Bass Fishing Apr 2017 | Page 87

BEDS, BASS AND BEYOND todd Castledine’s victory exemplified a strategic use of a seasonal assortment. he caught 12 of his 15 weigh-in fish off beds, but before that deal was set up to his liking, he spent at least part of his mornings “just fishing.” he meandered through likely staging areas with a swim jig and a square-bill, picking off fish that were coming and going. once the sun’s height facilitated spotting beds, he would ease in close to cover where “reading” individual bed fish would determine the requisite presentations. “this is going to sound crazy, but there’s absolutely no trick to it [reading and catching bed fish],” he admits. “you have to treat every single fish as its own personality. with one fish, you might have to throw in there 1,000 times. with another, you might have to throw in there once. “After years of doing it, you kind of figure it out, but i learn something new every single time. whatever they do dic- tates what i do.” to it the first two days, but I went there late in the morn- ing on day three. I didn’t know if they’d be in there or if I could even see them, but I caught two of the ones I weighed off beds.” After that boost to his stringer, Castledine strug- gled through nearly three unproductive hours before remembering a particular piece of gravel bottom south of the state Highway 147 bridge in about 18 feet of water. The Texas pro rerout- ed and headed to the histor- ically productive spot. Notably, Castledine says the move didn’t feel right even before completing his first retrieve. He actually reeled up and headed else- where until something deep in his gut prompted him to return. Back on that gravel spot, his first cast delivered the 9-pounder that assured him the win. Presentation Keys Renowned for his sight- fishing skills, Castledine credits his Costa sunglasses as being essential in helping him spot bed fish and observe clues to their behavior and potential aggressiveness. Equally invalu- able were his twin Power- Poles, which ensured proper boat positioning. “You just have to find the right spot [for the boat]. Sometimes that’s closer, and sometimes it’s far away,” Castledine admits. “Sometimes you have trees in the way. Sometimes you’re out in the open with the wind. If it’s windy, I like to get my boat in there to block the wind.” On Castledine’s deep spot, he was concerned that the seasonal shoreward migra- tion of bass might have left the spot barren. However, spotting two good fish on his electronics fueled his interest in returning. “If I hadn’t seen anything, I probably wouldn’t have turned around, but I did see those two,” he states. “I just got it in front of a big one, and she ate it.” Keys to Victory Cliché as it might seem, Castledine’s mental tough- ness also factors in. True, everyone in the field con- tended with the same weath- er challenges of a day-three cold front and lakewide low- water conditions. However, only Castledine was suffering with an illness that would’ve kept many in bed. APRIL 2017 I FLWFISHING.COM “I had the flu two weeks ago, and I got sick again on Sunday,” he said at the final weigh-in. “To be straight-up honest, I was throwing up all this morning before takeoff. Five minutes before takeoff, I was trying to figure out how I was going to make it through the entire day, much less catch fish.” Gutting it out, Castledine used the motivation of a potential comeback victory to block out his physical dis- comfort. He instead focused on details such as boat posi- tioning and graph reading. CO-ANGLER CHAMPION Name: Mat Downey Hometown: Kountze, Texas Winning Weight: 55-04 (15 fish) Winning Program: Mat Downey of Kountze, Texas, caught every fish in his three daily limits on a bone-colored River2Sea Whopper Plopper. The key to his Whopper Plopper presentation was a long cast - long enough to run out all of his 50-pound-test braid and expose the 12-pound-test fluorocarbon backing. Although he usually fares better fishing hay grass in early spring, Downey says recent low water led to a resurgence of Rayburn’s hydrilla. The bass seemed to prefer this newly regrown grass, so he fished it thor- oughly whenever he had the opportunity. 85