A white Dirty
Jigs No-Jack
Swim Jig was
Ashley’s go-to,
but he also
used green
pumpkin.
Swim jigs are no secret
weapon at Okeechobee, but
historically their popular col-
ors have been black and blue
or green pumpkin. A white
swim jig at the Big O is a little
peculiar, but Ashley says it’s
his confidence color back
home in Alabama.
presentation keys
Ashley patterned the boat
lane by zigzagging back and
forth so he could line up sever-
al reed stalks and bring the jig
by them all with a single cast.
“If I could line up three or
four different stalks on a sin-
gle cast, it just increased my
chances of getting a big bite
that much more,” he says.
“Most of the big ones came
from stalks that were within
100 feet of that boat lane.
“Sometimes the fish want-
ed it just swimming by a
clump. Other times I had to
really shake and twitch the
rod aggressively while reeling
to get the fish to react on the
bait,” he says. “A lot of times
I’m not even aware of how I’m
fishing a swim jig because I
mix my retrieves up so much.
That’s what is so great about
a swim jig: It may look like
just one lure, but I can make
it do so many different things
under the water that it’s
actually a very versatile bait.”
keys to victory
Okeechobee’s sheer enor-
mity makes it a real challenge
for those unfamiliar with its
waters, but the difficult initial
task of learning the lake actual-
ly led the 19-year-old Ashley,
who had never laid eyes on the
Big O before, to the area that
produced his dominating win
among a field of 250 anglers.
Early on in practice, Ashley
struggled.
“I stayed lost and hardly
caught any fish the first three
days,” Ashley recalls. “After
my third day of practice I was
ready to quit.”
Out of desperation, Ashley
decided to stay close to
Clewiston for the remainder
of practice and fish the lake’s
east wall, where he could
spend less time trying to keep
his bearings in a sea of reeds
and more time actually fishing.
He knew he needed to cover
water fast, so he fell back on
his strong suit – swimming a
jig – which he honed on the
Coosa River in Alabama.
On the final afternoon of
practice, he had a couple of
big bites inside of the east
wall that at least provided
him a starting point for the
tournament and that proved
to be his saving grace.
For two days of competi-
tion, Ashley kept pace with
the local crowd when moder-
ate temperatures and stable
conditions graced the field.
He entered the final day in
third place and 3 pounds, 10
ounces off the lead.
The game changer hap-
pened when a considerable
cold front passed through
just before the dawn of day
three, dropping air tempera-
tures some 20 degrees and
leaving behind a stiff