The question of how top pros find bass so well on waters they’re not familiar with may be the most often asked question by fans in the history of the sport we all love.

For insight to the answers, take a quick ride in the Vexus® VXs21 of Adam Rasmussen, an easy-going smallmouth master from Wisconsin who has proven he can win anywhere, including a B.A.S.S. Open and Nation event in Alabama.

Not to mention, he made a serious run at winning the Bassmaster Classic on Grand Lake, Oklahoma in 2024, and currently sits near the top of the Opens points standings in 2026 after events in Texas, Florida, and Alabama.

We didn’t make it easy on Adam

The playing field was 10,000-acre reservoir north of Tulsa, OK he had never fished, with both largemouth and smallmouth – but it’s a good 14-hour drive from his home, and to make it tougher, we didn’t launch until high noon, on a bright sunny day with hardly any helpful winds.

Survey the situation and understand the basics of bass behavior

 Top pros like Rasmussen don’t take a random approach to finding a ‘lucky spot’ or even a good looking spot, instead they study the topography, the habitat, the water clarity, water temperature, and know what phase of the spawn bass are likely to be in – and you should too.

“I can tell by looking at the map, that most of the smallmouth are probably on the deeper, clearer, rockier east end of the lake, and the largemouth are probably in the major creeks full of trees and shoreline bushes to the west. The water temp is 63, and that tells me smallmouth are probably spawning on shallow points, and largemouth are about to,” says Rasmussen, who once lived on a salmon boat for two years that he piloted on guide trips.

With all that data, where to look first?

Rasmussen’s fast assessment of the lake he’s never seen is highly accurate. So, where’s he going to make his first cast on these unfamiliar waters?

“Looking at my Humminbird mapping, I’m picking this big, but shallow point close to the main lake, because I know spawners want to be shallow, but experience has taught me that the larger spawning fish want to be near the main lake just as much or more than way back in the creek,” he says.

Make use of modern technology

You don’t have to have four or five sonar units on your boat to find and catch bass, but at least one that allows you to ‘split the screen’ to show modern day mapping, forward-facing sonar, and perhaps a 360-degree view of the bottom is a wise investment. A number of those single units exist, and Rasmussen makes full use of all of the ‘views’ they provide.

That didn’t take long

 Less than 10-minutes after leaving the dock Rasmussen connected on two keeper sized smallmouth with a Rapala Mavrik jerkbait. It was not magic. It was not luck, or a result of insider information.

It was a classic case of using every bit of knowledge regarding water conditions, bass behavior, and phase of the spawn, to land on a make-sense location. And then he utilized all the available sonar advancements, along with a lure he has great confidence in, to find and catch bass quickly on a lake he had no previous knowledge of.

Rip, Kill, Trigger – Your 3-Beat Fall Spinnerbait Cadence

Fall bass are aggressive but moody – chasing shad in 2-to-8 feet of water around cover such as grass edges, points and creek mouths. They are on the move, and so should you be if you plan to cross paths with a few of them. What autumn bassin’ lacks in consistency, it makes up for in fun. Here’s the deal.

A Strike King 1/2oz double willow leaf spinnerbait in white, chartreuse and white, or a shad pattern is your search-and-destroy tool. And you’re going to use it with a cadence that has won many a tournament dollar for the savvy pros who know about it.

One key to success in autumn is to stay on the move so we’re not slow rolling here. We’re standing on the trolling motor, channeling our inner KVD and slinging that bladed beauty around anything that has water on it. Soundtrack courtesy of Metalica.

The technique:

Rip – Burn the bait subsurface for a few feet (5-to-10 cranks on the reel handle). This mimics fleeing shad and triggers a few bonus reaction strikes.

Kill – Stop dead. Let it helicopter down a foot or two while holding the rod tip at 10 o’clock. Bass follow 70% of rips but strike on the fall. The pause is key. This is when most bites will happen.

Trigger – Twitch twice with sharp, short pops, keeping the bait in the same general area for an extra beat or two. Wounded baitfish panic. So should your bait, giving those uncommitted followers a second chance before we move on to the next target.

Pro tip – Typically, that double willow gets the job done with a blade combo that features a #4 ahead of a #5 size blade, but if the fish start striking short, swap to a single Colorado blade for more thump and a slower fall. Pump the rod tip on the kill to imitate a dying shad. This could become your go-to tactic after that first Arctic blast causes a massive shad die off as fall gives way to winter.

Master this cadence, and you’ll turn follower fish into hooked fish. Fall bass can’t resist. Once you feel that thump on the fall, you’ll be hooked on spinnerbaits in the fall.

Now go burn some blades!

Kristine Fischer added to her impressive kayak fishing accomplishments when she won the Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series at Lake Tenkiller presented by Native Watercraft last week. Fischer now has victories in three different national kayak tournament trails and has helped to make kayak fishing cool, amassing a huge following on social media and beyond in the process.

Fischer is one of the most decorated kayak anglers in the country but this year she’s stepped out of her comfort zone, competing in Bassmaster Opens and Lady Bass Angler Association (LBAA) tournaments out of her Ranger boat. The Team Toyota pro already notched an LBAA win out of her bass boat on Lake Seminole earlier in the year and now has her first Bassmaster Kayak Series title.

“It was such a whirlwind and I couldn’t be more grateful for my first Bassmaster win,” Fischer beamed. “I am not anti-FFS at all, but this win was extra special because I fished the way I love to. Skipping docks, flipping bushes and never having to even turn my electronics on. It was so much fun and definitely felt meant to be.”

Fischer is a BassmastHER ambassador and as good as she is on the water, perhaps her best work is done in supporting and inspiring women or inexperienced anglers to get outside and get their feet wet. Fishing, especially tournament fishing, can be intimidating but anglers like Fischer have done a great deal to help bust down barriers for folks who aspire to try their hand.

“It is my biggest dream that every single other woman out there can see this and believe that they can do this, too,” Fischer said. “I just want more story to help pave the way for future female Bassmaster Elite & Classic qualifiers.”

With the seventh stop of the Bassmaster Elite Series set to kick off tomorrow on Lake Tenkiller less than two weeks after Kristine’s big win, who better to preview this event and talk current conditions? According to Fischer, water level fluctuations will have a big impact on this tournament.

“The lake levels have been all over the place at Tenkiller the past few weeks,” Fischer explained. “When we started practice water was 8+ feet high, but by the end of the tournament it was only three feet high. I’ve kept my eye on the lake level this week and the Elites are going to experience similar conditions.

“The water was 7-feet high and rising to start practice for the Elites and they are pulling water again. It was just over 5-feet high the last time I looked. Because of these fluctuations I purposely stayed away from the backs of creeks and tried to focus on the mouths of creeks and steeper banks. It’s looking like the Elite guys might have to do the same.”

Fischer explained that she found a solid offshore bite in practice, catching fish at depths all the way down to 40+ feet, but she decided to fish her strengths and left the offshore bite to others. That decision proved fruitful as she used a variety of swimbaits like a Berkley Cull Shad to catch quality keepers around floating docks and then had a strong flipping bite around bushes and willow trees using a Texas-rigged Berkley Crud Craw on a 5/8-ounce weight.

This one-two punch was enough to propel Fischer from second place on day one to the top spot by the end of day two. While Fischer believes Elite Series anglers will continue to capitalize on the shallow bite, she knows things are changing fast and expects to see a different side of Tenkiller shine.

“I expect the Elites to show out the deep bite on Tenkiller this weekend,” Fischer said. “The water has a lot of color to it but it’s mid-June, it’s hot, and a big population of fish will be offshore or moving offshore during the tournament. I think we’ll see a lot of 15-16-lb mixed bags of both largemouth and smallies. That makes for a fun tournament for the anglers and an exciting show for the fans!”

At just under 13,000 acres, Lake Tenkiller is on the small side in terms of Elite Series venues, but as Fischer alluded to, there are a myriad of ways to catch bass in this eastern Oklahoma reservoir. What Tenkiller lacks in size, it makes up for in number of fish and beauty.

Perched in the rolling hills and scenic bluffs near the western edge of the Ozark Mountains, this fishery is full of bass. Despite curveball conditions with regional flooding and lots of debris in the water, Fischer believes Tenkiller is poised to show out once again for the 2025 Lowrance Bassmaster Elite.

If you asked most of the Bass Pro Tour field how Kentucky Lake was fishing after practice concluded, you’d have heard a lot of poor reports and bellyaching. While this might not be the “Kentucky Lake of old”, day one proved this fishery is still full of bass and is perfectly capable of producing the infamous Tennessee river beatdowns like we used to see a decade ago.

Kentucky Lake was a frequent destination for me and teammates back in our college fishing days, and there used to be a country buffet near Paris, Tennessee – in between the Kenlake and Paris bridges – that we would stop in to. Regardless of how we did on the water, Kentucky Lake was always synonymous with that old-school, homey buffet for us.

After embarking in a lengthy Google search, it seems that restaurant must have gone out of business, but thankfully Kentucky Lake is still serving up a smorgasbord for Lowrance Stage 5 of the Bass Pro Tour presented by Mercury. There were scoreable bass of both the largemouth and smallmouth variety caught on literally dozens of different lures and multiple techniques during day one of competition.

Many of the anglers at the top of the leaderboard employed traditional ledge fishing tactics likes deep diving crankbaits, Carolina rigs, football jigs, hair jigs, or magnum spoons. While other top performers took full advantage of their single forward-facing sonar period, using FFS and a jighead minnow to pick off suspended bass.

Local favorites like Jake Lawrence showcased the “new” Kentucky Lake, firing up schools of offshore bass with traditional ledge tactics while mixing in single swimbaits and a drop shot to target Tennessee River smallmouth to add to his weight. Smallmouth used to seemingly disappear from this lake in the summertime, but their population is established to a point that anglers can target them these days.

To add to the buffet menu, overcast conditions and rain greeted BPT pros to start the event today.  This helped lead to plenty of shallow bass being caught on topwaters, chatterbaits, squarebills, and flipping baits. It’s been truly impressive and refreshing to see so many patterns at play on a fishery you could have been led to believe was only home to carp and non-scoreable bass if you listened to the dock talk.

BPT anglers are spread out from the Kentucky Lake dam down to the Kenlake bridge (southern boundary for Stage 5), with boats venturing to Lake Barkley to catch their fish, too. Mark Daniels Jr. is one such pro choosing to spend his time shallow, on lesser-known Barkley, where the Team Toyota pro caught over 30-lbs of bass en route to a mid-pack finish after day one.

“I came into practice for this event dead set on finding those big Tennessee river schools to target,” MDJ explained. “But I just never found enough. The best thing I had going was a flipping bite over an hour away on Lake Barkley. That’s what I decided to do today and, honestly, I had a dang good day based on my expectations.”

Daniels Jr. boated over 25 bass today, with thirteen scoreables that has him below the cut line going into tomorrow. MDJ, like many BPT competitors, is going back to the drawing board tonight to make his gameplan for day two of the Qualifying Round.

“I’ve got some thinking to do tonight man,” MDJ offered. “There are ten different ways I feel like I could go catch some tomorrow, but I have to catch enough to jump up ten places, and these boys on those offshore schools are smashing right now. I want to go power fishing shallow again, but my gut says I’d be lucky to replicate my weight today. I only have one school I found on the Kentucky side, but I might have to gamble with it.”

Tournament fishing is always a game of decision making at the highest level, but with so many viable patterns on Kentucky Lake – these decisions are magnified. The good news, you can catch ‘em in a myriad of ways right now. The bad news is the competition can, too.

Mother Nature is serving a smorgasbord for Stage 5 right now and there is a long list of lures and techniques on the menu.

Kevin VanDam has made a pile of money and won a mantel full of trophies targeting bass offshore in the summertime, but this summer the G.O.A.T. urges you to not be so quick to vacate shallow water. Our calendar may read the first week of June, but KVD knows bass don’t always subscribe to our timelines or traditional patterns.

While this is VanDam’s first full year away from tournament competition, the Team Toyota pro has stayed busy spending time with family and filming his show, The VanDam Experience. KVD just wrapped up shooting an episode with NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe in Tennessee where they absolutely throttled big bass no more than a cast off the bank.

VanDam was prepared for an offshore show, but his gut told him to probe the shallows first and like so many times throughout his career… this intuition proved fruitful. Early June is a great time to collide with the first groups of bass migrating offshore, but this year in particular there are several factors keeping fish in eight feet of water or less.

“There are a couple reasons to stay shallow in the summer, but the first reason is it’s simply FUN,” VanDam said. “I started out bass fishing by burning the bank, power fishing visible cover. As much as I love deep cranking, you can’t deny how awesome it is to watch one wake your lure in the shallows before they annihilate it. There’s nothing like it.

“But conditions dictate everything. Whether I am preparing for a tournament or a filming fishing trip, the forecast and water conditions direct my thoughts and game plan.”

Conditions over calendar

When KVD mentions water conditions, he’s mainly referring to the water level and water clarity.  This year in 2025, we’ve had no shortage of rain throughout the spring. This has led to high water across most of the country with lots of bushes, grass, rocks, willows, and other targets in the water.

More structure in the shallows means more bass, especially because high water levels lead to more color in the water, too. High, dirty water sets the stage for shallow bass, even in the summertime.

“It’s been a prolonged spring with cooler temperatures in the air and water,” VanDam explained. “Couple that with high, off-colored water that most of the country is dealing with and you have the perfect conditions to cover water up shallow with a moving bait. The bluegill spawn is in full force right now in the south and central part of the U.S., so bass have every reason to be hanging out near the bank.”

Bluegill bed beatdown 

VanDam’s tournament career spanned over 30+ years, and the bass bite around the bluegill spawn is something he tried to capitalize on every single year. This is one pattern that holds merit from coast to coast, south to north. Most all fisheries have a population of panfish and when they spawn, bass will target them for a big meal.

“These days I use my Humminbird Mega 360 or Side Imaging to find batches of bluegill beds on my electronics,” VanDam said. “If you have the units, use them, and they will help you find bluegill beds and the big bass chasing them. If you don’t have high-end electronics, you can find bluegill beds with your eyes.

“Bluegills like to spawn midway back in a pocket, not all the way in the back. They really like the sides of a secondary point and shade trees that sticks over the water are a magnet. You can almost guarantee bluegills will be bedding in front of a big willow tree.”

Once he locates an area with spawning panfish, VanDam employs a three-pronged approach that he’s had success with from Texas to New York and everywhere in between.

“I like to use moving baits like a 3/8-ounce Thunder Cricket tipped with a Blade Minnow or a big squarebill like a Strike King 2.5 or 4.0 to cover water and show bass a bigger meal,” VanDam explained. “95% of the time I use a green pumpkin Thunder Cricket and one of our bluegill patterns for my squarebill. Start on the outer edge of the spawning beds, most of the time that’s where a big bass will be hanging out.”

According to VanDam, a Thunder Cricket and a bigger squarebill make their hay in the perfect depth range to take advantage of bluegill eaters. The baits have the right size profile, they are great for casting to shallow targets and they both have plenty of vibration for dirty water applications.

After he’s power-fished his way through the area, VanDam will make a few casts with a Texas-rigged soft plastic to play clean up and entice a few extra bites. His go-to here is a Strike King Game Hawg with a light 1/-4-ounce weight. He likes a lighter weight on the Game Hawg so the bait falls slower, letting it’s appendages dance as he glides the rig through opportune areas.

Schools out and the temperature is rising, but you don’t have to abandon shallow water to have a fun day of good fishing. Take advantage of this timely bite over the next several weeks while the conditions allow it and follow VanDam’s tips to catch more bass this summer.

I’m watching the Bassmaster Elite Series guys jerk dinks on top of dinks out of the Sabine River in hopes of plucking 5 keepers, hopefully a kicker of 3 pounds to anchor hopefully a double-digit limit.

Tommy Sanders takes us back to an Elite Series stop, years ago, at the host city of Orange, Texas where Carl Jocumsen had missed the cut and was providing commentary on Day 3.

“Find a hard edge,” Sanders recalled Jocumsen saying. “That’s why I’m not fishing today is because, in all this high water, I couldn’t find enough of those spots.”

Jocumsen’s advice is dead on the money for those fishing in free-flowing rivers and tidewater environs. In fact, as I write this, he paces the entire field with an 8-pound, 8-ounce limit as competition nears the midpoint of the opening round.

I live a short ride from the St Johns River but not the famous part of it where good fisherfolk go when they die. No, I live near the schizophrenic, semi-salted north end where largemouth share water with redfish, sea trout and flounder. As the old saying goes, the only constant here is change.

And so it goes with any fishery where water flows relentlessly, and in the case of tidal sections, reverses flow twice a day and floods acres of inaccessible ground. In North Florida we see the tide swing up and down sometimes as much as 6 vertical feet along the coast. Again, this happens twice daily. If it spills back into the trees, you often can’t follow far enough to get a lure to the fish that rode up with it.

But you can find those hard edges. ‘Containment banks’ such as seawalls and the docks that squat along them, are obvious targets. Corners are prime. It could be a right angle in the seawall that forms an ambush point or an inside turn that traps bait and accumulates wolf packs of hungry bass working against the clock as the tide ebbs and flows, ceaseless as the sun passing overhead, creating a sense of urgency that makes these fish impulsive yet predictable. At the very least, you can present a bait to these fish.

But what about the sand bars, shell beds and firm banks that held fish at low tide – or in low water situations of any sort? They can produce some of your most memorable days. While smaller fish may run as far back in the woods as the rising water will allow, the biggest bass in an area will often cling to the same structural feature they favored on low water but that still deflects flow when the current is ripping.

Electronics can help, but a good pair of polarized glasses and a low water scouting trip are all an angler generally needs on small rivers and tidal creeks.

Next time you’re out during low water, take note of those subtle hard edges that most anglers will miss. And when the waters rise, so will your catch rate.

The two most important factors in getting bass to bite are lure depth and lure speed. How deep are the fish and are they looking up or down (so I can put the bait in front of them) and what’s it gonna to take to trigger a reaction?

Sometimes, fish are happily feeding and you can just dangle a worm as long as you like and let one find it. Sometimes they’re pinned to a bed and you have to let the intrusive lure marinate in the frying pan until a bass boils over with aggression. Sometimes you have to bulge a wake over their heads to provoke a crushing strike. Or, blaze a lure past their stump, maybe even bump it.

These different situations call for equally different lure speeds. But there’s a problem.

Your reel’s advertised rate of retrieval is a function of not only gear ratio but also spool size. Not the bare spool size, but the practical diameter of that spool loaded with line versus when it is nearly empty, as it may be at the end of a long cast. When the line plays out, the spool gets scrawny until it packs some line back on. As the retrieve continues, the speed of the lure increases, provided you crank at a steady rate meaning that, by the same token, your lure is crawling at a relative snail’s pace as you begin your retrieve. Not good for triggering reaction bites from fish in a neutral feeding mode.

