Bass Fishing Apr 2018 | Page 81

sections of vegetation and reed lines are simply gone , torn away by the storm .

For most pros , the damage was a negative . The lack of vegetation to flip was the obvious sore point , but the lack of barrier reeds also allowed persistent winds throughout the winter and even during the event to churn up most of the lake .

Because of wind and lack of vegetation in many of the traditionally best areas of the lake , only two areas produced the best fishing throughout the event : Harney Pond and South Bay . Both managed to retain relatively clear water , and pros flocked to them . More than 30 anglers could be seen fishing either locale at any given time the first two days , and eight of the top 10 anglers ended up making the cut in those areas .

Frederick could also be considered in the Harney Pond crew , but not exactly . While most were tucked up near the Harney Pond Canal ,

Frederick focused his time out near the Spoil Islands , where Hurricane Irma had actually carved out an area of reeds roughly 100 yards wide . The open swath was pretty well protected from the wind , and Frederick had it mostly to himself . What made it even more special

TOP FIVE

were its seemingly unending patches of pencil reeds , pads and debris left behind , as those would be the key to his winning pattern .

the pattern

Frederick ’ s home waters are the lakes that comprise the Harris Chain , but Florida bass tend to act similarly regardless of the fishery . That ’ s especially true when it comes time to spawn .

“ The females like to bed right next to pieces of cover ,” Frederick says . “ Through years of fishing for them , I ’ ve gotten to know exactly how they like to set up on cover , which helps when you can ’ t see them [ the beds ] like you couldn ’ t see them during this tournament .”

Frederick ’ s pattern boiled down to bed-fishing for bass he couldn ’ t see . Here , he relied on his years of knowledge to make educated guesses as to where a big girl might be located .

“ I was hitting any pieces of cover I could see , focusing on any point or anything unique on the edges of whatever cover it was ,” Frederick says . “ That ’ s usually where they ’ ll set up .”

Because of the wind , Frederick would anchor his boat with his Power-Poles and then methodically – sometimes taking a couple minutes to bring in a cast – work a piece of cover before lifting his poles and drifting in range of another piece of cover . Then he ’ d pole down and repeat the process .

He used a one-two punch for lures starting with a soft-plastic stick bait and dragging it along to feel the roots of the cover , knowing bass will expose the roots of vegetation when creating their beds . If he felt roots , he figured

there was a bed there . If there were no takers on his Texas rig , he ’ d toss in a vibrating jig and slowly reel it along the bottom until he got it into the presumed bed , where he ’ d pop it off the bottom in hopes of garnering a reaction strike .

WINNING CO-ANGLER

Jeffrey mathews Maitland , Fla .

Winning Weight : 42-01 ( 10 fish )

Winning program :

Jeffrey Mathews drew pros Christopher Brasher and Andrew Upshaw , who both happened to be fishing the Harney Pond area .

On day one , he sacked up 15 pounds , 12 ounces behind Brasher by throwing a 1 / 2-ounce green pumpkin Z-Man / Evergreen ChatterBait Jack Hammer in “ fairly open water ,” where his pro believed the fish were staging .

The plan was the same on day two , only Mathews ’ ChatterBait broke , forcing him to use a homemade version borrowed from a friend .

“ It had a different skirt that was bream-colored , and I think that made the difference ,” says Mathews , who brought in 26 pounds , 5 ounces to win the co-angler crown and $ 20,000 .

apRIL 2018 I FLWFIshIng . COm 79