Rose had to rotate through multiple
lures each day to target his two areas
properly. Most of his weigh-in fish
came on several different crankbaits.
When fishing the riprap on the
Browns Creek causeway, he used an
out-of-production plastic crankbait in
brown and chartreuse that runs 4 to 6
feet deep, as well as a Strike King Series
3 in the same color.
His primary crankbait for fishing the
inside line was an out-of-production
Strike King “Custom Shop” Flat Shad,
which is a flat-sided wooden bait with cir-
cuit board lip that dives to about 4 feet.
On the final afternoon he switched to a
shad-colored Flat Shad to catch a last-
minute kicker that put him over the top.
Rose fished the crankbaits on his
Lew’s Mark Rose “Ledge” series Small
Crankbait rod rigged with 12-pound-
test Seaguar Tatsu line.
During the week, he also caught
keeper fish on a 3/8-ounce vibrating jig
teamed with a Strike King Rage Bug, a
Strike King Red Eye Shad Tungsten 2
Tap, a swim jig with a Strike King Caffeine
Shad trailer and a 3/8-ounce Strike King
Denny Brauer Baby Structure Jig with a
Strike King Perfect Plastics KVD Chunk Jr.
“When fishing the grass line itself, I
used the Red Eye Tungsten 2 Tap, the
vibrating jig and a swim jig,” Rose says.
“When fishing the rock along the bank
I threw the Custom Shop crankbaits
and pitched to any laydowns with the
little Baby Structure Jig.”
Winning tactics
Jeff
ragsdale
takes
co-angler
crown
OTHER TOP PATTERNS
Mark Rose might have won the FLW Tour event on Lake Guntersville by
cranking riprap and inside grass lines, but beyond that, the event was dominat-
ed by reeling lipless rattle baits and crankbaits through some kind of grass.
In fact, seven other members of the top 10 were winding a hard bait
through something green. Most of the targeted vegetation was eelgrass in the
4- to 6-foot range. Finding something unique within the eelgrass was key. For
instance, runner-up Bryan Thrift found a large bare spot in an eelgrass flat and
seined it with a lipless crankbait and a square-bill crankbait. Scott Suggs (fourth
place) focused on several deeper ditches running through eelgrass flats. Any
turn or point in the ditch was key. Meanwhile, Shin Fukae (fifth) concentrated
on shallow humps with eelgrass.
Those who did not play the grass-“trapping” game – as fishing shallow
grass with Rat-L-Traps and similar baits is called – included local guide Alex
Davis (third), who hit a milk run of hard-cover spots along the Tennessee River
channel, and Andy Morgan (seventh), who slowly worked a jig on channel-
swing banks.
70
By Chad Love
Gardendale, Ala., native Jeff
Ragsdale bagged a two-day total
of 30 pounds, 6 ounces to win the
co-angler division at the Lake
Guntersville FLW Tour season
opener.
Ragsdale, in his first season on
the FLW Tour as a co-angler,
caught four fish weighing 14-15
on day one, and hauled in a 15-7
five-fish limit on day two while
fishing with Georgia pro Rusty
Trancygier and Texas pro Chris
McCall, respectively.
Ragsdale finished almost 6
pounds ahead of the second-
place co-angler, Benjie Seaborn of
Guin, Ala., by targeting shallow-
water grass beds in 6 feet of
water or less with lipless
crankbaits and ChatterBaits.
flWfIshIng.com I aprIl 2017