Of course, the easy solution is to use a reel with a high gear ratio, right? Not so fast (pardon the pun). It’s actually the raw spool size that is critical for consistent speed across a retrieve. If you want to burn a swim jig past a target at the far end of your cast, then you need a larger spool such as comes with the Lew’s BB1.

But here’s another strategy, a formula for success with any reel: Line size x gear ratio = retrieve speed.

The thicker your line, the faster you’ll build up that spool once you start cranking the reel handle. This can help you float a bladed jig, spinnerbait, buzzbait etc. high in the water the whole time instead of wasting several yards (perhaps the most critical stretch of your presentation) just to get up to speed at the proper depth.

It bears noting that you should completely fill that spool with line in the first place to maximize rate of retrieve throughout the presentation.

Conversely, if you want to slow your roll, thinner lines will pile back onto the reel at a greatly reduced rate. This will get that bait down deeper sooner and help you more thoroughly scour the primary strike zone. I use this tactic to limit my speed when fish are lethargic or any time I need to keep my lure down such as in clear water environments.

Play with that balance of gear ratio, raw spool size, and line diameter and material for maximum control over lure depth and speed.

A final note on spool size: bigger spools cause less line memory, thereby reducing twist and improving casting accuracy. This is felt most deeply when using spinning reels which get a bad rap for causing line twist. Size up to a 3000 series, maybe even a 4000 size, and remember to always close the bail with your hand to avoid the one-quarter twist that will be imparted to line if you just start cranking the handle after the cast. After just a dozen casts, that’s 3 full twists!

Going on a month now without any substantial rainfall at my house in North Florida. Our lakes and ponds have reacted by shirking the onset of summer heat, retreating into their own depths and revealing white sand beaches that beckon us to join them in the yet cool water. Might as well swim with the fish under the sun anyway as they are mostly feeding only beneath the moon now, their shoreline ambush points high and dry.

Such is not the case on Oklahoma’s Lake Eufaula where anglers participated in the Major League Fishing Toyota Series event this past weekend – well, one day this past weekend. The rains came down and the waters came up and the organization shortened the multi-day tournament to a one-day affair.

Three solid fish were enough to land three different anglers in the Top 10. Fourth place went to a man who only caught two, one of which took big bass honors at five pounds, twelve ounces.

A Texan by the name of River Lee took his first national level win with thirteen pounds, ten ounces, one of only five limits weighed-in among Top 10 finishers.

How he did it is a classic study in managing flood conditions during a tournament. Let’s have a look and learn along with Lee.

History tells us that bass go shallow and cling to hard cover such as wood under these conditions. They may also seek clearer water behind grass lines that filter out sediment. And the upper ends of creeks, oxbows or any place where water runs into the system should be the first places to clear up as the weather stabilizes. Keep this in mind as we read about Lee’s approach.

Spinnerbaits, jigs and plastics that feature a big profile and move a lot of water are all on deck for these tournaments. Lee used those time-tested classics, but he also threw a wacky rig to round out his bait selection.

A slow, thorough pace was important as evidenced by Lee’s frequent use of Power-Poles.

Here’s the story in Lee’s words as shared by our friends at our friends at MLF:

“In practice, before the water came up crazy, I was fishing the old bank line, where the bank grass was, and I was catching them,” said Lee. “We were getting a lot of bites on a wacky. So, going into it, I thought with the water still coming up that I still could do that. It would just have more water on it.

“I picked this area, and I put the trolling motor down in the mouth of it. Well, I just fished everything in front of me – flipped, wacky rig and spinnerbait. If I wasn’t flipping, I was doing one of the other two. And my first bite, it came flipping in an isolated bush by a walkway of a dock.”

As Lee eased around his chosen area, he made the decision of the day. Recalling a pond he hadn’t been able to get into a few weeks ago in a BASS Nation event, the Texas pro gave it another go.

“I tried to get in there a few weeks ago, but (the water) wasn’t high enough,” said Lee. “So, I was fishing in that creek and got all the way to the back, and I could hear the water running. I pulled up my phone and I looked at my Google Earth, and I was like, ‘I think we can get back there.’ It just looks like a wall of bushes, and the gap that I went through was probably like 4-foot wide – I had to force my boat in there. But once I got through that first wall of bushes, it was a little easier at that point. I guess that helped to kind of disguise it from everybody else.”

Once in the pond, Lee fished around the newest part of Lake Eufaula and didn’t catch anything until he got to a little spillway in the back. There, he plucked his second keeper of the day.

Then, Lee headed back into the regular lake and caught his third fish on a grass line on a wacky rig before returning eventually to his little pond. There, he caught the bass that pushed him over the top.

“I never caught anything in the pond itself; I caught them all where that spillway was running out,” he explained. “It was so shallow, but there was a little hole washed out in there that had just enough water for them to be there. The second time I went in there, I made 15 casts at it before I had a bite – I was fixing to leave it. I made one last cast up there and caught that fourth keeper. And I poled back down, because I had already picked my poles up – I was fixing to leave. I poled back down and made another cast and caught one the next cast. I don’t know what happened, what triggered it or anything, but they just bit back-to-back.”

For baits, Lee used a Rapala Crush City Bronco Bug, a Rapala Crush City Pick Stick and a chartreuse and white, double-willow War Eagle spinnerbait.

For complete details and updated information visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Toyota Series updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

“I’m totally comfortable playing the forward-facing sonar game with my Humminbirds, but if you look at my recent wins and high finishes the past couple of seasons, there’s a jig, spinnerbait or ChatterBait involved in every one of them,” says Rasmussen.

His recent success is indeed impressive. He won the 2023 Bassmaster Open on Wheeler largely with a ChatterBait, won the B.A.S.S. Nation qualifier at Eufaula, AL dragging a jig, and dang near won the 2024 Bassmaster Classic on Grand Lake, with a spinnerbait and jig combo around shallow brushpiles.

Bigs Like Jigs

“We all know big bass like to eat a big meal, and jigs offer that profile, but they also offer us a ton of versatility. Whether you’re dragging it on a hard bottom, skipping it around a dock, or pitching it to visible habitat, a jig gives you the chance to get better than average bites,” says the Vexus pro.

He says there’s never been a time when fishing throughout the south on largemouth dominated fisheries that he didn’t have a jig on the front deck. He also emphasizes simplicity, noting that only two colors are necessary: black-blue or brown, and that a 1/2-ounce version is his pick 80% of the time.

Get a little erratic with the ‘Chatter Chicken’

“Whether you’re casting it around the shad spawn, or reeling it a little slower over rock piles or vegetation, make sure you ‘pop’ the rod tip or alter your retrieve a little erratically from time-to-time to generate more bites with a ChatterBait,” he emphasizes.

He chooses a 1/2-ounce ChatterBait JackHammer most days and trims it with a slender-tailed CrushCity FreeLoader trailer.

Can’t count out the Crescent Wrench

If ever there was an all-seasons versatile tool like a mechanic’s crescent wrench for bass fishing, it’s the time-proven spinnerbait, and in early spring and mid-spring, prior to the shad spawn, Rasmussen loves to throw one with a single thumper blade.

“This spinnerbait with a single #5 Colorado blade is really the lure that nearly won me the 2024 Classic on Grand. I caught one that weighed nearly 6-pounds on it Day 1, and that set the tone for the event. I used it all three days around brushpiles in 6 to 12-feet of water,” reflects Rasmussen.

“We all know the greatest tool we have as anglers is confidence, and these three lures provide me with plenty of confidence. It just seems like any time I do really well on a largemouth fishery, there’s a skirt involved,” concludes the straight-shooting pro from Packer land.

Now that the Bass Pro Shops REDCREST 2025 Presented by MillerTech is underway, Lake Guntersville is primed as the playing field for 50 seasoned anglers looking to leave Alabama as a REDCREST champion. Among the names to watch is Terry Scroggins, a Team Toyota pro known for his uncanny ability to thrive in shallow, grass-filled environments. With a career built on consistent performances, especially in challenging tournament conditions, Scroggins is more than ready to face the challenges presented by REDCREST.

Tough conditions ahead: Scroggins’ mindset for REDCREST

While the weather and water conditions can change quickly, Scroggins is already eyeing what could be a unique set of challenges at REDCREST.

“I like the tougher tournaments usually but this is going to be a slugfest,” Scroggins said. “It will take 40 or 50 pounds a day to make the Knockout round. I think everyone is going to catch ‘em pretty well.”

But even with favorable expectations, Scroggins understands the nuances of the competition, particularly when it comes to the format.

“It looks good on paper in a 5-fish format and takes 20 pounds to get a check, but when every fish counts, it’s a totally different mindset,” Scroggins said. “When you come here, you can get 7 or 8 bites and have a big bag but you’re going to have to catch 15-20 fish a day to be competitive in this format and that’s tough to do, even on Guntersville.”

Indeed, REDCREST’s format is designed to make anglers focus on every bite. In such a scenario, Scroggins is accustomed to making the most out of his opportunities.

Grass and shallow waters: Scroggins’ domain

As one of the best shallow-water specialists in the game, Scroggins’ greatest strength lies in his understanding of grass fishing. He thrives in situations where bass are nestled among thick vegetation and with the springtime spawn just around the corner, these areas are key for success.

“I do have some prespawn stuff I’ve figured out fishing grass,” Scroggins said. ”They have so much cover to get in, they don’t have to go far. There is so much eelgrass here nowadays that is kinda has them spread out.”

For Scroggins, the key is understanding the movements and habits of bass during the transition between prespawn and the actual spawn. The shallows are prime real estate for these fish and with the right combination of knowledge and patience, Scroggins is hopeful Guntersville will kick out fireworks for REDCREST. However, the fishing pressure will play a major factor in how he approaches this tournament.

“I’m thinking there was over 1,000 tournament boats on this lake during practice,” Scroggins said. “The fish are trying to spawn a bit but it has been so busy.”

The increased boat traffic can stir up the water and disturb key areas where bass may be trying to bed, which could complicate the process of catching scoreable bass. Still, Scroggins remains undaunted. He has long embraced the challenges of fishing under pressure and knows how to adapt when conditions become less than ideal.

Strategic adjustments for the toughest conditions

One of the most significant challenges Scroggins and his peers will face is the weather, which can be unpredictable during the spring months.

“Today the weather was so bad,” Scroggins noted earlier this week, reflecting on the conditions during his recent practice sessions.

Despite these setbacks, he remains optimistic and focused on adapting to whatever the tournament throws his way. When asked about how he planned to tackle the competition today and throughout the event, Scroggins shared some insight into his approach.

“In this format, I’d rather be winding something to cover more water and generate more bites,” Scroggins explained. “You can’t rest in this format. If you aren’t adding weight, you feel like you are falling behind. That makes fishing slow for spooky spawners tough to do.”

His strategy of using fast-moving lures to search wide swaths of water aligns with his style—moving quickly and efficiently through the grass to increase the chances of connecting with bass that will make a difference. As the tournament unfolds, expect this proven veteran to be a major player, making waves both in the shallow waters and on the leaderboard.

Photo Credits: Mark Cisneros/Bassmaster.com

Tread lightly when scouting before a tournament but be thorough enough to fully understand what your area has to offer. If you perfect this process, please tell me how.

As one who writes about the sport of tournament bass fishing, I have a unique opportunity to understand the strategies and thought processes that shape on-water success for many of the brightest stars in our sport. Some of the secrets they share don’t make it into print or on screen for various, lamentable, reasons.

I try to incorporate these lessons into stand alone bits of advice, most notably the Fish Tip Friday segments I post to AnglersChannel.com. After all, I do what I do because I love to fish and love (almost equally) to help others think about ways they can catch more fish too.

Occasionally, the writer gets to jump into tournament action. The lessons learned are experienced on a much deeper level than can ever be taught with words, but I try to pass along what I can.

I fished the Bassmaster Kayak Series event on Florida’s Kissimmee Chain of Lakes this past weekend.

The 2-day tourney attracted anglers from dozens of states and Canada as well as a contingent from Puerto Rico, 224 of us in all. Thanks to Bassmaster’s BassmastHER initiative, the ladies showed up – and showed out! Becky Robinson of Maryland led the first day with 100.75 inches on her 5 longest fish.

Robinson reported that she caught a small limit in the pencil reeds before culling them with 20-inchers plucked from among lily pads.

I fished an area on Lake Toho that had plentiful pads and just a few pencil reeds but that was covered in fields of hydrilla, some of which was matted, most of which grew to within inches of the surface. A few isolated acres had clumps of grass with open lanes that invited bladed jigs and spinnerbaits and held fat, healthy bass – some of the prettiest I’ve ever seen.

Among the chief reasons to fish hydrilla, if you can, is that many others cannot, or will not, make the arduous effort to constantly clean their fouled propellers. I burnt up a motor during my bass boating days. I know the pain involved. When fishing tournaments in Florida, the old saw holds that if you’re not around other fishermen, you’re not around fish. But any time I’ve scored well I’ve had a chunk of water to myself, so I prefer to go off and do my own thing, especially in an area that’s hard to access.

So it went in this event. I saw no more than one bass boat per day and none stayed for nearly an hour. As kayakers have added pedal drives and trolling motors, I figured the thick hydrilla would keep many of them out of the area too. I was right. I never saw more than one other kayak any given day and I practiced 3 days, competed for 2.

I had the place to myself. I covered miles of it – with a paddle, sometimes saying words I shouldn’t have. As immense as the fishing grounds were, I still tread lightly, never attempting to catch more than a couple fish in any single spot. I also didn’t quite dial-in the big bite, figuring I would sort though the numbers to find them during tournament hours.

I found two spawning flats within a mile, either direction, of the launch. I concentrated on the nearshore, inside hydrilla edge in these areas. In practice the fish in this zone were running 18-to-19 inches while those up on the flats were just smaller bucks. I could visually scan the clear shallows without hooking fish which is a big deal to me because I never want to be the guy who ‘won practice’ but beat his area up before it counted. I flipped shallow cover to see if big females might be hiding near the fresh beds. No luck. Even the bucks were spooky and not at all territorial yet. Patchy hydrilla offshore, but close to it, was the target for me. It did produce back-to-back limits. I would eventually finish in 55^th place.

I firmly believe too many anglers have no clear objective for practice other than riding around and sore mouthing fish and then spending the tournament rounds in those areas where they caught the most fish which, logically, is now the last place you should expect to win a tournament.

The art of tournament practice is tricky. Less is often more. Having the confidence to merely scratch the tip of the proverbial iceberg and bet on what lies beneath can lead you to the winner’s circle. Adjustments made during competition are the ones that lead to victory anyway, so don’t pound the waters too hard beforehand.

To protect the feelings of the foolish, I’ll not name names or locations, but I spoke with a top competitor who picked a good piece of water, went easy on it during practice, and got off to a decent start only to find the bite getting tougher as the tourney wore on even though he hit fresh spots each day. “I talked with several people who also launched there they all said they caught them good in practice and then wondered what happened to the fish during the tournament,” shared the angler, a tone of disbelief in his voice.

I followed the same basic approach as eventual champion Sherman Bishop did, throwing bladed jigs along inside grass lines, though he did so on a smaller lake nearby that doesn’t get the pressure of our larger, more famous tournament lakes. Smart move on his part.

Oh, and he stated to Andrew Canulette at Bassmaster, “. . . I saw what I needed to see,” during a single practice visit to the lake. And then he got out of there. Having the confidence to know what he had found and, more importantly, to leave it alone until it mattered was a decision that led him to a dominating win of over 5 inches against a huge field of anglers who caught thousands of bass over the two days.

For his exploits, Bishop won a blue trophy and over $11,000 in prize money.

And we all got another reminder of how important it is to accurately assess the value of an area without wearing it out during practice.

Even in Florida it’s colder than a (insert favorite reference to a well digger or witch here).

But, since y’all like to come down here and start the tournament season way too early every year, we’ve discovered ways to catch fish, quality fish – tournament winning fish – under any conditions.

Tournaments are the best laboratory for the development and exchange of ideas on how to catch ‘em. Kevin VanDam is among the best ever at refining those ideas into cold, hard tournament winnings.
Here’s a great tip he personally shared with me years ago about catching cold water bass in my own home state. I’ve won thousands of dollars doing this during the prespawn period in Florida and I’m sharing it with you now:

“Hey Kevin,” I opened the conversation as he readied his tackle to take on Florida’s Kissimmee Chain and a stout field of fellow Bassmaster Elite Series pros, “when it gets really cold down here, we often slow down and flip or drag soft plastics, but I imagine you’ll be doing something more fun and likely more productive? Lipless crankbait maybe?”

“You bet,” came the reply. “I’m going to work offshore grass beds, hydrilla mostly, with a Redeye Shad. It swims down when paused instead of dropping like a rock. It has a shimmy action that scatters light like a real baitfish. That combination of a slow rate of fall and the lifelike action can be critical in cold, clear water anywhere we fish but these Florida bass can be extra picky, so it makes even more of a difference here.”

“Color can be important here too,” I noted, “what’s the choice for this tourney?”

“Chrome sexy shad,” said VanDam.

It’s a perfect choice. Chrome/blue back and gold/black back have long been staples in Florida and the chrome base with a sexy shad overcoat combines the best of those hues.

If you manage to skate your tow vehicle and boat over the icy roads of North Florida (don’t get to say that very often) and find yourself fishing in Central or South Florida as winter grudgingly gives way to spring, toss a Redeye Shad around grass, submerged and standing, and intercept those big females as they begin to make moves toward the spawning flats, coves and canals.

Remember to lift and drop the lure letting it flutter to the tips of whatever grass you can find. Violent, dip-and-rip form is neither needed nor productive under cold conditions. Just lift and drop and stay in contact with the bait. Fluorocarbon line will transmit vibrations, or lack thereof, even when slack, but if you use braided line – and I often do – be sure to follow the lure with your rod tip to keep the line semi-tight for the purpose of bite detection as slack braid doesn’t telegraph anything, but it will float the lure higher in the water at a given speed, and around grass it blends in nicely so there’s no reason not to use it, especially considering the extra strength it lends when fighting the biggest bass of the year from heavy cover.

You might want to dial back the rod action to a medium heavy or even use a glass or composite cranking stick with a parabolic bend when fishing braided line and any lure that sports treble hooks. This will keep your trophy pinned to the bait during that critical moment when you reach to grab it at boatside – the moment when most big fish are lost. My favorite rod for this these days is a Lew’s Custom Lite (model CLBJR) – it’s 7’4” with a medium heavy backbone and a moderately fast tip. While it boasts just enough stiffness to pop my bait out of the clingy grass tips, it also has enough give it the action to not rip the hooks out while landing fish.

Bundle up and come fish with us in the Snowshine State. And bring those rattling lipless crankbaits!

Being able to cast with either the left or right hand is a huge advantage for any angler, especially for shallow water anglers and even more especially kayak anglers.

Boat positioning is more difficult from a kayak that it is from a bass boat with a foot-controlled trolling motor. The ability to switch hands and gain a 180-degree different angle while, say, combing a dock with a Thunder Cricket, elevates your game to a whole new level.

