Gilbert Gagner says his 2012 championship was a “ life-changing moment .”
feet over a rock ledge , then retrieve it with jerks and 10- second pauses . Most fish hit when the bait was at rest .”
Hard-fishing but ever humble , Harkness is quick to acknowledge that Mother Nature helped fuel his rally .
“ The leader [ after the first and second rounds ] was catching 18 to 20 keepers a day throwing medium-diving crankbaits off a point where the fish were stacked up . He wacked them the first two days . But when a cold front came in for day three and shut everything down , my slow jerkbait retrieve was the key ,” Harkness recalls .
As for the impact of winning the championship and $ 100,000 Living the Dream package , Harkness says it ’ s hard to describe .
“ It was the most exciting moment in my life outside of family milestones like marriage or the births of my children and grandchildren ,” he says . “ On top of that , fishing the Living the Dream was truly that – a dream . The chance for a weekend angler to fish the Tour against the Larry Nixons of the world was unbelievable . Those experiences are some of my favorite memories ever .”
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For anyone preparing for the upcoming event , Harkness offers some advice .
“ Finding out where the fish are and what stage of the spawn they ’ re at will be critical . Prespawn bass stage close to spawning areas in the back of bays and cuts , so I ’ d start looking in deep water , 100 to 200 yards off a nice spawning flat .”
Vermont Bass Federation member Gilbert Gagner also has a history on Bull Shoals . He represented the Green Mountain State on the reservoir during the 2012 TBF National Championship , which was held in late March . When changing conditions put his rivals on the ropes , he tweaked his tactics to win the event with a 35-pound , 5-ounce total .
“ The lake was up a little , but falling fast ,” he says . “ In practice , I struggled to find a population of fish that I could stay on . I could see lots of fish cruising the shorelines , but they wouldn ’ t hit . Back at the docks , everyone was talking about seeing but not catching , so it wasn ’ t just me .
“ I listened to all the dock talk that said you had to throw fast-moving baits ,” he
admits . “ When the tournament started , I left that behind and slowed way down . I spent the first two days of the tournament throwing weightless Senkos and caught two limits of largemouths .”
Gagner ’ s day-one catch went 11 pounds , 2 ounces . The weight was considerably less than the 20-5 sack weighed by Michigan ’ s Marc Snyder , but it kept Gagner in the running – as did his 10-9 limit on day two . After qualifying for the finals , Gagner shifted his tactics due to falling water levels , an adjustment his competition was unable to pull off .
“ The top guys were concentrating on flooded bushes ,” he says . “ The water was dropping astronomically , and by day three they flatout ran out of bushes to fish . I switched to dragging a tube jig for smallies on gravel and put together a solid limit . It was an overwhelming , life-changing moment .”
Gagner opted to fish the Costa FLW Series Northern Division in 2013 instead of the FLW Tour for his Living the Dream package . He enjoyed a consistent season , finishing as high as ninth at the Potomac River event and ranked fifth in the overall standings . Gagner also fished the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Lanier , where he pocketed a $ 10,000 paycheck .
“ It was humbling ,” he recalls . “ I finished dead last . But I ’ ll never forget how FLW pro Scott Martin told me to keep my head up , because the same thing happened to him on Lanier . He told me not to think anything of it and to just keep on fishing .”
Gagner took Martin ’ s words to heart . He went on to compete in numerous other TBF tournaments , and won the 2015 TBF National
Championship as a co-angler on Grand Lake in Oklahoma .
“ Bull Shoals fishes very similar to Northern fisheries that have a lot of chunk rock and bushes , especially when the water is high ,” adds Gagner . “ I fished toward the dam and in mid-lake areas , concentrating on gravel and flooded bushes along submerged shorelines .
“ Conditions could be similar at this year ’ s championship , and weights could vary hugely depending on whether the females are on the beds ,” he continues . “ Everyone fishing it needs to be flexible and ready to switch things up when water levels or other conditions change .”
ANTICIPATION BUILDS
Kentucky Bass Federation member Steven Taylor can ’ t wait for the showdown to begin . He punched his ticket to compete in the championship at the District 3 National Semi- Finals event Oct . 21-22 on Kentucky Lake , finishing seventh overall and topping the Bluegrass contingent with eight bass for 18-7 .
“ My wife says I ’ m worse than a kid before Christmas ,” he jokes . “ I ’ m 58 years old and still get so excited I can ’ t sleep the night before a tournament . I ’ m absolutely looking forward to the championship .”
Considering the purse at stake – including the $ 100,000 Living the Dream package – such anticipation is understandable .
“ Winning would be an unbelievable accomplishment ,” he says . “ I ’ ve been fishing the Federation since 1992 , so I ’ ve been aspiring to this for a long time . I never fished Bull Shoals before qualifying , and it ’ s unlike any lake I ’ ve fished . I ’ ve been down there three times since the Semi-Finals ,
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