6.
BY
4.
5.
4. MLF LUCAS OIL
CHALLENGE CUP PRESENTED
BY B&W TRAILER HITCHES
Bull Shoals Lake
June 9-14, 2019
With a nearly endless
amount of flooded cover in
Bull Shoals due to the lake
being high, Jeff Sprague
quickly discerned that cer-
tain stretches of bank were
crucial to catching multiple
fish in each general area. His
first day, that meant tapered
banks 1 to 6 feet deep with
clean water, which he picked
apart with a 1/2-ounce Strike
King Tour Grade Buzzbait
with a Strike King KVD
Gurgle Toad trailer.
In his Sudden Death
Round on a different section
of the lake, Sprague focused
on bare spots with exposed
rock between bushes. He
moved off the bank just
slightly, keying on bream
and the small packs of bass
feeding on them. Sprague
stuck with the same patterns
in the Championship Round,
but made one crucial move
offshore when he spotted
fish schooling in 25 to 30
feet of water.
In addition to the buzzbait,
Sprague threw a 3/8-ounce
Strike King Thunder Cricket
with a Strike King Blade
Minnow trailer.
5. TACKLE WAREHOUSE
PRO CIRCUIT
Sam Rayburn Reservoir
Jan. 23-26, 2020
John Cox made it look
easy the first two days at
Sam Rayburn when he
camped along a bridge and
fired repeated casts with a
No. 5 Berkley Frittside
crankbait in the lone ranger
and ghost morning dawn
colors to a single high spot
of sand and rock rimmed
with hydrilla. The spot had
enough fish for Cox to retain
the lead for two days.
By day three, the spot
had run dry, and Cox was
forced to scramble. He fished
at least 100 places over the
next two days, targeting lay-
downs, grass, rocky points –
anything up shallow that
looked good – and was able
to piecemeal his way to a
wire-to-wire win.
A clutch move to a pair of
trees located an hour up the
lake produced the final three
keepers on a black-and-blue
Tackle Warehouse-exclusive
Z-Man ChatterBait Custom
with a Berkley PowerBait
Grass Pig trailer that secured
Cox’s win in the waning min-
utes of the tournament.
6. TACKLE WAREHOUSE
PRO CIRCUIT PRESENTED BY
BAD BOY MOWERS
Harris Chain of Lakes
Feb. 20-23, 2020
Consistency wins bass
tournaments more often
than not, but Laramy
Strickland’s victory at the
Harris Chain was as much
about capitalizing on
APRIL-MAY 2020 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING.COM | FLWFISHING.COM
opportunity as it was three
days of steady action. The
local pro caught 14-10 on
day one in perfect spring-
time conditions for Florida.
The field sat out Friday due
to unsafe weather, and
Strickland shocked every-
one with 31-6 on Saturday
to jump ahead of the field.
He then closed with 15-4 on
Sunday.
Strickland’s entire game
plan centered on preparing
for the cold front. He
camped in an area of Lake
Griffin where he knew bass
were setting up to spawn.
The front pushed them up
under mats alongside reed
clumps, where he was able
to punch through with a
Texas-rigged Reaction
Innovations Spicy Beaver
with either a 1- or 2-ounce
weight. He also worked a
Reaction Innovations
Machete Worm pegged with
a 1/16-ounce weight for
swimming and burning
through the grass.
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