Also, if bass are super aggressive and eating your lure before it falls a foot in the water column, you may not be in a position to set the hook if you are passing the reel from your right hand to the left when they strike. Being able to cast and retrieve with the same hand keeps you in a constant position of readiness.

This is why hardcore flippers have long since sought left-handed reels or simply learned to flip left-handed, so their right hand is at the ready for those windows of opportunity when bass eat a lure as soon as it breaks through the cover or falls beside the target.

The mention of flippin’ brings up the subject of alternate casting techniques such as pitching and backhanding a lure into tight spots. Skipping too. Take advantage of the position – right at water level – that a kayak affords and get that sidearm skipping motion going.

With a little practice you can pitch, skip and otherwise shimmy a lure further back into cover than you probably think you can.

Paddle, pedal or power, the more casts you can make from different angles before needing to reposition your ‘yak, the more casts you can make in a day and, ostensibly, the more fish you are going to catch.

Spend some time on your next fun fishing trip developing your left hand, right hand and backhand casts.

“I was really good at being a bad guy.” – Ric Flair

I resolved some years ago to stop making New Year’s resolutions. Now THAT’s one I can keep.

But I do reflect, at the top of the year, on how things have gone; how they might have gone otherwise – you know, just the way we do on a long drive home from a tournament we didn’t win.

When it comes to fishing, I think of what worked well, what didn’t, how the weather played a role. I assess my strengths and my weaknesses. I might worry briefly about my weaknesses. Then I embrace my strengths.

At this time of year when others are saying ‘correct your flaws’ I encourage you to do just the opposite. Identify your strengths and hone them to a razor’s edge. A competitive edge.

You can spend all your time doing damage control or you can invest in your strong suit and make a statement. Be known for something. You rarely win by being average at a bunch of techniques. You win by being outstanding at something and then recognizing when there’s an opportunity to push that technique.

How many times have we heard a winning angler say ‘I just fished my strengths’.

You’ll likely have to grind your way through a slow bite with ‘Plan B’ or even ‘Plan C’ in any tournament. But when your bite turns on you need to cash in on what makes you unique – that one thing you do better than anybody else.

Often, it’s others who notice and give you solid feedback. When a partner asks, “How do you get that fluke to stay down while working it so fast?” or “How can you skip a lure that far back under there on baitcasting gear?” or “How are you seeing those fish in these conditions?”, such statements are strong hints at strengths you possess.

As a radio show host once said, nobody ever wrote a book titled ‘Great Moderates in American History’. We respect the bold. For better or worse, we remember the exceptions rather than the rules, especially exceptional performances.

Figure out what you’re good at and get better at it. Be the absolute best there is at it.

If it involves a certain lure, fish it on all kinds of line, especially one you never thought you would. Topwater plug on fluoro? Absolutely, if only to rule that out. Fish it in water that is too cold or too shallow for it. Tourneys have been won on buzzbaits in winter and by anglers fishing deep crankbaits in 4 feet of water. Find quirks that nobody else has. That’s what makes it your thing.

If your strength revolves around a presentation skill rather than a particular lure, say, pitching for instance, then try it with oddball lures. I’ve caught quality bass by flippin’ a swimbait into thick reeds. When working quickly and closely to a line of targets such as laydowns some guys have been known to pitch a squarebill crankbait the way others would a jig. I knew a guy who caught fish behind Gary Klein by flipping a spinnerbait into brush.

Perhaps your strength is simply the efficiency and fast pace with which you work. That’s the case for guys like Kevin VanDam and Bryan Thrift. Figure out which lures and techniques you can use to catch fish at warp speed. Forget the rest. You’ll be bored with them and your performance will suffer. Stay on pace and odds are you’ll find some fish.

If sight fishing is your thing, then you’ll cash in during bedding season but find opportunities to do it outside of the spawn so you can play to your strength year-round. Bernie Schultz once told me how he watched wolf packs of bass swim around a shallow point and just threw a Senko out in front of them. Did he catch every one he saw? No. But he caught enough. And that’s the point of having a strength. You’re never going to catch all of the fish anyway so just figure out what brings you the most joy on the water and be great at it.

Can the way you store your tackle make you a better angler?

You bet!

For starters, look out for those hooks – your connection to the fish in the first place.

The higher the carbon content in a metal, the better it will take an edge, or hold a point in the case of a hook. But carbon is a double-edged sword, pardon the obvious pun. While it provides a sharper point, carbon is also highly prone to rust.

One way to protect your hooks from rust is to store them in specialty boxes designed to prevent the oxidation of metals.  While these storage options may prove effective in preserving your hooks, the cost to immediately swap out all of your tackle boxes can put a dent in the fishing budget.

A simple trick that has served the purpose for years is to save the silica desiccant packets that come packaged with new electronic devices and the like. These little pouches of pellets are designed to trap moisture and protect sensitive equipment from humidity and dampness.

And if you’ve been good this year, maybe you’ll be getting your hands on some of these moisture-wicking wonders soon, along with the presents they were protecting.

Instead of tossing the packets out, repurpose them by placing one or two in each tackle box, especially if said box will be making trips to tidewater or full-on saltwater environs.

Of course, tight-fitting lids and secure latches go a long way towards keeping moisture out of a tackle box. While they cost a few dollars more, the latest systems will return handsomely on the investment as they protect your lures and, especially, those high-quality, high carbon hooks for years to come.

Another handy trick is to simply spray away the corrosion before it has a chance to set in. Salt Off from Starbright is a great for, you guessed it, getting salt off your fishing gear. Intended for use on everything from your boat to your baitcasters, Salt Off will extend the life of your equipment after use in marine and brackish environments. A dash will do the trick on hooks as well.

Plan now to preserve those fishing gifts you’re hoping Santa leaves beneath your tree!

Catch the Anglers Channel Bass Wrap Up Show, Presented by Sportsman’s Warehouse Saturday mornings on Discovery!  The program airs at 6:30 am EST through the month of December!  It will be available on Pursuit starting in January, AND you can watch anytime at OutdoorAction.com.

John Murray on the Dropshot: Keep it Simple, Throw it Everywhere

Two-time US Open Champion John Murray built his reputation in the clear, deep waters of the West though he now gets his mail in Spring City, Tennessee. An early adopter of the drop shot, Murray still loves the technique for its simplicity and its versatility.

“It’s just a weight with a length of line, usually 10-to-12-inches, and a hook,” emphasizes Murray. “Don’t get caught up in too many details when you’re starting out. People can make it more complicated than it really should be, but drop shotting is just a simple way to catch a lot of fish so it’s a great technique for people who are new to bass fishing or for a seasoned pro.”

If the average angler is missing a trick with the drop shot, Murray says it’s this: “Rig it weedless, Texas rig style on a 1/0 straight shank hook. Use the same worms you would otherwise use and don’t be afraid to cast it into cover, the same places you would pitch a Texas rig. A lot of people think the drop shot is just for open water. It’s not. It’s versatile. It works great in heavy cover.

“And it’s not only a deep-water bait. It’s just like any other worm fishing technique. You can cast it to the bank, drag it out and follow the lake’s contours whether that takes you down 10 feet deep or 50 feet.”

Murray imparts minimal action. “Keep a fairly tight line and work it gently, not a lot of shaking, nothing too crazy with it. Picture the worm swimming like a minnow. Just a gentle pull is best.”

Less is more with the hookset too. “Tighten up and keep reeling. Use a small, sharp hook and just reel it into their mouth.”

By Pete Robbins

I know that a lot of you are last-minute planners, and I certainly feel like I’ve conquered life when a late-blooming opportunity falls into my lap. Nevertheless, I can’t shake my understanding that I am a planner.

Fishing is all about controlling the variables that you can control, right? I want to be on the best waters, at the best times, with the best gear. I also have a full-time job, plus another part-time gig that occasionally veers past 40 hours a week. If I don’t plan, things don’t happen. I have a lot of boxes to check.

That’s part of the reason that I’ve already written some of my 2026 vacation plans on the calendar in pen, and others in sharply-written pencil. It’s not even 2025 yet, and I’m certainly not looking past what I hope will be a great year of fishing travel, but I also want to take care of business beyond the immediate horizon.

That’s why we have organized a group trip to chase sailfish in Guatemala in February of 2026, and we have another large group headed to Alaska for trout and salmon that August. Notably, there are still spots available on both of those trips – email us any time if you’re interested in learning more – and that brings me to some of the reasons for planning so far in advance:

First, it allows us to get prime dates. We try to plan many of our trips over holiday weekends so that we won’t have to use quite as much of our vacation time to go. Other people do the same. If you want to head to a popular destination like Casa Vieja Lodge, the best boats at the best times book up early. Similarly, in Alaska, the salmon runs are remarkably predictable. If you want to be there during the height of a certain species (we’ll be there for the silver salmon), act fast.

Second, it allows us to plan financially. Some but not all of the trips that we take are pretty pricey. By knowing now how much we’ll need it allows us to save appropriately and not be surprised. In some cases, you can also lock in current year pricing if you put down a deposit early.

Third, it allows us to prepare physically. If we want to take a long hike (while wearing waders) through the Alaskan tundra to chase remote monster rainbow trout, we have to be ready for that challenge. Similarly, I’ve vowed that before we return to Alaska I will practice my fly casting, at least a little. My lack of skill hasn’t proven to be a major hindrance so far, but I want to be ready if I need to execute a specific tricky cast.

One caveat, though. Remember the old saying that “Man plans and God laughs”? Well, it’s true. The further out you plan, the more likely that you are to run into some speedbump that boogers up the trip. If and when you do book for in advance, be sure to check on refund and cancellation policies and dates. It never hurts to invest in a travel protection plan, either. You can save yourself a lot of heartache while maximizing your opportunities to have a bucket list experience.

If you’re considering a trip to Alaska, Guatemala, Mexico, Brazil or Panama, whether this upcoming year or far in the future, shoot us a message and we can help you plan.

By Vance McCullough – AC Insider

While fall fishing is known for producing numbers of bass, big fish can be scarce. The remedy would be to use a big fish technique to specifically target them and forget the schoolers that are eating peanut shad offshore.

Autumn is the top time for froggin’ in many regions of the country as aquatic vegetation has reached its peak growth, forming solid mats across the tops of grass beds. This cover waits enticingly for bass that are starting to migrate back to the shallows for the fall feeding frenzy.

Mind your vegetative varieties for maximum effect. Hydrilla stems are hard, the leaves crunchy, and when water levels are normal-to-low, these mats can be all but impossible for fish to blast through and grab your lure well enough to get hooked. If the grass is already thinning or if water levels suddenly rise and, therefore, stand the hydrilla stalks up vertically, then game on!

Dance that same frog over matted milfoil, peppergrass or eel grass and bass should be able to track it much better and when they strike, they will be able to swallow the frog much more deeply, resulting in solid hookups.

The ultimate froggin’ cover is duck weed. These miniscule floating plants form an ultra-thin surface layer that shades bass below and offers no protection to critters scurrying overhead. Duck weed can blow-in around any cover that would already hold shallow bass, making the spot that much better.

Don’t just think of extensive blankets of greenery when looking for frog fishing opportunities. Isolated sawdust mats are popular flipping and pitching targets, but if the debris canopy is thin enough, frogs are on the menu here too.

Water levels in many places are at their highest in autumn due to ‘king tides’ in coastal regions and just plain old wet weather that tapers off as we ease out of another hurricane season. ‘Open water’ frogs have become a deal in recent years. These sleek models that walk like an old-fashioned spook can be used to nibble the edges of any cover. They skip well back under overhangs and docks, and they glide right through the limbs of gnarly laydowns, making them perfect for fishing around flooded cover of all types as bass move up to gorge on bait before the coming of colder weather.

One tip for fooling more bass on a frog: slow down and pick apart the most obvious targets.

“I mostly just use a frog to work one single piece of cover when I already know there should be a bass there,” noted Major League Fishing veteran pro Cliff Crochet when I shared a boat with him. “If I’m working a big area and I don’t know where to throw, I use a soft plastic buzzing toad. But a hollow bodied frog, like this Bobby’s Perfect Frog from Snagproof, I use that the same way I might use a jig to flip into a specific spot, but in this case the fish are feeding towards the surface,” explained the former deputy from Pier Part Louisiana – where the TV series Swamp People was filmed – in his thick Cajun accent. “Plus, I can throw that frog way back in there while staying off the spot with my boat, so I don’t spook those shallow fish.”

Crochet quickly demonstrated his point by drawing a vicious blow up from a bass that, after a braid-screeching tug of war, pushed the scale to over 6 pounds. It was a scene that would repeat often as Crochet called his shots and caught a stout limit in short order.

One bonus to froggin’ for upsized bass in autumn is you’re still likely to catch good numbers of fish too. But the big idea is to catch big fish.

On that note, gear up for the fight. Heavy braided line and the type of rod that can handle it are key. Something in the range of 7’3”-to- 7’6” is ideal. These days I find myself reaching for a 7’4” medium heavy power rod with a fast action tip. In spite of the name, Lew’s Custom Lite models are great for this salad-tossing tug of war. Another great model is the 7’4” Lee Livesay HFX signature series made by Halo.

I spool my Lew’s Hypermag reel, 7.5:1 gear ratio, with 65lb braid and fish with confidence around any cover.

And remember, when a fish eats, give it about a two-count before slamming those double hooks home.

We’re doing Travel Tuesday a little different this week; we’re taking you behind the scenes with us to the forefront of TROPHY bass production.

Being an AC Insider certainly has some perks!  Vance and I recently had the chance to tag along on a Strike King “outing” to the outskirts of paradise for a bass fisherman. For security purposes, we’ll just call it Lake X…approximately 300 acres of flooded timber and vegetation straddling the Florida and Georgia border, loaded with forage, very little fishing pressure, AND stocked with some “special” bass.

Lake X has been the proving ground for the early stages of a project we’re highlighting in this series, called Titan Bass.  The Titan Bass project, by Red Hills Fishery, is the intersection of science, technology, research and bassin’ passion.  With a claim to fame of, “Breaking Bass Barriers and Elevating Bass Angling Through Genetics”, we just had to go check it all out first hand.

Now before anyone goes off the deep end thinking about nightmares like Frankenfish, Teenage Mutant Ninja Bass, or some other finned freak of nature, hear us out.  Think of this more like pedigree breeding of certain working dogs, done in a way to enhance desirable traits and characteristics.  Red Hills isn’t making a “new” kind of bass, it’s making the existing bass even better! (More on Pedigreed Breeding)

We’ve seen a version of this succeed already with the Texas ShareLunker program, where fish that have exhibited trophy characteristics are collected by the state and used for “broodstock” …essentially adult fished collected to make baby fish with “some” of the same genes.  The Texas program has proven successful, but it’s based on learning a fish is a trophy specimen, only after it’s shown itself as such.  What if we could tell a two-inch bass was likely to grow into something spectacular…or better yet what if we could ensure that for an entire school of bass being stocked?

This is where the science of the Titan Bass comes into play…staff at Red Hills Fisheries in partnership with the Center for Aquaculture Technologies compiled MILLIONS of data points regarding trophy potential in Florida bass.  As of today’s writing, they’ve located 12 confirmed genetic markers, with a 13^th currently being validated, each tied to overall growth potential.  These markets and selective breeding are all part of the Titan Maxx line of fish.

Now these markers can pertain to both how fast bass grow, as well as their ultimate size.  Ironically, it is often males that grow the “fastest” but the females grow the “biggest” so traditional methods of selecting the bass that are growing the fastest can actually work against your goals of growing big fish.  With genetic testing methods, you can not only end up with BIG fish, but you can get them to that size quicker.   (More on Genetics)

I heard client stories of bass that were putting on 3 pounds per year!  Obviously, growth rates vary by location, the amount of food available, etc, but 2 pounds per year “used” to be a tough benchmark to obtain anywhere and one pound could be considered good.

Now I can already hear the drumbeats of the high fence versus free range whitetail war in the distance, but I think this is different.   Don’t get me wrong, Red Hills absolutely wants to sell fish to individuals who want the best fish they can get, but their goal is to make it available everywhere and elevate fishing for everyone.  These aren’t an “elite” quarry, or reserved for the privileged.  They are simply working to breed a better bass…something aggressive, hardy, and capable of being that “fish of a lifetime”, which will be different for everyone.  These fish are still the same species, just “optimized” for the characteristics we enjoy!

Red Hills has already been in collaboration with multiple state agencies and fisheries programs, including the State of Arkansas Game and Fish, as well as other state agencies throughout the southeast.  Bringing genetic testing and genetic data abilities to the state level will help managers enrich their own fish populations with quality genetics and healthier fisheries for everyone to enjoy.

There are genetic tissue sample kits available from Red Hills that allow anyone to collect samples, including private pond owners.  They mail you a kit, you collect your specimens according to their instructions, and return the samples.  You’ll end up with a report that can tell you about the genetic diversity in your lake or pond, as well as make recommendations on how to supplement it with new stockings.

I’m sure many states, including my own, will be slow to respond to something like this, but fortunately, as an individual pond owner, I can reach out to Red Hills Fisheries myself.  They have various distributors that they work with, and they can also ship direct, so I can get the appropriate testing and Titan Bass right here in Indiana right now!  Notice, I did say “Northern” Titan Bass.

The Titan Bass program has identified these desirable traits for each of the species of bass and has bred them with the genetic integrity of their respective species, i.e. Northern and Florida Strains.  They do also offer an F1 hybrid, which is a female Florida Titan Bass crossed with a Northern Titan male.  Unfortunately, I’m just north of their recommended climate, so although tempting, anything “Florida” simply aren’t the best choice for me.

As far as my own pond project, we’re actually still in the “prep” phase and not quite ready to offer some Titan Bass a good home.  After decades of throwing the bass back so they could get bigger, we ended up with a bass crowded and stunted population of bass, a general lack of cover, and an overall unhealthy bass fishery in need of rejuvenation.

The easy to do physical things have already started.  We drew the lake down last winter and added spawning gravel and lots of fresh habitat, spent this past season harvesting bass, adding additional shoreline cover, and we’ll be doing a heavy bluegill stocking this fall and again in early spring.  Our goal is to add Titan bass in late March so that the new fingerlings can feed on the existing bass and bluegill fry starting in May with a competitive advantage.  Once their home, it’ll be all about keeping them fed!

I’m not sure we can afford all the forage required to grow multiple double digits in my area, but I’m sure excited to get started on the journey!  Stay tuned for some fall fish management updates and “sample collection” soon.  We’ll be working on that bass crowding issue and finding out just how closely related all my little scrub bass actually are!

To learn more, visit Titanbass.com, and/or give them a call!

The Rasmussen’s connection to Wisconsin football runs deep. Adam’s wife, Allie, is a great niece to Mary Jane Van Duyse. Mary Jane was once engaged to Packers Founder Curly Lambeau and invented the iconic Packers cheer “Go Pack Go!” as a Green Bay Golden Girls cheerleader.

