lake was much lower . In addition , the fishing pressure at the dam was far less , and the water was clearest , which he felt would help his bite .
Rose finished day two with a 17- pound , 3-ounce limit to vault him into fifth place . taking it home
From that point , Rose ’ s tournament strategy was to fish “ way out ” down at the dam first thing in the morning when the big fish seemed to be chasing bait over deep water . Then he fished docks to finish his limit .
“ Fishing for bass suspended on bait like that is a gamble ,” Rose adds . “ They are roamers , following the bait wherever it goes . It seemed like they were feeding on shad schools first thing in the morning , and to catch one was a total bonus . So I took a chance during the first hour of my day , winging a big swimbait out over those deep breaks where I had seen arches . If I could get one or two big bites on the swimbait early , it would be well worth it . Then I ’ d worry about finishing a limit on docks later in the day .”
On the morning of day three he caught a 6-pounder right off the bat . On day four the swimbait again produced two early 4-pound-plus fish . Those bonus bites paved the way to his victory . He finished limits of 15-13 and 14-9 , respectively , by flipping docks . His winning total of 59-2 was just enough to claim his second win in a row , writing Rose ’ s name in the FLW Tour history book .
Posing with giant checks became something of a family habit for Mark Rose , his wife , Christi , and daughters , Natalie ( left ) and Hannah Grace , this spring .
thrift second … again two bass tournaments held on two lakes 900 miles apart with 165 participants and somehow Mark rose and bryan thrift finish first and second two times in a row , separated by less than a pound each time . what are the chances ? perhaps it ’ s just further proof that the cream really does rise to the top in professional fishing tournaments . the first two Flw tour events of 2017 have been the rose and thrift show … or the thrift and rose show … and then back to the rose and thrift show , depending on what time of day you tuned into the FLW Live coverage . these Flw tour stars have traded some serious blows with big bass , battling down to the final seconds in each tournament to determine the winner and thrilling viewers with some fantastic action . though rose has prevailed both times , thrift has turned in some stunning catches at both events to keep fans holding their breath . at guntersville , thrift checked in a 22-pound catch on the final day to pull within 15 ounces of rose . at travis , thrift picked up right where he left off , catching 24-12 on the first day and shocking most of his peers and weigh-in fans who didn ’ t believe such a catch was possible . thrift caught four of his bass in that big day-one catch on a shaky head with a damiki Finesse Miki 6.5 worm . later in the day , he caught a 6 1 / 2-pound brute by skipping docks with a 1 / 2- ounce jig and chunk . thrift grinded his way through keepers the following days with a variety of lures and added two more 5-pound dock bass to his four-day total of 58-6 .
photo by andy hagedon larson lobs hardhead for co-angler win
By Chad Love david larson of Mound , Minn ., only weighed in six fish during the first two days of the tour event at lake travis , but those six fish were more than enough to beat out the rest of the field and take home a $ 20,000 check as winning co-angler . larson had a two-day total of 21-10 , or 15 ounces ahead of thomas Martens of Jonestown , texas , who boated 10 keepers for 20-11 . larson says he was specifically targeting bigger fish during the tournament . he fished rock piles and hard bottom in 16 to 20 feet of water with ontario pro chris Johnston on day one and caught four keepers for 16-11 . on day two , fishing with texan christopher brasher , he was up against the bank most of the day .
“ I was switching back and forth from a 1 / 2-ounce to a 3 / 4-ounce gene larew biffle hardhead paired up with a 4.8-inch keitech sexy Impact in ayu color ,” says larson . “ I did make one adjustment on the last day and switched to a small bandit crankbait , which gave me that last keeper .” larson ’ s two fish the last day weighed a combined 4-15 .
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