HortoN tops co-aNgLer fIeLd
oN tour
bait plan
Although he caught some of his keepers on a Castaic Heavy Metal Spoon and a V & M J-Proz Series J- Mag Worm on a 5 / 8-ounce V & M Pacemaker shaky-head jig , Lambert did most of his damage with a 1- ounce Scrounger head fitted with a 7-inch green shad Castaic Jerky J . The straight-tail bait working in concert with the Scrounger ’ s wobble presented a look that was less-intrusive , yet more intriguing .
“ A traditional paddle-tail swimbait is a little more aggressive in the water , but that straight tail is a little more subtle ,” he says . “ It ’ s almost like finesse power fishing . It ’ s still a great big bait , but it ’ s a softer vibration than a paddle tail , and it ’ s something that I don ’ t think a lot of people use .”
On its own , the Jerky J offers little motion , but the Scrounger imparts enough wiggle to overcome this deficit . Maintaining bottom contact is the only key to the presentation .
For the big shaky head and the Jerky J , Lambert used a 7-foot , 10-inch , extra-heavy Duckett Micro Magic rod with a 6.3:1 Duckett 360RW reel and 17-pound-test Vicious Pro Elite fluorocarbon . For the big spoon , he used a 7-foot , 8- inch Duckett White Ice Series flipping rod with a 7.1:1 360RW and 20-pound-test fluoro .
“ I threw the spoon and the shaky head a lot the first two days when I couldn ’ t get the fish to bite the moving bait ,” Lambert says . “ On day two , I spent the last couple of hours trying to build confidence in that swimbait [ Jerky J ] because days three and four we fished by ourselves and we didn ’ t have a net guy . That spoon is very likely to lose one for you . So I fished a big single-hook swimbait to avoid catastrophe .”
PHOTO BY MATT PACE
PHOTO BY JODY WHITE
HortoN tops co-aNgLer fIeLd
Co-angler Mark Horton of Nicholasville , Ky ., faced two different scenarios on Kentucky Lake , but he adapted well and sacked up the winning total of 33 pounds , 8 ounces to claim the $ 25,250 top prize .
Paired with Jacob Wheeler on day one , Horton caught five keepers at a community hole by fishing a morning dawn 6-inch Roboworm on a drop-shot with a 3 / 8-ounce weight and also a 3 / 8-ounce shaky head with a 9-inch plum NetBait Super T-Mac . With limits secured , Wheeler went looking for quality by long-lining crankbaits in deep water , and Horton took advantage of a golden opportunity to upgrade using a deep-diving Z-Boss crankbait , Nichols Magnum Spoon and football jig to compile the 21-05 sack that fueled his victory .
For day two , Horton fished with Jason Meninger and spent the entire day on a flat adjacent to where a creek channel intersected the main river channel in 20 to 24 feet of water . The fish were scattered across the broad area , and Horton caught all of his fish on a wacky-rigged redbug Zoom Magnum Trick Worm with an O-ring , 1 / 0 Roboworm Rebarb hook and 1 / 8-ounce nail weight in the tail .
“ I think it was just something different ,” Horton says of his bait choice . “ My boater had four different variations of a morning dawn Roboworm on a drop-shot – different sizes , wacky-rigged , Texas-rigged . I don ’ t like to fish the same thing as my boater , so I wanted to give them a different look .” ■
98
fLWfIsHINg . com I august-september 2016