Twenty years later, Rasmussen, who fell three pounds short of winning the 2024 Bassmaster Classic, has no choice but to saturate himself in America’s pigskin culture once again.

Weekends in Adam’s impressive mancave the Rasmussens call “The Warehouse” are dominated by Packer watch parties. But just out of shouting range, you’ll find the down-to-earth pro prepping tackle on the deck of his Vexus® VX21, getting ready to blitz Green Bay area smallmouth throughout the football season.

“Of course, September brings a hint of cooler nights, but it’s a tricky month because you’ve still got some smallies shallow enough to cast at visually, while a few are moving to deeper breaklines in 20’ of water. It seems like nearly every day in September is a little bit different,” says Rasmussen.

Ultimately, September sees an ongoing migration of smallmouth from their summer hangouts to where they will spend the cold winter months.

“By late September or early October, they’re moving along travel routes on breaklines in 15-25’ of water, where a 2.5” soft plastic tube on a 3/8 to 1/2-ounce VMC head can be deadly. A 3” Rapala CrushCity Mayor swimbait on a 1/2-ounce jighead is another solid producer this time of year,” says the Stevens Point native.

Rasmussen says the late-season run between Halloween and early December is his favorite. “When water temps get down to around 54 degrees, it’s time to load an Alabama Rig up with 3” CrushCity Mayor minnows and throw around rocky bluff walls with 40’ of water nearby. That’s my hands-down favorite way to catch late-season smallies, and sometimes you even catch two at a time!” smiles Rasmussen.

Curly Lambeau died nearly 60 years ago while mowing a lawn not far from Rasmussen’s home, but his heritage lives on forever in the hearts and souls of Packer fans everywhere—including those that will pack into “The Warehouse” throughout the weeks ahead.

“Oh, you can bet I’ll be there watching the games with all our family and friends. But I promise ya, if we get a mild sunny day in late November or early December, I’ll be loading my A-Rigs into the Vexus and heading to a bluffy shoreline in Green Bay,” smiles Rasmussen.

To learn more about the Vexus® VX21 Rasmussen counts on to always deliver a smooth ride, even during a blustery Wisconsin autumn, please visit vexusboats.com.

A few hundred yards away from the bright lights of the Bassmaster stage at the 2024 Strike King College Series National Championship sits an equally important part of high-level tournaments; the boat yard. The boat yard is manned by the service crew, who are the true unsung heroes of every level of tournament bass fishing.

These guys stand at-the-ready to help fix any issues, mechanical mishaps, and help problem solve any pickle college anglers find themselves in this week on Lake Hartwell. They are employed by different brands and may wear competitive logos, but the truth is they all work together and are willing to lend a helping hand regardless of what product an angler needs help with.

They are here at 5AM before tournament launch and are oftentimes the last ones to leave the parking lot in the evening after the sun goes down.  The technicians standing guard at the college National Championship this week are Scott Schmitt from Yamaha Outboards, Lance Lewis and Brian Lasater from Lowrance, Mark Martin with Tracker Marine, and Jesse Cloud with Mercury. While they cooked lunch in the parking lot of the impressive Green Pond Landing facility, we asked what tips they have for college anglers to, ideally, stay out of the Boat Yard at during tournament time.

“Yamaha’s slogan of ‘maintenance matters’ could not be more spot on,” Yamaha technician Scott Schmitt said. “It’s usually the simple things that get tournament anglers, whether we’re at college and high school tournaments or the Bassmaster Elite Series, we see a lot of the same things. Take the time to do a walk around your boat and trailer in the morning. It’ll save you a lot of time and frustration in the long run.”

As though they were all speaking from the same collective brain, they each offered simple solves to potential alarms or issues like checking your oil level regularly, or inspecting battery connections if something is array electronically. And they all agreed that the following three tips are things tournament anglers of all levels should practice.

Trailer maintenance

Before your boat ever makes it to the ramp, anglers should start every trip by inspecting their trailer. Check the wear on your tires, the tire pressure, and ensure trailer lights are functioning properly. Make sure you have a spare tire.

At every gas stop en route to your fishing hole, do a quick lap around your rig and touch the hubs on your wheels. If they are hot or leaking grease, you’ve got a problem that needs attention.

“My grandpa told me years ago that a boat is only as good as it’s trailer, and it’s true,”  Lowrance’s Lance Lewis said. “You can spend $25 on grease and a grease gun and keep your axels greased up. That’ll save you a lot of money and time on repairs down the road.”

Check your lights

After you make it to the boat ramp, the next thing the service crew suggests is to turn on your power and check to see if your running lights are working. Even this morning during the most important college tournament of the season, there were at least three boats who lost fishing time due to their running lights not working correctly.  There is nothing worse than missing the morning bite while you’re off to the side trying to troubleshoot a light issue.

“I’ve noticed younger anglers are bad about not turning on their lights until they get on the water,” Schmitt said. “It’s a whole lot easier for us to help you before you launch your boat.  While you’re waiting in line, turn your lights on and then have a backup plan. You can buy a portable light to clamp onto your trolling motor for $30 that’ll keep you legal and safe in a pinch.”

Carry a basic tool kit

The last bit of advice Schmitt and the rest of the service crew offered is to carry a basic tool kit in your boat loaded with hardware specific to your vessel. Things like extra fuses, a wire stripper / crimping tool, screwdrivers, the right sized socket or wrenches for your batteries, an extra prop for your trolling motor or outboard, and even a jump box if possible.  You never know what situation you or a fishing buddy may be in, but if you fish long enough and travel to enough events, chances are you will eventually find yourselves up a creek. Make sure you are not without a paddle when these scenarios arise. Take the proper steps to ensure your rig is tournament ready and be prepared for unexpected problems on the water.

Today’s Fishin’ Tip is tailored to those who want to pursue our sport at the highest level as a professional angler. It’s based on my experience as a veteran writer/photographer who has worked with all the greatest names in the game along with some disappointing ‘wannabes’.

The job of a professional angler extends well beyond the water.

Sure, you need to catch fish, but the real value of a tournament pro is the interaction with fans and the media on behalf of their sponsors – the face they put on that company.

A lot of folks understand this, so why bring it up? Because, trust me, there are anglers out there who still don’t get it. At the highest levels of our sport, these guys would be the exception though. Most successful pros have figured out how to remain relevant even when they aren’t sacking winning bags of bass.

Among the greatest examples of this:

I was covering a Bassmaster Classic years ago. It was Media Day, our equivalent of speed dating wherein we make the rounds and talk with anglers prior to Day 1 of actual competition. I had generated more content than I could use. In fact, I was the 4^th-to-last person exiting the building, security guards creeping ever closer, giving me the side eye. The remaining three people? A Japanese reporter, his interpreter and one Mike Iaconelli.

Ike gets it.

The man deserves every good thing he gets from the fishing industry, off the water, and the fishing gods, on the water.

As this story predates the MLF/B.A.S.S. split, all the greatest pros were assembled at this Media Day, and most had done their usual stellar job of fielding questions and posing for pictures. Most were ready to go rig up some tackle and get some much-needed rest. We all felt it.

But there was Ike, full of energy and intently focused on his interviewer, giving deep, well thought out answers, helping people across the Pacific Ocean catch more bass.

This is the true value of a professional.

Even if a pro wins a big tournament, next week it’s somebody else’s turn in the spotlight. Now what does he bring to the party? What value has he? A wise angler invests in the community of anglers, worldwide, as much as he does in himself.

Ike has won the Bassmaster Classic. He has won B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year. Yet, there are spectacular anglers, great teachers, who have maintained a profitable stable of sponsors for decades without ever taking first place in a major bass tournament.

Those guys understand the assignment. And they execute. They engage with the fishing public. They help people catch more fish, often by enjoying their sponsors’ products designed to help them do so.

More recently I covered a Bassmaster Elite Series tournament. I watched these anglers prepare for each day and then launch their boats. On the final morning, as the Top 10 prepared to launch, I was shocked at how unprepared one of them was. The guy hasn’t been on the Elite Series for very long. And according to the current AOY standings, he may not be for much longer. Long story short, his lack of preparation the night before led to him making himself unavailable for even a short interview on the most important morning of the week – one of the biggest weeks of his young career.

Contrast that with the work ethic of the aforementioned Mike Iaconelli who cut a check that week but missed the final cut. The morning before the final day he had rolled up, backed his boat down, opened the door, saw me standing beside the ramp and volunteered, “hey, man! Do you need me to knock out a quick video?”

Ike looked fresh, ready to take on the day. Before his butt left his truck seat, he filmed two perfect, concise videos to welcome viewers to Day 3 and give a polite nod to his sponsors by mentioning how a particular product or two might come into play under the changing weather conditions.

If you want to succeed as a professional angler, yes, practice the craft of fishing. Then get ready to really get to work. It’s not hard to do. It’s just a mindset. Share your love of fishing with fans in-person as well as through the camera lenses of the media who will take it to all of those who would love to be there but can’t be.

Yamaha pro and Toyota Bonus Bucks member Brandon Palaniuk is leaning on his extensive smallmouth experience and steadfast mindset as he heads to St. Lawrence River for the last Elite Series tournament of the year. 

We’re at the tail end of the annual smallmouth swing of the Elite Series and few others are looking forward to the St. Lawrence River event more than Yamaha pro Brandon Palaniuk. If you were to search his tournament finishes for just a few minutes, you’ll quickly understand why he’s so excited to get to one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the country. The man is a smallmouth stud and he simply can’t wait to get to lay it all on the line in the proverbial Promised Land.

“I always get so excited when we come up north,” Palaniuk said. “I absolutely love smallmouth fishing and clear water; it reminds me of home in Idaho. To be honest, I love the big water, too. It’s intimidating to some folks but I’ve learned through the years how to manage and navigate it safely and efficiently. I’ve won a few of these derbies before and it’s a good confidence booster going into this event knowing that I might have what it takes to win.”

As far as his feelings go towards smallmouth bass, Palaniuk has strange relationship with them. They’re fun with they’re biting but when they’re not, it can really mess up a tournament day.

“I love everything about smallmouth bass until things go sideways,” Palaniuk said. “Sometimes they jump off even though you did everything right. Other times, they can just totally disappear from an awesome area you found in practice just a few days before. They’re curious, hard-fighting fish and when you can find them, they normally bite. But again, it’s always a game of hit-and-miss when you go to them on tournament day. They can totally leave an area and you’re done. You start back at square one again.”

The decision between long runs and short runs is a very unique dynamic of the St. Lawrence River event. While many anglers factoring in AOY points will choose to stay closer to the launch site throughout the tournament, Palaniuk is not afraid to make the big run to Lake Ontario in search of a 30-pound bag.

“I absolutely love big water,” Palaniuk said, “The biggest reason I run a Yamaha outboard is because we frequent places with big water. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in my career is that you have to have confidence in your equipment. There’s a chance that I’ll be running 100 miles each way during the St. Lawrence tournament and I would not make those runs and take those chances without being totally certain I can get back safely.”

Despite a disappointing finish on Lake Champlain, Palaniuk remains optimistic going into the final event of the year. He believes his execution has been good this year but as we wrap up the tournament season, he wants to focus on the mental side of his fishing more than anything else.

“I’ve always believed that tournament fishing was a mental thing,” Palaniuk said. “But I think it really hit home this year for me. Whether you’re having a great tournament or a really bad one, it’s important to stick with things and grind it out. You have to hang on to any small wins you might get throughout the course of a tournament or season. You’re going to lose so much in this sport. Heck, KVD is the winningest angler in our sport and he has still lost more than he won. Perspective is important. Even if you had a bad tournament, if you climbed from 90th in the AOY standings to 54th, that’s a big win and you should be proud of yourself for it.”

Once Palaniuk parks his Toyota Tundra at the St. Lawrence River, it will be all business for the superstar pro. He’ll shake the cobwebs off from the previous Champlain tournament, get his mind refocused, love on his family and get ready to battle with some giant smallmouth. He’s no stranger to the ups and downs of this game and he’ll be ready for whatever Mother Nature may throw at him.

Major League Fishing pro Terry Scroggins is well-known for being a tackle tinkerer and making a lot of the baits he fishes with on the Bass Pro Tour in his garage, but “Big Show” loves stopping into old-school tackle stores just the same. Even if that means hopping in his Toyota Tundra and driving 90-minutes each way like he did during his off-day for Minn Kota Stage Seven on the St. Lawrence River.

“I always find one reason or another to go spend money at a tackle store,” Scroggins said with a laugh. “Like most people these days, I order 95% of what I need online on Bass Pro Shops website or other online retailers, but there is no replacing a trip to a local bait and tackle store.  “Especially when we come north. Anglers love New York because we get a lot of bites and catch a lot of fish, which means we go through a lot of baits, and weights in my case this week.”

Scroggins made the three-hour roundtrip drive from his Air BnB outside of Massena to the 1000 Island Bait Store for a basket full of drop shot weights, a few bags of soft plastics, and a couple bonus lures that caught his eye. In the process he shot the bull with a dozen locals and put a smile on every one of their faces before taking his treasures to his truck.

What may sound like a waste of time to some was a chance to support a local store, make a few new friends and learn a thing or two for the Team Toyota pro. Bass Pro Tour competitors cannot accept information from anyone outside the tournament, but that doesn’t mean they can’t take notice of local tackle trends.

“Make no mistake, pro anglers are paying close attention when they walk into a tackle store,” Scroggins explained. “When you look at a wall of baits and you see a peg that’s almost empty, you can bet fish have been biting that bait. On the flip side, I get excited if I’m catching them on a certain lure or technique in practice and I notice no one else is buying it (that lure). It gives me a little confidence that I may have something all to myself.”

Big Show recalled one such summertime tournament where he was using deep diving crankbaits to catch offshore bass. In practice he found he was getting the most bites on a plug with a purple back and white underside, not exactly a staple color in the world of deep crankbaits.  “I went to a popular tackle store the night before the tournament and they had like 20 of
the exact color I was looking for. I’m talking two pegs fully stocked, not even one missing. I figured I was either onto something or I was an idiot, so I bought every one they had. I got a top ten in that event and used those crankbaits to catch every fish,” Scroggins recalled with a smile.

Scroggins’ practice has him feeling optimistic, as he hopes for a similar payoff from his tackle store trek this week on the St. Lawrence River.

During our most recent trip to Anglers Inn Lake El Salto, Hanna decided to try out an entirely new class of lures – odd-looking winged crawlers, the newest descendants of old-school Jitterbugs and Crazy Crawlers. Check out the video below to see how it went.

If you’d like to join us on a trip to Lake El Salto or Lake Picachos, with or without these crazy topwaters, email us at fishmore@halfpastfirstcast.com and we’ll get the ball rolling.

He’s shared dozens of bags of the salty baked pastries with fishing buddies around America, and his successful dependence on the often-overlooked Carolina rig has proven to be a savory snack for St. Lawrence River smallmouth too.

“There’s no doubt a drop shot has been the most dominant presentation on the St. Lawrence the past 10 years, but I lean far more on a Carolina rig, because it’s a different presentation than most are throwing, and thanks to current, it’s super-efficient at covering long stretches of the river bottom without making repeated casts. And obviously it catches big ones consistently, or I wouldn’t use it so much,” reasons the former U.S. Marine and current electrical lineman.

There’s an art to it

The Carolina rig often catches a bad rap for being overly simplistic and slow, to the point of being boring, but for anglers like Esterly it’s a bit of an art form that delivers Picasso level results.

“Think of it like painting. You’re not just slapping it on mindlessly with a roller. Instead, you need to be finessing your Carolina rig across the bottom like you’re painting with a 3” brush,” he explains.

Ideally you want a west wind on the St. Lawrence, which is blowing the same direction as the current.

6^th Sense snags less

A huge reason Esterly advises to finesse your Carolina rig is because you’re dragging around rocks and boulders on the bottom that are prone to grab your rig like Bills Hall of Famer Bruce Smith grabbing Jets quarterback Ken O’Brien on third and long.

While Esterly has zero affiliation with Texas-based tackle brand 6^th Sense, he swears their pre-rigged Carolina rigs simply hang up less than standard ones he rigs in the boat.

“I bought my first 6^th sense pre-rigged versions at Thousand Island Bait Store in Alexandria Bay, and I started noticing they just didn’t get snagged as much. I’m honestly not sure why. I just know they add to my efficiency,” says Esterly.

His favorite size is the ¾ ounce, but will drop to a lighter ½ ounce if the current is less, or he’s getting snagged more than normal.

“I just want whatever weight allows me to maintain bottom contact without getting hung-up,” he adds.

Pay close attention to drift speed on your GPS

Speaking of current speed, Esterly advises paying close attention to your drift speed via the digital mph on your sonar screen. Noting for example, if you’re floating along at 1.4 mph and catching fish, a sudden decrease down to 1.0 mph can hinder the bite. So, the goal is to stay in sections of the river that offer the most productive speed, if possible.

Lures of choice

He keeps the lure offerings at the end of a 36” long, 15-pound fluorocarbon leader pretty simple. He uses either a black-gold fleck 3.5” tube from Dry Creek Lures or Zoom’s speed craw.

And when asked to name why he runs a Vexus, his answer to that is pretty simple too.

“It’s the smoothest boat on the planet in rough water. Other boats sound like the gunnel is being hit by a sledgehammer every time you bust a wave. You just don’t hear that with a Vexus. And when I need something, the folks at my dealership, Hall’s Marine in Muncy, PA, are always there to help me, just like the incredible folks at the Vexus factory in Flippin, Arkansas,” says Esterly.

Pretty straightforward, and hard not to like. Much like a handful of Faller’s pretzels paired with a cold beverage at the end of a successful day full of catching big smallies on a Carolina rig in the current of the mighty St. Lawrence.

To learn more about why serious anglers like Esterly place so much trust in the craftsmanship of their Vexus boats, please visit https://vexusboats.com/.

In the opening scene of the classic film Gladiator a Roman soldier declares, “People should know when they’re conquered.”

It’s doubtful that any ancient Romans ever met a shoal bass, but anglers around Rome, Georgia sure have. And, as with the barbarian horde dispatched by Maximus and crew in the movie, the shoalie has a ton of fight in him. This fish just doesn’t know when to quit.

And the fighting isn’t over once you bring the shoalie to hand, especially if you’re in a kayak tournament and have to take a  picture of said fish lying still on a measuring board. They’re harder to photograph than a two-year-old. Even more so for the smallest fish. Why would you photograph an 8-inch fish? More on that later but just know that it’s like trying to grasp a wet bar of soap that has muscles.

Even catching a small shoal bass is fun and the type of scenery in which they swim is beautifully rugged, making for a great overall experience.

Credit given where due, I have to thank Drew Gregory for my introduction to – and now addiction to – the shoal bass.

Gregory has won everything an angler can win on the bass tournament side of the kayak fishing world, a scene that has become more electronic, more insulated from the beauty and
mystery that called most of us to fish from kayaks in the first place.

