6.
5.
4.
4. TOYOTA SERIES
EASTERN DIVISION
Lake Hartwell
March 3-5, 2020
Fishing wasn’t easy on
Lake Hartwell’s stained,
high waters, but MLF Bass
Pro Tour pro and South
Carolina local Marty
Robinson wasn’t fazed. He
led wire-to-wire and
capped off the tournament
with a limit of 11-10 on the
final day to earn the victory
by a 1 1/2-pound margin.
While Robinson was
looking forward to hammer-
ing on some Hartwell spot-
ted bass, he didn’t com-
plain when he brought 21-1
worth of largemouths to the
scale on day one. From
there, it was just a matter of
adjusting to the everchang-
ing weather conditions and
maintaining the lead.
Robinson began each
day targeting ditches
stacked with herring and
bass ready to feed on
them. Later in the day, he
moved back into creeks to
target secondary points.
For both approaches,
Robinson employed a
Buckeye Lures Su-Spin
under-spin and a Buckeye
Lures G-Man Ballin’ Out jig
tipped with a Zoom Creepy
Crawler.
5. TOYOTA SERIES
SOUTHERN DIVISION
Lake Okeechobee
March 12-14, 2020
Sometimes one type of
cover is the key to locking
down a victory, and that
was certainly the case for
Brandon Medlock at
Okeechobee. For three
days, he targeted reeds on
Big O – working outside
edges at times and flipping
deeper into the cover at
others. He also targeted
some isolated reeds in
deeper water just past the
main reed edge on day
two. Working the many
reeds Okeechobee has to
offer, the now three-time
Toyota Series winner (all
on Okeechobee) put
together two really solid
days of fishing (21-7 on day
two and 19-4 on day three)
to weigh in 54-4 total for
the victory.
For the task, Medlock
employed a medley of dif-
ferent trailers on his 3/8-,
1/2- and 3/4-ounce
Medlock Double Guard
Flipping Jigs (in black and
blue), from a Riot Baits
Little Fuzzy to a Zoom Big
Salty Chunk and Zoom
Super Speed Craw.
6. TOYOTA SERIES
WESTERN DIVISION
Lake Havasu
March 12-14, 2020
On day one at Havasu, it
looked like the tournament
would be a full-on bed-fish-
ing slugfest, led by eventual
champ Tai Au, who caught a
massive 26-pound, 1-ounce
APRIL-MAY 2020 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING.COM | FLWFISHING.COM
opening limit by sight-fish-
ing for four of his five keep-
ers. Like so often happens in
a spawn tournament, fishing
pressure took its toll quickly.
Plus, heavy rains Thursday
evening followed by a
steady southerly wind, a
high-pressure system and a
temperature drop on Friday
pushed bass off the bank.
Au never panicked. On
day two, he finesse fished
in the morning, then waited
patiently for the barometric
pressure to fall to mix in a
reaction bait – a Z-Man/
Evergreen ChatterBait Jack
Hammer with a Yamamoto
Zako Paddle Tail trailer.
Mostly, though, he junk-
fished in areas with tules
where he found good-quali-
ty largemouths during prac-
tice. Day three was more
junk-fishing.
Au’s arsenal also included
a Texas-rigged Yamamoto
Flappin’ Hog for flipping, a
Yamamoto Senko and a
Daiwa Yamamoto Neko Fat.
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