidence in it.”

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
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> Performance edge – “My depthfinder on the bow, just because I was able to keep the front of my boat right over that edge, and know where to throw. And I think they ate that jig pretty good too. I think they’d eat just about anything, but I had a lot of confidence throwing that football-head.”