He’s established a new tournament trail for those who pursue bass from paddlecraft, pedalcraft and even motorized ‘yaks from deep offshore ledges in lakes to the shallowest confines of the skinniest feeder creeks. It’s an open-minded approach appropriately named the Kayak Adventure Series.

‘Choose your own adventure’ promises the KAS with tournaments staged on diverse waters across the country and across the calendar. The first event, Shoaliepalooza, was based out of
Thomaston and put half of Middle Georgia in play. While largemouth and spotted bass counted too, the idea was to celebrate a regional favorite, little known outside the state – the
shoal bass.

I decided to participate in the spirit of the event and fish in a way foreign to me for a fish I’d never met rather than seek the familiar largemouth in nearby lakes. A little research revealed that shoal bass will eat anything largemouth will. A swim jig seemed like a good place to start. It was. I soon caught a few modest sized shoalies. I wish I’d turned to topwaters sooner. I now believe they often attract the biggest shoal bass as I know they do largemouth, as well as saltwater species such as snook and many other sportfish.

Some things are just universal.

That said, Aaron Griffith won this event with 102.25 inches of shoal bass and caught every one of them on a black trick worm Texas-rigged on a 1/8oz. bullet weight.  By the way, Aaron has a great video on his Instagram page, Aarons_outdoor, where he demonstrates how hard it is to simply snap a picture of these rowdy fish.

I finished middle of the pack in Shoaliepalooza but it lit a fire in me. I wanted a rematch with this fish that had teased me, allowed me to catch a couple of 5-fish limits but nothing big.
I felt the strength in these fish that spend a lifetime fighting swift currents. Their scientific name, after all, is Micropterus cataractae – ‘fish of the waterfall’. They were placed by God’s hand along the Fall Line in Georgia – an area of geologic change where the piedmont region gives way to the coastal plains. Abruptly. This rapid loss of elevation causes rapid water movement which has scrubbed numerous ledges of soft substrate and left rocky cataracts and swirling white water where the shoal bass is uniquely fit to thrive.

An outfall of Gregory’s free-thinking mindset that spawned the Kayak Adventure Series to start with was the introduction of the Microbag Challenge, an optional side pot that counts an angler’s 5 smallest fish. This, literally, little contest sponsored by Z-Man features a minimum length of 5 inches. Maximum scoreable size is just below the minimum length for the overall tournament. The slam dunk would be a 25-inch total. Now, imagine trying to hold a small shoalie in place while taking the required picture to document the catch. They slipped through my fingers, all five fingers, numerous times while trying to do so. I had four fish in my Microbag. I lost what would have been my limit fish four other times. They’re harder to get a hook into at that size and once hooked they jump more than bigger fish do. I later learned that I, along with every other contestant but one, was disqualified from the Microbag competition because we were expected to photograph these spastic fish with, at most, a single finger to hold them in place, preferably no touching. It’s a special rule put in place so that we don’t obscure too much of the diminutive trophy from view of the judges, but c’mon Drew – REALLY?

I love Drew Gregory, but we might have to arm wrestle over changing that rule in the future. Maybe we can duct tape the little firecrackers to the board or something.

At any size, shoal bass are strong.  River bassin’ is a breath of fresh air from the claustrophobic confines of overbuilt, overstuffed modern fishing kayaks. Less is more when it comes to gear. Travel light. Move fast. Wade fishing is the norm, as it’s often the only practical way to target the best stretches of shoal bass habitat. Just a man pitting his wits and skills against a river and the hidden bounty that swims in it. This is how it has always been; always should be, in my humble opinion.

It’s easy to imagine a Cherokee spear fishing from the same boulder I now stand on, water bulging against it momentarily before rolling around and flowing ceaseless to the sea in a cycle that continues to this day, forming a bridge over the never-ending flow of time, connecting us not just to a place, but to those who once enjoyed it as we do now.  During your time on the water, you can score best with a simplified approach.

Crawfish are a staple in the diet of river fish; therefore, jigs work well. Texas-rigged soft plastic craws do too. People commonly throw noisy topwaters and crankbaits, even jerkbaits where depths allow. The aggressive shoal bass is not extremely picky so choose freely from your tackle box.  Casting accuracy can be helpful as shoal bass tend to tuck into tight spots that provide tiny current breaks. If your cast lands off the mark they will often come get it anyway, as long as they can see it. You can always toss a lure upstream and let it ride the
current, tumble over the rocks and swirl in the eddy below like a wounded critter would naturally do.

As for their primary range, shoal bass can be found throughout the Flint River from its source, a culvert at the airport in Atlanta, down to Lake Seminole on the Florida border. The Chattahoochee has a few in the mid-to-upper sections. Numerous dams along that river have kept the shoal bass populations from expanding much. The world record, at 8lbs, 12oz, came from Florida’s Apalachicola River years ago, but the populations there and in the nearby Chipola River have fallen off in recent years. It is estimated that 90% of the shoal bass now reside in Georgia.

They prefer main river, current-swept habitat and are seldom found in smaller creeks. They were introduced into the Ocmulgee in 1975 and have established themselves well from below the Lloyd Shoals Dam that impounds Lake Jackson all the way down to the river’s confluence with the Oconee where the two merge to form the Altamaha that carries the waters to the Atlantic Ocean.

The most consistent shoal bass action is centered around Georgia’s Fall Line which runs roughly from Columbus, through Macon and on to Augusta.  One of the hardest things for me to get my head around was that shoal bass actually spawn in the fastest, most turbulent water they can find. Most sunfish nest in calm, undisturbed areas and then feed in heavy current.  But M. cataractae plays out its whole life in the roiled rivulets among the topographic feature for which it is named.  That’s commitment.

It rivals the commitment shown by those who chase this bass, who take pride in sharing a region with it, some of whom seem to identify with it on a deep level. Few animals engender such pride in such a tightly defined region as the shoal bass does.

I understand it now.

While Shoaliepalooza was fun but not profitable for me, it served as my introduction to the species and the magnificent environment it dragged me into. I might have caught 15 fish,
including a handful of Alabama spotted bass. My biggest shoal bass was 14 inches. Not bad, but I knew there was more to this fish than I had encountered.

Fast forward two weeks. My wife and I were celebrating 30 years of marriage. If I did one thing right in my entire life, I married well.  Christy loves camping. And she’s an enabler of my fishing habit.  She will catch a few now and then herself, but on this trip she slept in each morning and let me attack the little rapids visible from the balcony of our small cabin along Georgia’s Ocmulgee River.

The first morning I used a plastic craw and only caught a couple of small fish. The next morning, I tossed a topwater crawler, specially painted in a redwing blackbird pattern by my good friend Daniel Winkles of DW Lures, and before I even waded into the cool clear flow a shoalie erupted with prejudice on my hapless plug as it careened over the lip of a tiny waterfall. The scene was spectacular. She dug like a redfish and swam in wide circles, flashing those gorgeous tiger stripes and golden back as I made multiple attempts to grab her. She pulled my digital scale to 3.08 pounds and measured from the tip of my middle finger to the crook of my elbow. She was the first of three nice shoalies to greet me that final morning of the trip.

I totally get it now, this fascination with the strikingly beautiful fish and her naughty attitude. And I can’t wait to go back.  Best news is, the peak season for river fishing is just around the
corner. This is a summertime fishery that will delight vacationing families and anglers who want to steal a couple hours from the schedule while others sleep in.

So far this year the rivers of Middle Georgia have maintained a good level for accessing and wade-fishing them. The water has been beautiful with just a light stain and excellent visibility down to at least three or four feet in the areas of the Flint and Ocmulgee rivers that I have fished. In other words, I could see the bottom practically everywhere. As for lures, anything that works on largemouth will catch a shoalie, but I prefer topwater lures for obvious reasons, including the fact that they will swim above the rocky snags where shoal bass tend to hang out.

A basic rule of wade fishing in rivers is to work your way upstream so the water carries away the silt you stir, and you won’t muddy up the stretch you’re trying to fish. This also helps you to better see the sometimes slippery, rock-strewn bottom where you may need all the help you can get to find solid footing to start with.

Of course, safety is of great importance. Wear a life jacket and if possible, have a friend tag along. At the very least, file a float plan with somebody or let them know where you plan to be. Those cascading stretches of river can be dangerous. But they are beautiful and so is the unique fishery they hide beneath their swirling, falling waters.

Planning your shoal bass adventure: if you plan to fish the Flint River, you’d be hard pressed to find a better place to stay than at Sprewell Bluff State Park, 10 miles west of Thomaston, about an hour south of Atlanta.

You can rent a small, air-conditioned cabin for $95/night or bring your tent or RV for $45. You’ll share a bathhouse with other campers, even if in a cabin, but that’s the only drawback in this idyllic setting. Perched atop a high ridge, the park straddles 568 acres of wilderness and offers hiking trails, swimming, paddling, and of course, fishing. There’s a trading post and gift shop open from 9 AM-to-5 PM daily. A gorgeous overlook greets you as you enter the park and the wild, beautiful Flint River rolls around the base of the bluff.

Book your stay at ReserveAmerica.com.

Nearby Thomaston, GA has everything you could need, including some cool restaurants and bars and even a classic old theater – the Ritz.  A little closer by is the River Bend restaurant with a sweeping view of the Flint and a classic southern menu.  There’s also a Dollar General, a gas station and the Sunnyside Café about 10 minutes away in Sunset Village (as it’s called on the map, although the locals call the little dot on Hwy 74 “Sunnyside”).

Flint River Outdoors Center, 4429 Woodland Rd, Thomaston, GA, 706-647-2633, is a great source of information about the river, its current level, etc. They also offer tent camping, and a few RV sites.

The coolest thing about Flint River Outdoors Center is their shuttle service that runs between, among other places, Sprewell Bluff and their own ramp. You can rent one of their kayaks or
bring your own and have them shuttle you back upriver when you’re done floating and fishing.

As for the Ocmulgee, the tiny town of Juliette, GA, population 290, is a great place to base camp.  My wife and I stayed at Towaliga River Retreat in a small cabin (complete with a private bath, thank you very much) for about $125/night. Plan to grill or eat out as the kitchenette only has a small microwave and minifridge. There’s a charcoal grill and fire ring at each cabin. Dining is plentiful in Forsythe, 10 miles west, or in Macon, about 20 miles south.  There are also tent and RV spaces available at this well shaded stretch of riverbank that has a 1.6-mile hiking trail and is very near many other world-class hiking and mountain biking trails.

There is plenty to do besides fishing. The one-street town of Juliette is actually a ghost town, rebuilt for the filming of the movie Fried Green Tomatoes in the early 1990’s. The buildings are still set up and open for visitors, many of whom come to dine at the Whistle Stop Café which, I can attest, serves some of the finest southern cuisine you’ll ever eat including, of course, fried green tomatoes. Be advised, the café and other attractions along the street are open from 11 AM-to-4 PM only, and most of them only from Thursday through Sunday.

There’s a low head dam, the Juliette Dam, built to divert water to the still-standing Juliette Mill, a 4-story building that, when built in 1927 was the world’s largest stone wheel grist mill, turning a million bushels of corn per year into the popular Juliette brand grits. It later housed a motorcycle museum. It’s now vacant but posted, but it makes a cool backdrop for fishing photos.

Above the dam is a waterfront park and boat ramp where you can access miles of slack water on the Ocmulgee and get a good look at the old mill.

WARNING: low head dams are dangerous, please stay well clear when below or above one. They can suck you into a ‘washing machine’ effect so strong that your life jacket won’t be able to keep you afloat. Kayak angling expert Jeff Little has an excellent video about this on his Youtube channel – The Little Stuff – if you’d like to research further.

For current information about the Ocmulgee River near Juliette, call or stop by Juliette Bait and Tackle at 12392 State Road 87 in Juliette, GA, phone number 478-262-1015. They can even hook you up with a guided rafting trip for trophy shoal bass.

Team Toyota’s Terry “Big Show” Scroggins has embraced the newest sonar technology with solid performances to show for it recently. However, he’s also not afraid to fall back on time-proven classics like firetiger colored Bomber 2A crankbaits and Storm Chug Bugs, both of which he says could be in his starting line-up at this week’s MLF Bass Pro Tour event on North Carolina’s Chowan River.

“Not many of us are familiar with the Chowan, but it reminds me a lot of my home waters of the St. Johns River. It’s an old tidal river with a lot of shallow water targets to throw at, and old baits like the firetiger 2A Bomber and Chug Bug are perfect for that situation,” says Scroggins.

Scroggins says there’s just something magical about the color firetiger anytime he’s fishing in Florida, Georgia or The Carolinas, and Bass Fishing Hall of Fame biologist and avid angler, Gene Gilliland agrees.

“I believe a Texan named Floyd Mabry is credited with developing that iconic color around 1975, and I agree with Scroggins that a firetiger Bomber is a ‘must have’ in most any angler’s tackle box. I don’t go anywhere without a firetiger Bomber 6A,” smiles Gilliland, who grew-up in Gainesville, Texas, where Bomber’s roots run deep.

Scroggins has lived on the St. Johns River for 45 years and has fished it frequently throughout that time.  Frankly, he’s a living legend there, and he remembers discovering the goodness of the firetiger 2A Bomber in the 1990s. Its subtle size, combined with its highly buoyant ability to back out of snags around everything from sunken barges to laydown trees, is what makes it so effective.

“It’s kind of a like a squarebill, which we all know is a super lure, but it’s a little more subtle, and runs a little shallower than most squarebills. All I know for sure is that sucker catches ‘em,” grins Scroggins.

When asked why the Storm Chug Bug could be productive on the Chowan, his answer doesn’t differ much from his take on the 2A. “Because it catches fish! It’s a unique lure in that it’s sort of like a subtle popper, but also walks like a Zara Spook. So, you get the best of both worlds with a Chug Bug, and I swear the orange belly on the firetiger version gets more bites than other colors in the Southeast,” says Scroggins.

So, while the Chowan River may not be super familiar to Scroggins, it feels like home. He’s very much looking forward to competing on the blackwater river, not far from the Atlantic Ocean, and you can bet they’ll be plenty of orange bellies rigged on his Mud Hole custom rods.

Pro Staff Directors, Marketing Managers and Tackle Company Moguls, I’m talking to you:

As a longtime member of the fishing media as well as a consultant to several successful fishing lodges, I think that I’m uniquely situated to tell you why you need to bring your pro staff together at a fishing lodge – with or without media. I’ve been to a number of these events and have observed others carefully. I’ve seen some that worked, others that failed, and I’ve heard both the positive and negative feedback from all parties involved. Done properly, one of these gatherings can jumpstart your media campaigns and build brand knowledge and loyalty that a paycheck alone does not provide.

Here are my reasons:

Some Pro-Staffers are Tough to Corral – It’s not limited to veterans, or rookies, or those with young children, but I hear from pro-staff managers all the time about sponsored anglers who seem to shirk every possible get together, or somehow cut short their appearances at boat shows and the like. Some of those guys may be great when they actually show up. If you go to a remote lodge in Mexico, Alaska or some location that they cannot easily drive away from, you have them “trapped.” If it’s a place where the service, food and fishing are great, they may even enjoy it. Once they’re on site, you have their complete attention for a predetermined amount of time.

Product Testing – Several years ago, Hanna booked a group from Daiwa, including engineers from Japan, a videographer, and top pros Brent Ehrler and Ish Monroe, for a trip to El Salto. Their purpose was to go through some prospective products and evaluate them in great detail. What do you need in order to do that? Not just an opportunity to sequester your staff, but also a place where they’re going to get lots of bites from hard-fighting fish in situations that’ll stress rods and reels. Watching them every day at lunchtime filling out forms and discussing minutiae, I could tell they got their money’s worth.

Product Knowledge – If you’re going to give your staffers a chance to try about-to-be-introduced products and to gain the knowledge to describe them accurately, again, you need to do two things: (1) Describe accurately what makes the products different than the last generation and better than the competition; and (2) Put them in a place where they can truly test them out. The former can be done over drinks (I’ve also seen it done in a classroom setting) and the latter needs to be done on a place where bites are plentiful.

Media Awareness – For the same reasons given above, you need to be able to explain to the media why your new products are relevant. Face it, the flood of press releases and pre-ICAST promotional materials all blend into each other. By putting the gear in the hands of the people who will write about it, you can answer both on-the-record and off-the-record questions. Be sure that you give them something to take home, both the gear itself and some sort of swag. If they fly in, offer to ship it to their home to make sure it gets there.

Media Relationships – Even if you don’t have a specific product to introduce, by allowing media to get to know your pros better, it means they’re more likely to call them for help. The first media event I attended was organized by Pete Gluszek and held at Lake Cobbosseecontee, Maine in 2007. I might never have met some of those pros but for spending time in the boat with them there, and I’ve maintained great working relationships with several of them over the past 14 years.

Media Production – If you need content for YouTube, your website, or other social media channels, a trip to a place that’s loaded with fish allows you to gather enough for a year in a single week.

A Note on Cost — Obviously these trips can get expensive in a hurry, often prohibitively so. Going longer distances likely increases your costs, although it decreases the chances that your pros or media will “escape.” One way to reduce the out-of-pocket expenses is to engage in a tradeout with the lodge. They may need rods or lures or electronics to get them through the year, and you can establish a dollar-for-dollar trade of gear for trips. That serves the added bonus of putting your gear in the hands of people with disposable income to spend on fishing trips – which could boost sales. Another way to reduce your cost is to combine efforts with other companies who are under the same umbrella but not direct competitors. For example, there are rep groups who deal with SPRO, Gamakatsu and AFTCO who’ve managed to engage in a “three for the price of one” effort.

And Advice for the Lodges and Outfitters:

Give Out Merchandise – Even if it’s a tackle company or clothing company running the show, your lodge or outfitting service should distribute swag to writers and anglers – hats, shirts, etc. With the former group, they might end up writing about your location specifically (or at least mentioning it) and with the latter group you never know when your logo will show up on TV, in a magazine or on the web.

Use Photos in Your Advertising – With the anglers’ and the sponsoring company’s permission, your operation can gain additional traction by showcasing pics of fishing “influencers” holding up big fish at your property. Grosse Savanne is one of our favorite US locations, and they’ve benefitted greatly by their association with pros like Bill Lowen and television stars like Mark Zona.

A Few Additional Notes:

Need Not Be a Formal Fishing Lodge – One of the best media events I’ve attended was a Shimano/G.Loomis get-together in Lower Alabama in 2014. They rented a large house at a residential country club and brought in a chef to cater to us. None of us had ever heard of the place, but it had an incredible several hundred acre private lake (electric motor only) that clearly hadn’t received much intelligent fishing pressure. It was loaded with giants – our group caught several double digits despite unusually adverse weather. In fact, a freak ice storm shut down the Pensacola airport and the highway to it, and most of us were “stranded in paradise” for a few extra days.

Need Not Be Your Primary Species – Obviously, if you’re a tackle company focused primarily on bass fishing, the lion’s share of your media efforts need to focus on bass (duh). That doesn’t mean that you can’t send some of your staffers off in search of other targets. A flipping stick that can tame 40 pound redfish or 150 pound yellowfin tuna will likely hold up during tournament competition.

One of the most productive trips I’ve taken was when Keith Combs and I went to Alaska (a state which has no viable bass fishery) in the summer of 2019. While we weren’t able to promote his sponsors directly, the “fish out of water” angle enabled me to get him much more press than I would have on a bass fishing trip – including exposure in Texas Monthly, a fly fishing publication and a saltwater publication, along with the usual bass outlets.

If you’d like more FREE advice on how to arrange a proper pro staff outing or media gathering, hit me up by email any time and we can flesh out your needs and the solutions to your specific situation.

Nick Trim, Local Hammer, National Tour Hopeful

A lot of anglers talk about versatility, but the most successful pros have something they can hang their hat on; something they do better than most, especially when conditions favor that approach. Nick Trim knows what he’s good at.

“Two of my four BFL wins have been during the spawn,” said Trim. “I really have the spawn dialed-in, as far as smallmouth go, and both of these tournaments fell during the spawn. Outside the spawn I don’t have as much success, but in both of these tournaments I got to do what I love to do and that’s catch spawning smallmouth.”

‘Both of these tournaments’ would be the recent MLF Bass Fishing League event that Trim won with a weight of over 20 pounds and, earlier in May, the B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier that he led all 3 days before sealing the victory by a margin of nearly 6 pounds. In addition to their similar timing, both events took place on the upper Mississippi River where the Galesville, Wisconsin angler is a force to be reckoned with, especially in the spring of the year.

But it’s not just the fish that Trim has a mastery over.

An early adopter of technology, Trim has been picking the pockets of fellow competitors by catching hard-to-see spawners for a long time. “I started doing this about 4 years ago, 5 years ago. I was the only one doing it – I know that for a fact – doing it all with my Humminbird Mega 360.” Lately Trim has added Garmin LiveScope to his arsenal. “Since LiveScope came out I’ve been able to really dial it in. Between the 360 and the LiveScope I can tell you when the fish picks up my bait without even feeling it bite.”

Sometimes, one plus one equals more than a simple doubling of values. In Trim’s case, the combination of two types of electronics has improved his game exponentially. “With 360 you can see them in the bed, but with LiveScope you can see how she reacts to your bait, when she bites it. And I can tell how big the fish is. With 360 I could never tell how big the fish was, so I wasn’t as efficient because I had to catch all of them. Now I can pick and choose which fish I’m going to catch with the LiveScope, just like I was looking at them with my eyes.”

While the technology is available to all, not all anglers have taken the time to master it. Trim knows how to get the most from his units and that, he says, has made all the difference.

“I know a lot of guys around here that have it but just don’t know what they’re doing. They maybe think they do, but if they did, I wouldn’t be winning. I think it’s time,” said Trim of his secret ingredient to the winning formula. “I was one of the first to learn it. There will be guys catching on. I’m going to enjoy it as long as I can, but I know guys are coming and they’re gonna be way better at it than I am, but I’ve been doing it consistently for so long. I’ve put in hours and hours and hours on it and did nothing else for four seasons, so I know if fish are on beds, I have perfected the ability to catch them.

“And I also think a lot of guys don’t have dual technology. I wouldn’t be comfortable without one or the other. My 360 and my LiveScope are both key players.”

Trim also knows what he’s not good at.

“I’ve fished against Tristan McCormick, for instance. Tristan is known for LiveScoping. That’s what he does, but me going out in 40 feet of water and doing what he does, I’m no good at it. I’m terrible at it. I proved that at Ouachita, but you put me in 3-to-5 feet of dirty water where you can’t see fish and give me Perspective Mode, I can do it.”

Trim is no stranger to high level competition. He placed in the Top 5 at a MLF Invitational last year on the upper Mississippi. He laughs now about being stuck in a lock with the other four top finishers including Jared Lintner, Steve Lopez, Tom Monsoor and eventual winner Matt Stefan. “We all thought we were going to get locked out and not weigh our fish. We all made it back with about two minutes to spare.”

Trim hopes to continue rubbing shoulders with Tour level pros as he tries to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite series via the Opens EQ. “We’re four derbies in on that one and I think I’m sitting in 78^th. It’s got to be the hardest circuit you could put yourself through. I enjoy the heck out of it. It’s been so much fun but they’re going to start the northern swing here after we get done at Eufaula, toward the end of June, and hopefully I can climb the ladder, but hopefully the B.A.S.S. Nation National Championship goes my way and I don’t have to worry about it.”

As do most anglers, Trim works a regular job when not fishing tournaments and the company he works with is also his title sponsor, River Valley Remodelers. Other sponsors include “Motor Socks. Local company here that makes neoprene covers for your trolling motor, rigging tubes and Power-Poles, stuff like that, keeps everything looking nice and fancy and neat. Blaises Repair, TLC Therapy, T&T Tackle, Power-Pole, Mercury, Pheonix – they’re all a huge part of what I do. The Opens are an expensive venture, and I couldn’t do it without support from any of these.”

It was a 19-hour drive in his Toyota Tundra from Kalamazoo to the highly familiar waters of Florida’s Kissimmee Chain, but Kevin VanDam is feeling very much at home this week as he takes a tiny break from his pro tournament retirement to sit in second place after Day 1 of the MLF General Tire Heavy Hitters event, a special stand-alone event he qualified for last season.

“I’ve probably competed in about 30 events in Florida throughout my pro career. I’ve always enjoyed this state because the lakes are expansive and full of so much vegetation,” says VanDam.

He actually notched one of his 29 mind-boggling career victories on Kissimmee’s Lake Toho in March of 2008 by ripping a Red Eye Shad from the submerged vegetation he treasures, and the submerged salad was certainly in play during Sunday’s opening round of competition when a Strike King Thunder Cricket vibrating jig helped him land 13 bass totaling 40 pounds to sit second behind Jordan Lee.

However, when asked to name his all time favorite lure over thirty years of fishing in Florida, “KVD” chose a swim jig.

“It doesn’t matter where you go in Florida, from Okeechobee to the St. Johns River and the Kissimmee and Harris Chains in between, a swim jig has proven to be my all-time best lure for covering a ton of water and catching above average sized fish in this state,” says VanDam.

Sure, a soft stick bait like a Senko or Strike King Ocho catches thousands of Florida bass each year, but VanDam says it’s the snag-free speed and efficiency a swim jig offers that makes him call it his all-time favorite lure for Florida.

White, along with black-blue, are the two swim jig colors he leans on most, with green pumpkin sunfish serving as a back-up option. If he’s trying to keep the jig super shallow around lily pads or Kissimmee grass, he uses a lighter 1/4 -ounce, but if he wants it to hunt slightly deeper over submerged eel grass, he’ll tie on a 3/8 ounce.

A Strike King Rage Craw matched to the color of the jig skirt is always his trailer. He spools up with 50-pound braid, on a somewhat speedy 7.5:1 Lew’s reel and 7’ 4” medium-heavy action rod.

“I can’t say a swim jig will be my primary lure this week on Kissimmee, but you can bet I’ll have a couple ready to go on the front deck. It’s truly a lure that works in every season of the year in Florida. I’m definitely going to miss competing in Florida now that I’m retried. This state’s been special to me,” concludes VanDam.

It sure would be wildly special if “The GOAT” found a way to win this – his final ever pro level event – in a state that’s been as much a treasure to his unparalleled career as the swim jigs he’s often counted on to carry the load in the Sunshine State.

Team Toyota pro Mike Iaconelli has fished all three Elite Series tournaments held on South Carolina’s Lake Murray, and after day twos’ weigh-in concluded, he’s still yet to miss a paycheck on this fishery. The veteran Iaconelli tied for second place here in 2011, 11^th place in 2023, and backed those performances up with another strong tournament on Murray this week, heading into semifinal Sunday in 29^th place.

Iaconelli believes there are several reasons he gels with this 50,000-acre reservoir on the Saluda River, perhaps most pointedly is his experience catching bass that feed on herring. But Ike’s experience is drawn from bass that chase alewife herring on fisheries like Lake Champlain, not the blueback herring present in Lake Murray.

“Alewife and blueback herring are like distant cousins but the way they spawn, and how bass set up to feed on them is almost exactly the same,” Iaconelli explained. “When the bass spawn ends, the herring spawn starts, regardless of species.

“Herring are dispersion spawners. They seek out places like flat shoals, a hard spot on a point, and gravel banks or red clay bottom here in South Carolina. Any kind of hard substrate is key when targeting a herring spawn. Low-light time periods are critical for both species as well.”

The longtime Yamaha Outboards pro got an early education on alewife herring and how they affect bass fishing a place called Fairview Lake in the Pocono Mountains. As Iaconelli explained, there are a lot of parallels with bass focused on either species of herring. So even though Iaconelli doesn’t have a plethora of experience on lakes with bluebacks to draw from, he’s comfortable leaning on his familiarity with alewives.

There are also similarities in terms of bait selection. Iaconelli laid out some of the nuances he’s learned when targeting bass feeding on herring.

“Herring, alewives and bluebacks, they move different than other baitfish,” Iaconelli offered. “They move differently than threadfin or gizzard shad, different than bluegills or golden shiners. Herring are their own animal when it comes to movement. The best way I can describe it is, it’s a straight-line movement.”

Not all bass fishermen are straight-shooters but according to Iaconelli all herring are straight-swimmers. You see this reflected in Iaconelli’s bait selection for herring chasers, but he even tailors his retrieve and cadence to mimic a herring’s straight swimming tendency.

This week on Lake Murray, and most anytime he visits a fishery with herring as a predominate forage base, Iaconelli employs a pencil-popper style topwater, a soft plastic jerkbait, and a shallow-diving crankbait.

“A Berkley Cane Walker, a PowerBait Jerk Shad, and Berkley Frittside 5 squarebill have been my key lures on Murray,” Iaconelli said. “Those are staples for herring lakes, but more than just the lures I change up my retrieve on these fisheries.

“I pull my Jerk Shad on herring lakes instead of twitching it. Instead of walking a topwater like normal, I spend most of my retrieve straight reeling or sprinting my topwater and throw in a few back-and-forth walks every so often. Then a Frittside naturally has very straight forward movement, which is key.”

Pure pattern fishing has been one of Iaconelli’s biggest strengths throughout his 27-years as a professional angler. There are few better at figuring out and then replicating a pattern than Iaconelli, and perhaps no one better at articulating his thoughts and process to fishing fans. That same passion that started 700 miles away in the Pocono Mountains is alive and well at Lake Murray this week.

Mother Nature and Lake Eufaula in central Oklahoma have been throwing Bass Pro Tour competitors plenty of curveballs for Millertech Stage Four presented by REDCON1.  Round after round of severe weather has passed through the area during practice and the start of the tournament, bringing plenty of rain along with the storm systems.

Lake Eufaula is known for its off-colored water in stable conditions but this week the massive body of water, which is the largest in Oklahoma, has risen over four feet. And while higher water means lots of flooded cover to cast at, the influx of muddy water has come extremely quickly, which Mark Daniels Jr. believes is largely to blame for the tough fishing experienced so far this week.

“It’s been crazy out here man,” MDJ said shaking his head. “High water is not a bad thing, but water raising multiple feet in just a day or two makes fishing challenging in my experience. Especially when you factor in that a lot of these Eufaula bass are setting up to spawn right now.

“Bass want a stable place to make their bed and lay their eggs, so they aren’t as likely to move up with the rising water. That means if a fish was setup in two feet of water, she’s now down there in six plus feet of dirty water and they are just extremely tough to fish for in that scenario. And we’re seeing that on the SCORETRACKER right now.”

MDJ and most of the BPT field believe catch rates on Eufaula will improve as the water stabilizes, but they are having to grind through the Qualifying Rounds in hopes to survive and move on to the weekend.

During his first day on the water, the Team Toyota pro tried multiple different patterns and exhausted every area he found in practice, but ultimately it proved to be an extremely tough day of fishing. MDJ caught three scoreable bass, anchored by a 5-pound 12-ounce largemouth that kept him in contention of the money and elimination lines.

The California native who now resides in Alabama believes staying positive and cycling through multiple patterns, techniques, and lures in areas he has confidence in is his best chance in the current conditions on Eufaula.

“On Tuesday I spent the first period chasing the shad spawn with crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Then I flipped bushes for a couple of hours. Both proved futile. I mean I didn’t catch a twelve-incher,” MDJ admitted. “About halfway through the second period I started running boat docks and caught a few, including the big girl, and thank God for that fish. She saved my day.

“While my day sounds like a trainwreck, and it mostly was, I am convinced keeping multiple patterns honest is the best way to deal with these conditions. Spring rains and big weather events make things difficult for lots of weekend anglers around the country.

When that happens just keep your head down and don’t get tunnel vision. The bass are still there, you just gotta adapt with them.”

Anytime you are fishing, especially when the bite is fickle, you are only one decision away from turning a tough day around and like MDJ proved on Lake Eufaula, only one cast away from a big fish that can change your mood in a hurry.

Major League Fishing pros who find themselves mentally rattled by fast rising muddy water at this week’s Millertech Stage Four Bass Pro Tour event on Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma might want to ask, “What would Leo do?”

This very same week in 1999, Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma water levels were right at normal elevation when pros began practice. Then, storms and torrential rainfall saw the massive reservoir rise more than four feet by Day 1 of competition, a mirror image of what’s happened in the shadow of rough storms and tornado sightings the past five days.

Local fishing legend and lifetime Crowder, OK resident, Leo Osborne pitched a uniquely colored plastic worm to flooded bushes back in ’99 and notched the biggest win of a fishing career decorated with wins and high finishes on the sprawling 108,000-acre lake.

The event was the Bassmaster Central Invitational. The former machine shop owner and previous Dr. Pepper delivery route driver recalls getting several bites in practice with longtime best buddy, Orlean Smith before storms forced them off the water, and sent them running to their trucks.

Rained-out for hours, their practice session was strong enough that Osborne actually believed he and Smith had located the winning area, whether it would be himself or another angler, he truly believed the area would ultimately produce the winning weight.

And it did. Osborne caught 50-pounds of largemouth in three days from his favorite bushes, and while other competitors crowded him on the water amid the final two days of competition, he kept his head down, stayed in the general area, and kept pitching his Gene Larew electric blue worm with a white tail — at one point catching twin 5-pounders off the same exact flooded persimmon tree.

“A lot of guys commented after I won that they’d never seen a worm that color. I told them neither had the bass. That’s why it worked so well,” laughs the good-humored Osborne who still lives in Crowder and will soon celebrate his 81 st birthday.

His first-place prize was $16,000 cash and a brand-new boat valued at $32,000. So, what would the former little league baseball coach tell anglers to do this week?  “They’ll be a bunch of them too busy staring at that sonar screen to consider flippin’ bushes, but I’d tell them to get in those flooded bushes, and don’t come out until your boat carpet is covered in stray limbs
and willow leaves, that’s when you know you were fishing as thorough as you need to,” he grins.

Yup, no question about it, he’d be pitchin’ soft plastics to flooded bushes this week.

That’s exactly what Leo would do.

Depending on where you fish, the shad spawn is either about to kick off or it’s already on. Vampire bass will blitz balls of baitfish around shallow hard cover but the murderous activity ends as soon the sun hits the water, so most anglers think they need to work quickly. Greg Hackney tells us to slow the pace of our retrieve for maximum action during this unique opportunity which he exploited for a Top 10 finish in the recent Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on a stingy St Johns River.

He was using a soon to be released, four blade version, but a tandem willow with small blades will do the trick too!  The key is to slow down to draw the shad to your bait…THEN the bass will come!

Erickson, Pontius edge Montevallo teammates for Bassmaster College Series win on Kentucky Lake

PARIS, Tenn. — University of Montevallo (Ala.) anglers have had a great deal of success as a program, so it wasn’t a huge surprise that a pair of the school’s teams were the final two standing Thursday at the Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Kentucky Lake presented by Bass Pro Shops.

In the end, Blair Erickson and Jackson Pontius were on the right side of the balance, winning the tournament with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 42 pounds, 1 ounce. They edged Montevallo teammates Easton Fothergill and Nick Dumke, the defending Bassmaster College Series Team of the Year, who placed second with 10 bass totaling 41-5.

In all, 216 college tandems competed for a total of $18,400 in prize money for their respective schools. Erickson and Pontius split $5,500 for winning, while Fothergill and Dumke split $3,600 for finishing second.

Edging their high-profile teammates was a point of pride for the victorious 21-year-old juniors — Erickson a computer science major from Brainard, Minn., and Pontius, a Wilsonville, Ala., native studying business marketing. Both acknowledged that competing with the many other talented anglers at Montevallo puts them in a position to win whenever they compete.

“Iron sharpens iron,” Erickson said, his voice beginning to crack with emotion, even before he and Pontius weighed a 19-9 limit to push them past their teammates.

“(Competing with guys like Fothergill and Dumke) motivates you. I wouldn’t be where I am without them.”

Pontius wholeheartedly agreed.

“We are so competitive,” he said. “All these guys (at Montevallo) are hammers…We have a big support team.”

Erickson and Pontius caught 22-8 on Day 1, grabbing the lead catching smallies off a shellbar only a few dozen yards from takeoff at Paris Landing Marina. They burned that spot, though, and only caught two bass there Thursday morning for about 7 pounds.

That’s when they decided to make a 20-mile run to mid-lake and a hotspot Erickson located during practice. When they arrived, however, Fothergill and Dumke were already fishing that location. They didn’t slink off to another spot, however, rather they fished within shouting distance of their teammates, locking in on a trio of 4-pounders they marked during practice.

“It only took a few casts, and we had the limit we needed,” Pontius said.

Still, it was a kicker fish that provided the margin of victory.

“We had 18 pounds, but we still had a 2-8 in the box,” Pontius said. “We couldn’t get rid of him, and it was almost 12 o’clock. So, we rolled up to where we started and on the last cast of the day, with five minutes to go until weigh-in, Blair got hung up on a rock and a 3-12 decides to eat his bait off the rock.”

“That was the fish that won it for us,” Pontius said.

Erickson used a pair of Untamed Tackle Shitake Mushroom Head jigs, one a 3/16-ounce lure and another that was 1/8-ounce. Pontius primarily threw a 3/16-ounce tube for his best bites. Both anglers favored green pumpkin lures speckled with orange and purple flakes.

“The bedding bass were finicky,” Erickson said. “I learned ice fishing (back home in Minnesota) that when they’re like that, you want to give them something with less resistance so it’s easier for them to get more of the lure. You need something lighter.”

Light lures, perhaps, but they were a recipe for a heavy victory.

“This means so much,” Pontius said. “This is our third tournament fishing together. To get a win and qualify for Nationals at the same time is an incredible thing.”

“This has been a dream since I was in eighth grade,” Erickson added. “It’s been a dream for both of us.”

Rounding out the Top 5 at Kentucky Lake are Dylan Fogerty and Hunter Filmore of Bethel University (Tenn.), third, 40-4; Banks Shaw and Nathan Reynolds of the University of North Alabama, fourth, 39-13; and Jack Hay and Eli Jaime of Southwestern Michigan College, fifth, 39-10.

This week’s event was the first B.A.S.S. tournament on Kentucky Lake since the Bassmaster High School National Championship was held here in 2020. After a few lean years, mainly due to an influx of invasive Asian carp, Kentucky Lake’s bass bite (especially the smallmouth) has rebounded tremendously.

It showed, with a total of 144 limits caught on Day 1 and another 125 on Day 2.

The teams of Sam Moll and Will Burch of Murray State (Ky.) University, and Quade Lobo and Nick Owens of Adrian College (Mich.), each weighed a 6-13 smallmouth on Day 1 to tie for the heaviest bass of the tournament.

The College Series stop at Kentucky Lake was the second of three events on the new Legends Trail, the first being held on South Carolina’s Lake Murray in January and the final tournament set for Michigan’s Saginaw Bay in June. Teams finishing in the top 10% of the field at any of the college events qualify for the Strike King Bassmaster College National Championship scheduled for Aug. 22-24 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, S.C.

The Henry County Tourism Authority hosted the derby on Kentucky Lake.

2024 Bassmaster College Series Title Sponsor: Strike King

2024 Bassmaster College Series Presenting Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops

2024 Bassmaster College Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2024 Bassmaster College Series Premier Sponsors: Dakota Lithium, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Progressive Insurance, Ranger Boats, Rapala, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
2024 Bassmaster College Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Daiwa, Garmin, Lew’s, Lowrance, Marathon, Triton Boats, VMC

2024 Bassmaster College Series Youth Sponsors: Seaguar, Shimano

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Yamaha Rightwaters Bassmaster Kayak Series scored by TourneyX, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Jockey Outdoors.

-30-

Connect with #Bassmaster on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

Media Contact: Chad Gay, Communications Manager, 865-201-6458, cgay@bassmaster.com

2024 Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Kentucky Lake presented by Bass Pro Shops 4/17-4/18
Kentucky Lake, Paris  TN.
(BOATER) Standings Day 2

Angler                                       Club/School                       Pts

1.  Blair Erickson – Jackson Pontius             University of Montevallo            250
Day 1: 5   22-08     Day 2: 5   19-09   Total:  10  42-01
2.  Easton Fothergill – Nick Dumke               University of Montevallo            249
Day 1: 5   20-04     Day 2: 5   21-01   Total:  10  41-05
3.  Dylan Fogarty – Hunter Fillmore              Bethel University                   248
Day 1: 5   20-05     Day 2: 5   19-15   Total:  10  40-04
4.  Banks Shaw – Nathan Reynolds                 University of North Alabama         247
Day 1: 5   19-08     Day 2: 5   20-05   Total:  10  39-13
5.  Jack Hay – Eli Jaime                         Southwestern Michigan College       246
Day 1: 5   20-11     Day 2: 5   18-15   Total:  10  39-10
6.  Derek Rodriguez Jr. – Dalton Mollenkopf      Adrian College                      245
Day 1: 5   19-11     Day 2: 5   19-11   Total:  10  39-06
7.  Lane Stephens – Ethan Fields                 McKendree University                244
Day 1: 5   19-06     Day 2: 5   19-07   Total:  10  38-13
8.  Hayden Marbut –                              Auburn University                   243
Day 1: 5   17-12     Day 2: 5   20-13   Total:  10  38-09
9.  Adrian Urso – Corbin Templon                 Murray State University             242
Day 1: 5   18-10     Day 2: 5   19-03   Total:  10  37-13
10. Jerry Brumbaugh Jr. – Brady Pinwar           Adrian College                      241
Day 1: 5   17-00     Day 2: 5   20-10   Total:  10  37-10
11. Colby Carrier – Justin Frey                  Bethel University                   240
Day 1: 5   19-07     Day 2: 5   17-14   Total:  10  37-05
12. Dylan Akins – Chase Carey                    Emmanuel College                    239
Day 1: 5   19-13     Day 2: 5   17-04   Total:  10  37-01
13. Elliot Wielgopolski – Aaron Jagdfeld         Adrian College                      238
Day 1: 5   18-03     Day 2: 5   18-12   Total:  10  36-15
14. Tyler Leachman – Mark Bixler                 Murray State University             237
Day 1: 5   17-01     Day 2: 5   19-12   Total:  10  36-13
15. Owen Januszewski – Mitch Straffon            Adrian College                      236
Day 1: 5   15-12     Day 2: 5   20-12   Total:  10  36-08
16. Chase Milholen – Koltyn Harbin               Bethel University                   235
Day 1: 5   18-04     Day 2: 5   17-05   Total:  10  35-09
17. Jackson Kulijof – Aiden Clark                Murray State University             234
Day 1: 5   19-01     Day 2: 5   16-01   Total:  10  35-02
18. Carter Nutt – Dylan Nutt                     University of North Alabama         233
Day 1: 5   16-14     Day 2: 5   17-15   Total:  10  34-13
19. Hagan Marlin – Chris Fallon                  University of Montevallo            232
Day 1: 5   14-08     Day 2: 5   20-04   Total:  10  34-12
20. Hank Sturm – Matt Amosby                     Adrian College                      231
Day 1: 5   17-09     Day 2: 5   17-01   Total:  10  34-10
21. Lake Norsworthy – Calup Williams             Blue Mountain Christian Universi    230
Day 1: 5   16-05     Day 2: 5   17-15   Total:  10  34-04
22. Kai Barnett – Parker Welch                   McKendree University                229
Day 1: 5   16-14     Day 2: 5   17-06   Total:  10  34-04
23. Benjamin Travis – Brendin Simich             Auburn University                   228
Day 1: 5   17-11     Day 2: 5   16-04   Total:  10  33-15
24. Cy Lambert – Austin King                     University of North Alabama         227
Day 1: 5   16-08     Day 2: 5   17-05   Total:  10  33-13
25. Wyatt Pearman – Ridge Rutledge               Campbellsville University           226
Day 1: 5   15-10     Day 2: 5   18-01   Total:  10  33-11
26. Dalton Phelps – Gannon Stork                 Wabash Valley College               225
Day 1: 5   13-09     Day 2: 5   20-01   Total:  10  33-10
27. Peyton Rose – Brogan Gregg                   Wabash Valley College               224
Day 1: 5   16-13     Day 2: 5   16-12   Total:  10  33-09
28. Henry Vincent – Tommy Parker                 Adrian College                      223
Day 1: 5   17-12     Day 2: 5   15-10   Total:  10  33-06
29. Cameron Smith – Thomas Phillips              Ohio State University               222
Day 1: 5   16-10     Day 2: 5   16-11   Total:  10  33-05
30. Tyler Finley – Christopher Kistler           University of North Alabama         221
Day 1: 5   17-01     Day 2: 5   16-03   Total:  10  33-04
31. Collin Barnett – Sander Ludeman              Minnesota State University – Man    220
Day 1: 5   19-02     Day 2: 5   14-00   Total:  10  33-02
32. Andrew Howell – Jordan Pennington            University of Montevallo            219
Day 1: 5   18-13     Day 2: 5   14-05   Total:  10  33-02
33. Drake Sturgill – Beau Browning               University of Montevallo            218
Day 1: 5   19-10     Day 2: 5   12-15   Total:  10  32-09
34. Levi Seagraves – Scooter Ligon Jr            Emmanuel College                    217
Day 1: 5   14-08     Day 2: 5   18-01   Total:  10  32-09
35. Logan Plueger – Charlie Wright               University of Montevallo            216
Day 1: 5   16-13     Day 2: 5   15-08   Total:  10  32-05
36. Colton Odom – Tyler Madden                   Auburn University                   215
Day 1: 5   11-11     Day 2: 5   20-09   Total:  10  32-04
37. Luke Davis – Chance Schwartz                 University of Montevallo            214
Day 1: 5   16-09     Day 2: 5   15-02   Total:  10  31-11
38. Lucas Washburn – Braylon Eggerding           Adrian College                      213
Day 1: 5   17-07     Day 2: 5   14-03   Total:  10  31-10
39. Jonathon Garbacz – Owen Moss                 University of North Georgia         212
Day 1: 5   15-08     Day 2: 5   15-14   Total:  10  31-06
40. Brady Metzger – Mason Bohland                Purdue University                   211
Day 1: 5   15-12     Day 2: 5   15-08   Total:  10  31-04
41. Jack Mcillwain – Jake Krauth                 University of North Alabama         210
Day 1: 5   13-08     Day 2: 5   17-11   Total:  10  31-03
42. Braden Cox – Joel Berelsman                  Ohio State University               209
Day 1: 4   11-01     Day 2: 5   19-14   Total:   9  30-15
43. Hunter Russell – Benny Blank                 Wabash Valley College               208
Day 1: 5   18-07     Day 2: 5   12-04   Total:  10  30-11
44. Ethan Tedder – Hunter Brewer                 University of North Alabama         207
Day 1: 5   15-05     Day 2: 5   15-03   Total:  10  30-08
45. Blayner  Leeman – Cameron Dials              Kentucky Christian University       206
Day 1: 5   16-06     Day 2: 5   14-01   Total:  10  30-07
46. Tucker Dottley – Jordan Hampton              Bethel University                   205
Day 1: 5   13-11     Day 2: 5   16-10   Total:  10  30-05
47. Kyle Hopping – Colsyn Head                   McKendree University                204
Day 1: 5   16-04     Day 2: 5   13-12   Total:  10  30-00
48. Payton Sodervick – Adam Troyer               Indiana University                  203
Day 1: 5   14-13     Day 2: 5   15-02   Total:  10  29-15
49. Connor Westerman – Michael Mcnulty           West Virginia University            202
Day 1: 5   14-11     Day 2: 5   15-01   Total:  10  29-12
50. Ryan Olsen – Delaney Platt                   Southwestern Michigan College       201
Day 1: 5   16-07     Day 2: 5   13-04   Total:  10  29-11
51. Nick Seitz – Paxton Giem                     Adrian College                      200
Day 1: 5   16-09     Day 2: 5   13-01   Total:  10  29-10
52. Jacob Swanson – Zack Cooper                  University of Montevallo            199
Day 1: 5   14-03     Day 2: 5   15-07   Total:  10  29-10
53. Jonah Potts – Connor Lacy                    Murray State University             198
Day 1: 5   15-15     Day 2: 5   13-09   Total:  10  29-08
54. Brody Robison – Colton White                 University of Montevallo            197
Day 1: 5   16-05     Day 2: 5   13-01   Total:  10  29-06
55. Carson Calvert – Austin Thomas               University of North Alabama         196
Day 1: 5   13-01     Day 2: 5   16-03   Total:  10  29-04
56. Andrew Jones – Tyler Malone                  Southern Union State Community C    195
Day 1: 5   13-07     Day 2: 5   15-12   Total:  10  29-03
57. Zane Roberts – Elijah McDonald               University of North Alabama         194
Day 1: 5   15-06     Day 2: 5   13-13   Total:  10  29-03
58. Tomas Matual – Colton Hill                   McKendree University                193
Day 1: 5   14-02     Day 2: 5   14-15   Total:  10  29-01
59. Max Newkirk – Makenzie Shelton               Murray State University             192
Day 1: 5   12-03     Day 2: 5   16-12   Total:  10  28-15
60. Andrew Oswalt – Evan Mabrey                  University of Montevallo            191
Day 1: 5   13-01     Day 2: 5   15-08   Total:  10  28-09
61. Quade Lobo – Nick Owens                      Adrian College                      190
Day 1: 5   18-04     Day 2: 5   10-04   Total:  10  28-08
62. Peyton Harris – Dalton Head                  University of Montevallo            189
Day 1: 5   11-07     Day 2: 5   17-01   Total:  10  28-08
63. Will Hart – Logan Fisher                     Emmanuel College                    188
Day 1: 5   12-08     Day 2: 5   16-00   Total:  10  28-08
64. Chandler Pruett – Wes Bailey                 Blue Mountain Christian Universi    187
Day 1: 5   15-07     Day 2: 5   13-01   Total:  10  28-08
65. Nick Pemberton – Will Holloway               University of Montevallo            186
Day 1: 5   12-01     Day 2: 5   16-03   Total:  10  28-04
66. Harmon Marien – Maxwell Trotter              McKendree University                185
Day 1: 5   14-05     Day 2: 5   13-14   Total:  10  28-03
67. Brennan Berglund – Neal Braddy               University of Montevallo            184
Day 1: 5   15-02     Day 2: 5   12-12   Total:  10  27-14
68. Brenton Godwin – Hunter Odom                 University of Montevallo            183
Day 1: 5   19-03     Day 2: 3   08-10   Total:   8  27-13
69. Tyler Cory – Scott Sledge                    University of Montevallo            182
Day 1: 5   10-14     Day 2: 5   16-15   Total:  10  27-13
70. Reece Keeney – Brantley Anders               Kentucky Christian University       181
Day 1: 5   15-04     Day 2: 5   12-09   Total:  10  27-13
71. Jack Stephens – Jason Qualich                McKendree University                180
Day 1: 5   14-06     Day 2: 5   13-06   Total:  10  27-12
72. William Vickery – Hunter Starling            Georgia Southern University         179
Day 1: 5   11-12     Day 2: 5   15-15   Total:  10  27-11
73. Austin Marley – Jack Richardson              Georgia Southern University         178
Day 1: 5   16-10     Day 2: 5   11-00   Total:  10  27-10
74. Nick Redlin – Ben Redlin                     University of Wisconsin – Platte    177
Day 1: 5   13-05     Day 2: 5   14-03   Total:  10  27-08
75. Kobe Thompson – Cole Carr                    Adrian College                      176
Day 1: 5   12-11     Day 2: 5   14-12   Total:  10  27-07
76. Tyler Altizer – Landon Lawson                King University                     175
Day 1: 5   14-03     Day 2: 5   13-04   Total:  10  27-07
77. Harrison McCall – Cameron Yates              Lander University                   174
Day 1: 5   11-13     Day 2: 5   15-09   Total:  10  27-06
78. Jordan Bezold – Joe Bezold                   Nku Bassmasters Club                173
Day 1: 5   14-10     Day 2: 5   12-07   Total:  10  27-01
79. Chris Baker – Elijah Kelley                  Kentucky Christian University       172
Day 1: 5   15-02     Day 2: 5   11-14   Total:  10  27-00
80. James Willoughby – Phillip Herring           University of Montevallo            171
Day 1: 5   15-02     Day 2: 5   11-12   Total:  10  26-14
81. Carson Tucker – Kade MacDonald               University of Wisconsin – Whitew    170
Day 1: 5   17-11     Day 2: 3   09-02   Total:   8  26-13
82. Joseph Woods – Anthony Cicero IV             Bethel University                   169
Day 1: 5   14-03     Day 2: 5   12-10   Total:  10  26-13
83. Brock Blazier – Colby Joseph                 Campbellsville University           168
Day 1: 5   12-14     Day 2: 5   13-15   Total:  10  26-13
84. Logan East – Conner Giles                    Bryan College                       167
Day 1: 5   12-14     Day 2: 5   13-13   Total:  10  26-11
85. Harrison Terry – Zachary Bowen               Bethel University                   166
Day 1: 5   15-09     Day 2: 5   11-00   Total:  10  26-09
86. Hunter Petrovic – Kaiya Ziga                 Southwestern Michigan College       165
Day 1: 5   15-05     Day 2: 4   11-03   Total:   9  26-08
87. Hunter Sandschafer – Blake Beckmann          Wabash Valley College               164
Day 1: 5   11-13     Day 2: 5   14-04   Total:  10  26-01
88. Jake Thornbury – Lane Pohlman                Campbellsville University           163
Day 1: 5   14-15     Day 2: 5   11-01   Total:  10  26-00
89. Gus Dietrich – Jack Wilson                   University of Alabama               162
Day 1: 5   12-00     Day 2: 5   14-00   Total:  10  26-00
90. Jake Peck – Carty Shoen                      Auburn University                   161
Day 1: 4   12-09     Day 2: 5   13-06   Total:   9  25-15
91. Sam Moll – Will Burch                        Murray State University             160
Day 1: 5   17-09     Day 2: 3   07-15   Total:   8  25-08
92. TJ McKenzie – Will Wester                    Emmanuel College                    159
Day 1: 5   13-12     Day 2: 4   11-00   Total:   9  24-12
93. Carson Winn – Grady Mcclendon                University of North Alabama         158
Day 1: 5   11-00     Day 2: 5   13-09   Total:  10  24-09
94. Brooks Parker – Hudson Choquette             University of Montevallo            157
Day 1: 5   07-15     Day 2: 5   16-09   Total:  10  24-08
95. Hunter Palmer – Eli Stevenson                Bryan College                       156
Day 1: 5   12-03     Day 2: 5   12-04   Total:  10  24-07
96. Max Pierlott – Mike Pierlott                 UNC – Charlotte                     155
Day 1: 5   13-06     Day 2: 5   11-00   Total:  10  24-06
97. Branson Campbell – Hayden Short              Kentucky Christian University       154
Day 1: 5   11-11     Day 2: 5   12-11   Total:  10  24-06
98. Zach Pocos – Tucker Siminak                  McKendree University                153
Day 1: 5   12-06     Day 2: 4   11-15   Total:   9  24-05
99. Karsten Raney – Ben Sadler                   Campbellsville University           152
Day 1: 5   12-10     Day 2: 5   11-09   Total:  10  24-03
100. Bryce Dimauro – Tripp Berlinsky              Bryan College                       151
Day 1: 5   11-04     Day 2: 5   12-12   Total:  10  24-00
101. Joe Lutz – Jake Monti                        UNC – Charlotte                     150
Day 1: 5   13-06     Day 2: 4   10-05   Total:   9  23-11
102. Ben Brockwell – Will Rooker                  Kentucky Christian University       149
Day 1: 5   11-02     Day 2: 5   12-08   Total:  10  23-10
103. Allen Powe – Jonathan Combs                  Campbellsville University           148
Day 1: 5   11-09     Day 2: 5   11-15   Total:  10  23-08
104. Hayden Pirman – Luke Chaddock                West Virginia University            147
Day 1: 3   07-14     Day 2: 5   15-09   Total:   8  23-07
105. Emily Freeman – Charly Hutson                Murray State University             146
Day 1: 5   12-07     Day 2: 5   11-00   Total:  10  23-07
106. Nick Shoffner – Drake Page                   UNC – Charlotte                     145
Day 1: 5   12-15     Day 2: 4   10-05   Total:   9  23-04
107. Hunter Shelton – Colten Drawdy               Bethel University                   144
Day 1: 5   14-06     Day 2: 4   08-12   Total:   9  23-02
108. Nate Triplett – Holden Johnson               University of North Alabama         143
Day 1: 5   11-12     Day 2: 5   11-05   Total:  10  23-01
109. Max Heaton – Brooks Anderson                 Emmanuel College                    142
Day 1: 5   15-13     Day 2: 2   07-03   Total:   7  23-00
110. Easton Lindus – Seth Jenkins                 Emmanuel College                    141
Day 1: 3   07-06     Day 2: 4   15-10   Total:   7  23-00
111. Kaleb Brown – Cole Moulton                   Lander University                   140
Day 1: 5   13-03     Day 2: 5   09-12   Total:  10  22-15
112. Hayden Fry – Vance Roberts                   McKendree University                139
Day 1: 5   16-11     Day 2: 3   06-03   Total:   8  22-14
113. Chris McGregor – Preston Kolisek             University of North Alabama         138
Day 1: 3   06-07     Day 2: 5   15-12   Total:   8  22-03
114. Evan Sutton – Grant Olsen                    McKendree University                137
Day 1: 5   11-09     Day 2: 5   10-07   Total:  10  22-00
115. Spencer Grooms – Kyle Knoll                  Auburn University                   136
Day 1: 5   09-13     Day 2: 5   12-00   Total:  10  21-13
116. Turner Hart – Summer Dees                    Bryan College                       135
Day 1: 5   11-07     Day 2: 4   10-06   Total:   9  21-13
117. Jake Brown – Walker Brown                    University of North Alabama         134
Day 1: 5   10-03     Day 2: 4   11-09   Total:   9  21-12
118. Butler Cochran – Bryce Evans                 University of South Carolina        133
Day 1: 2   05-00     Day 2: 5   16-10   Total:   7  21-10
119. Harlan Thomas – Jack Thompson                Murray State University             132
Day 1: 5   15-06     Day 2: 2   06-03   Total:   7  21-09
120. Jackson Holbert – Joshua Hayes               University of North Alabama         131
Day 1: 5   12-09     Day 2: 3   08-12   Total:   8  21-05
121. Drew Bradstreet –                            Florida Gateway College             130
Day 1: 4   08-07     Day 2: 5   12-09   Total:   9  21-00
122. Riley Lawson – Joe Bob Burchett              Kentucky Christian University       129
Day 1: 5   14-12     Day 2: 2   05-15   Total:   7  20-11
123. Kyle Smith – Aaron Mills                     Kentucky Christian University       128
Day 1: 5   12-06     Day 2: 4   08-02   Total:   9  20-08
124. Evan Barker – Corey Yarish                   Campbellsville University           127
Day 1: 5   11-01     Day 2: 4   09-06   Total:   9  20-07
125. Coleman Self – David Gummow                  Bethel University                   126
Day 1: 3   07-02     Day 2: 5   13-00   Total:   8  20-02
126. Braden Thompson – Mason Gross                Wabash Valley College               125
Day 1: 2   07-11     Day 2: 5   12-07   Total:   7  20-02
127. Jake Kimbrough – Tyler Hill                  Blue Mountain Christian Universi    124
Day 1: 5   12-04     Day 2: 3   07-13   Total:   8  20-01
128. Dawson Woerner – Wyatt Cash                  Purdue University                   123
Day 1: 4   09-04     Day 2: 5   10-13   Total:   9  20-01
129. Caden Pearson – Nathan Kallstrand            Wabash Valley College               122
Day 1: 5   12-09     Day 2: 3   07-04   Total:   8  19-13
130. Dawson Burton – Ethan Burnette               Kentucky Christian University       121
Day 1: 5   15-12     Day 2: 2   03-14   Total:   7  19-10
131. Nathan Preston – Reece Tremaglio             Auburn University                   120
Day 1: 5   13-09     Day 2: 3   06-01   Total:   8  19-10
132. River Blanton – Brock Catlett                Campbellsville University           119
Day 1: 4   07-08     Day 2: 5   11-14   Total:   9  19-06
133. Mitch Johnson – Jonathan Fitch               Kentucky Christian University       118
Day 1: 4   09-09     Day 2: 5   09-10   Total:   9  19-03
134. Kyle Zainitzer – Brock Vogel                 University of North Alabama         117
Day 1: 3   06-08     Day 2: 5   12-08   Total:   8  19-00
135. Tyler Eggers – Dustin Swafford               Catawba Valley Community College    116
Day 1: 5   16-11     Day 2: 1   02-02   Total:   6  18-13
136. Jonathan Yazdi – James Yuska                 Indiana University                  115
Day 1: 5   11-15     Day 2: 3   06-14   Total:   8  18-13
137. Jake Hope – Alex Nesmith                     Murray State University             114
Day 1: 5   11-07     Day 2: 3   07-01   Total:   8  18-08
138. Daniel Schroeder – Jacob Autry               Murray State University             113
Day 1: 5   18-06     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  18-06
139. Owen Wheeler – Caleb Neu                     Bethel University                   112
Day 1: 2   05-00     Day 2: 5   13-05   Total:   7  18-05
140. Carter Doren – Brett Hill                    Campbellsville University           111
Day 1: 2   04-11     Day 2: 5   13-07   Total:   7  18-02
141. Thomas Smith – Kaleb Butts                   University of South Carolina – U    110
Day 1: 2   05-01     Day 2: 5   12-11   Total:   7  17-12
142. Hunter Barrow – Caleb Dugger                 King University                     109
Day 1: 2   04-06     Day 2: 5   13-04   Total:   7  17-10
143. Jack Carroll – Joseph Senn                   Bethel University                   108
Day 1: 5   12-03     Day 2: 2   05-06   Total:   7  17-09
144. Wes Newman Jr. – Holden Zinda                Liberty University                  107
Day 1: 5   12-04     Day 2: 2   05-00   Total:   7  17-04
145. Jeffrey Jones – Coleman Bingham              Bethel University                   106
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   17-01   Total:   5  17-01
146. Ryan Foster – Will Hornsby                   McKendree University                105
Day 1: 2   04-00     Day 2: 5   12-14   Total:   7  16-14
147. Blake Milligan – Carson Maddux               Auburn University                   104
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   16-13   Total:   5  16-13
148. William Brogan – Cole Bubenzer               Indiana University                  103
Day 1: 5   10-12     Day 2: 2   05-12   Total:   7  16-08
149. Jadon Spencer – Chase Martin                 Catawba Valley Community College    102
Day 1: 5   09-10     Day 2: 3   06-14   Total:   8  16-08
150. Josh Richardson – Logan Greeno                                                   101
Day 1: 3   05-08     Day 2: 5   10-08   Total:   8  16-00
151. TJ Davis – Dillan Mcglothern                 Webber International University     100
Day 1: 5   11-09     Day 2: 2   04-05   Total:   7  15-14
152. Gavyn Rapp – Ephraim Cretsinger              Adrian College                       99
Day 1: 5   09-15     Day 2: 3   05-08   Total:   8  15-07
153. Garrett Ring – Peyton Sorrow                 University of Montevallo             98
Day 1: 3   05-03     Day 2: 3   09-13   Total:   6  15-00
154. Jarrett Prunty – Chase Fleenor               Western Kentucky University          97
Day 1: 5   14-15     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  14-15
155. Jackson Smith – Sawyer Williams              Bethel University                    96
Day 1: 5   12-03     Day 2: 1   02-12   Total:   6  14-15
156. Will Gordon –                                Murray State University              95
Day 1: 5   14-13     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  14-13
157. Brendan Vinton – Jacob Vanscoik              Catawba Valley Community College     94
Day 1: 1   02-01     Day 2: 5   12-10   Total:   6  14-11
158. Billy Erdakos – Davis Klimczak               Southwestern Michigan College        93
Day 1: 3   07-03     Day 2: 4   07-04   Total:   7  14-07
159. Dylan Thomson – Trey Marco                   King University                      92
Day 1: 5   09-12     Day 2: 2   04-09   Total:   7  14-05
160. Dustin Weinberg – Sawyer Brady               Blue Mountain Christian Universi     91
Day 1: 5   12-01     Day 2: 1   02-02   Total:   6  14-03
161. Sam Hoesley – Malcolm Patton                 Auburn University                    90
Day 1: 1   01-12     Day 2: 4   12-04   Total:   5  14-00
162. Jaxson Freeman – Connor Hall                 McKendree University                 89
Day 1: 1   01-08     Day 2: 5   12-07   Total:   6  13-15
163. Carson Aarup – Matt Peine                    UNC – Charlotte                      88
Day 1: 1   02-01     Day 2: 5   11-12   Total:   6  13-13
164. Cole Hadlock – Braiden Koerber               Murray State University              87
Day 1: 5   13-07     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  13-07
165. Camden Lewis – TJ Edwards Jr                 Blue Mountain Christian Universi     86
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   13-05   Total:   5  13-05
166. Luke Dardeen – Connor Becker                 Wabash Valley College                85
Day 1: 5   13-03     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  13-03
167. Briggs Alavezos – Solomon Glenn              University of Montevallo             84
Day 1: 3   07-03     Day 2: 3   05-15   Total:   6  13-02
168. Bryson Hatcher – Matthew Dopp                Bryan College                        83
Day 1: 5   12-10     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  12-10
169. Carter Smith – Sam Ausbrooks                 Wabash Valley College                82
Day 1: 4   12-08     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   4  12-08
170. Cole Berry – Braci Ault                      Purdue University                    81
Day 1: 3   07-07     Day 2: 1   04-12   Total:   4  12-03
171. Dylan Bush – Tyler Hudson                    Western Kentucky University          80
Day 1: 5   11-11     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  11-11
171. Ethan Vue – Christian Vue                    UNC – Charlotte                      80
Day 1: 5   11-11     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  11-11
173. Tristen Dubbs – Parker Wilburn               Grace College                        78
Day 1: 5   11-09     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  11-09
174. William Travis – Caleb Griffin               Bryan College                        77
Day 1: 1   02-08     Day 2: 3   08-15   Total:   4  11-07
175. Gage Starks – Anthony Ethridge               Murray State University              76
Day 1: 2   03-10     Day 2: 4   07-13   Total:   6  11-07
176. Chase Loftus –                               University of Iowa                   75
Day 1: 5   11-04     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  11-04
177. Robert Richbourg – Cal Austin                Catawba Valley Community College     74
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   11-00   Total:   5  11-00
178. Sam Harvey – Jordan Brewer                   Auburn University                    73
Day 1: 1   05-03     Day 2: 2   05-11   Total:   3  10-14
179. Jacob Highley – William Copley               Kentucky Christian University        72
Day 1: 3   06-08     Day 2: 2   04-04   Total:   5  10-12
180. William Gully – Preston Barnett              Southern Union State Community C     71
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   10-11   Total:   5  10-11
181. Tanner Herndon –                             Bryan College                        70
Day 1: 2   05-14     Day 2: 2   04-12   Total:   4  10-10
182. Caleb Bridges – Jonathan Fann                Middle Tennessee State Universit     69
Day 1: 4   10-02     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   4  10-02
183. Campbell Coyle – Tanner Davis                University of Kentucky               68
Day 1: 4   09-12     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   4  09-12
184. Gavin Sheffer –                              Liberty University                   67
Day 1: 4   07-11     Day 2: 1   02-00   Total:   5  09-11
185. William Henry – Hunter Heckman               Purdue University                    66
Day 1: 5   09-08     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   5  09-08
186. Dade Vincent –                               Murray State University              65
Day 1: 4   09-06     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   4  09-06
187. Tyler Dubois – Grayden Scibilia              Bethel University                    64
Day 1: 3   07-10     Day 2: 1   01-09   Total:   4  09-03
188. Casey Cornelius – Zion Dunaway               Purdue University                    63
Day 1: 4   09-02     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   4  09-02
189. Aidan Kolb – Tanner Brockman                 Murray State University              62
Day 1: 4   08-13     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   4  08-13
190. Nickolas Illobre –                           Bethel University                    61
Day 1: 4   08-01     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   4  08-01
191. Lucas Thornton – Lucas Snyder                University of North Alabama          60
Day 1: 3   07-15     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   3  07-15
192. Nick Harenda – Nick Mallmann Conto           University of Wisconsin-Whitewat     59
Day 1: 4   07-11     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   4  07-11
193. Blake Bullock – John Mark Berry              Blue Mountain Christian Universi     58
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 2   07-09   Total:   2  07-09
194. Bryson Dotson – Kobi May                     Bryan College                        57
Day 1: 4   06-08     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   4  06-08
195. Luke Caylor – Joe Gollmer                    Indiana University                   56
Day 1: 2   03-05     Day 2: 1   02-06   Total:   3  05-11
196. Jaxson Smoak – Dylan Reid                    Georgia Southern University          55
Day 1: 3   05-08     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   3  05-08
197. Colin Chavers – Aiden Macks                  Southern Union State Community C     54
Day 1: 2   05-06     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   2  05-06
198. Nick Staub – Sam Schmitz                     University of North Alabama          53
Day 1: 1   02-05     Day 2: 1   02-14   Total:   2  05-03
199. Jacob Butts – Mark Kershaw-Klara             University of South Carolina – U     52
Day 1: 2   05-02     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   2  05-02
200. Ryan Thomas – Nathaniel Harper               University of Pikeville              51
Day 1: 2   04-08     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   2  04-08
201. Kolby Clark – Rees Williams                  University of North Alabama          50
Day 1: 2   03-11     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   2  03-11
202. Hampton Shull –                              Lander University                    49
Day 1: 1   02-15     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   1  02-15
203. Ty Reynolds –                                Murray State University              48
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 1   02-07   Total:   1  02-07
204. Clayton Cruze –                              Murray State University              47
Day 1: 4   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   4  00-00
205. Victor Alford – Christian Misciagna          Bryan College                         0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
205. Kyle Ashe – Bobby Beck JR                    University at Buffalo                 0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
205. Lynn Chitwood – Trevor Moore                 Virginia Tech                         0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
205. Ryan Daugherty – Brantley Barrentine         Campbellsville University             0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
205. Owen Day –                                   Morehead State University             0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
205. Allen Everett – Matthew Tomolonis            Murray State University               0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
205. Alex Geroulis – Harrison Bomba               Indiana University                    0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
205. Gavin Grossman – Nicholas Jones              Indiana University                    0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
205. Dylan Levin – Dalton DeFelice                Southwestern Michigan College         0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
205. Aaron Mcgill –                               Coastal Carolina University           0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
205. Kevin Palmer – Sydney Rice                   Pellissippi State Community Coll      0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
205. Alan Ter Molen – Luke Rosebrook              Grace College                         0
Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 0   00-00   Total:   0  00-00
———————————————————————–
BIG BASS OF TOURN
Sam Moll                 Hershey, PA         06-13          $0.00
Quade Lobo               Oroville, CA        06-13          $0.00
———————————————————————–
Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
1       144       866      2432-09
2       125       761      2212-09
———————————-
269      1627      4645-02

“I’m not a guy who gets caught-up in chasing the ‘perfect tide’ up and down the river. First off, there’s never any certainty as to which tidal conditions are truly best, and secondly, it’s different every few miles,” says Arey.

For example, low tide here in Palatka was at 7:37 a.m. Thursday, but that didn’t have a ton to do with water levels where Arey made his first cast a few miles downriver. So, he likes to have a general knowledge of the tides, without letting them run him ragged mentally.

The North Carolina State grad has a very impressive tournament performance history on the St. Johns. He finished 15^th at the Bassmaster Elite here in 2019 and followed that up with an even stronger 7^th place finish in 2020, and simplicity is a huge part of his success.

“I’m not going to run around looking for the shad spawn like a lot of guys will this morning. I’m going to Texas rig a black and blue Lunkerhunt Trick Stick and hope to get 8 to 10 bites pitchin’ by about 10:00 a.m., then I’ll go looking for a big one on a spawning bed,” he says.

Arey describes the St. Johns as a “soft plastic pitcher’s paradise” and says he’s made a ton of money in Florida with the 5” Lunker Stick throughout his career. In fact, he says if you come bass fishing in Florida and you want to get a bite, you’d be wise to make sure you rig one up.

“If I can weigh-in 14-pounds today, I’ll be ecstatic!” exclaims Arey. “I’ll tell you this … fans can expect to see a lot of healthy bass here on the St. Johns compared to what we brought to the scales at the Harris Chain of Lakes last week. This should be a fun one,” says Arey.

With two Top 15 finishes to his credit, it’s certainly been a fun one in recent years for him, based largely on a strong mental focus that keeps tidal charts in proper perspective, and a simple ink-pen shaped piece of soft plastic tied to the end of his line.

It’s hard to get a solid hookset when fishing from a kayak, as opposed to a big boat. The ultralight boat doesn’t offer much water resistance to anchor the effort. Here, 2024 Bassmaster Kayak Series Champion Drew Gregory offers helpful advice for setting the hook from small craft.

Bassmaster Elite Series Pro Luke Palmer hails from Oklahoma where the winds howl more often than not. Following a solid performance in the recent Bassmaster Classic which saw changing conditions including some windy weather, Palmer offered this advice:

“Wind can be your friend. When it gets slick calm, it makes it really tough, so I’m gonna go ahead and try to find some wind, whether it be just a little bit of ripple or something that’s blowing really hard, I’m gonna really go and look for points.  Points are a bigtime thing. That wind is pushing up there. It’s pushing shad. It’s pushing bait. It’s turning that water up. That
allows those fish to feel more secure up there. When there’s wind, they’re up there feeding. When it’s calm, they’re up there probably just hanging out, not wanting to bite.  I’m gonna go find those windy points, secondary points, something that’s got wind on it. That way I can pick up a spinnerbait, a crankbait, something moving so I can cover water.  If they’re active, they’re going to bite those moving baits a lot better in that wind.”

According to BASS and MLF BPT Results, it’s officially bladed jig season!  The Strike King Thunder Cricket is getting lots of mentions in recent AC Insider recaps, and we’re hearing a lot of “Chatter” regarding the technique, so we checked in with one of the best in the game with a bladed jig, MLF BPT Pro, Bryan Thrift.

Early in his career Bryan Thrift earned the moniker ‘The Chatterbait Kid’ due to his prowess with the yet unknown lure. Both Thrift and the Chatterbait are well known now. Here, he offers a nugget of advice.

Choice of trailer – size, shape, material – is key to fishing with a Chatterbait, as it is with any jig. For one thing, the trailer will affect the lure’s running depth at a given speed.  When Thrift gets dialed-in on a trailer he likes, he wants to stick with it, even when fishing grass that tops out at differing heights or that is irregular and scattered, as it can be in early spring.  He has a trick for controlling depth without having to use a different trailer or changing the weight of his Chatterbait.

“You can actually change the depth this bait’s gonna run at the same retrieve speed, just by changing your line size. I do that a lot. If I’m on a great Chatterbait bite and I’m fishing different type areas with it, I’ll have one rigged up with 20lb fluorocarbon and I’ll have one rigged up with 15lb fluorocarbon. What that does is it’ll let that bait with the 15lb
line run about a foot-and-a-half deeper just because the line diameter is so much different.

“So, you can get your bait a little deeper and still be able to wind it at the same slow speed you’re winding it with on 20lb line in shallower water.”

Sportsman’s Warehouse has a great selection of the bladed jigs…start here