oN tour
top fIve
1. scott martIN
cLeWIstoN, fLa.
total Weight: 74-10 (20 fish)
Winnings: $125,000*
*Includes $25,000 Ranger Cup
2. JasoN meNINger
gaINesvILLe, ga.
total Weight: 73-10 (20 fish)
Winnings: $30,000
3. sHINIcHI fuKae
paLestINe, texas
total Weight: 72-00 (20 fish)
Winnings: $25,000
gagLIarduccI WINs co-aNgLer
tItLe WItH smaLLmoutHs
Former Tour pro Al Gagliarducci of West Suffield,
Conn., capitalized on being paired with two small-
mouth-focused anglers on Lake Champlain to earn
the co-angler win in the Tour’s 2016 finale.
Fishing with Barry Wilson on day one and Glenn
Chappelear on day two, Gagliarducci used a secret
craw bait, which was given to him by pro Luke
Dunkin, to pick off bedding and cruising small-
mouths. The fish were aggressive and usually ate on
the first cast. His limits weighed 18 pounds and 15-
11, for a total weight of 33-11.
For the win, Gagliarducci earned $20,000.
102
5. cHrIs JoHNstoN
peterborougH, oNtarIo
total Weight: 69-15 (20 fish)
Winnings: $19,500
Martin’s winning formula was to
start with a gamble on largemouths
and save his smallmouths. If he
could get out of the blocks on day
one with a big largemouth lead, he
would back himself up with small-
mouths to hold on for the win, which
is exactly how it played out.
Martin caught all largemouths on
day one for 22 pounds, 5 ounces. The
following day he brought in mostly
largemouths for a 20-pound limit.
On day three, he gave his Missisquoi
largemouths a rest and picked on his
premium smallmouth numbers for
16-05. On the final day, he picked up
what was left of his best small-
mouths while working his way to
Missisquoi, then nabbed a couple of
3 1/2-pound largemouth kickers for 16 pounds even to win
with a four-day total of 74-10.
“I love it when a plan comes together,” Martin says.
“Saving my smallmouth game until the third day and then
being able to turn that smallmouth ‘insurance policy’ into a
decent limit while letting Missisquoi rest was the ticket.
4. davId dudLeY
LYNcHburg, va.
total Weight: 71-00 (20 fish)
Winnings: $20,000
This lake requires a lot of careful fish management. It’s all
part of fishing a tournament-winning strategy.”
Winning elements
As far as techniques employed, Martin is the first to
admit that there is not a lot of skill in catching bedding
smallmouths on Champlain.
“They’re so defensive, they’ll bite just about anything,”
Martin says. “Finding the right size [fish] is what takes
work. I covered miles of bedding flats in the 5- to 10-foot
range in the Plattsburgh area of the lake, taking a lot of
careful notes about which fish were the bigger ones.”
During the tournament, Martin easily plucked the bed-
ders with tubes, craws and Tightlines UV finesse worms.
When fishing in Missisquoi for largemouths, Martin
used several lures, including a LIVETARGET Threadfin
Shad crankbait on the offshore reefs, a vibrating jig in scat-
tered milfoil and a LIVETARGET Frog Hollow Body on any
matted vegetation he encountered. But above all, his most
productive lure in the bay was a 1/2-ounce green pumpkin
M-Pack jig teamed with a Tightlines UV Jig Trailer. He
intentionally trimmed the jig’s skirt way down to give the
combo a more compact profile.
“The jig was the biggest adjustment I made this year,”
Martin says. “Last time I won, a crankbait was my go-to on
the reefs. I caught a few key fish cranking this year, but that
M-Pack jig was the deal everywhere I went in Missisquoi. I
dragged it around on rock reefs, pitched it to docks, rocks,
laydowns and even clumps of grass. For some reason they
really liked that jig this time.”
Martin also says that 10-foot Power-Poles were great
aids in stealthily fishing the rock piles. He was able to lock
down in 9 feet of water, far off the key spots, and accurately
fish them.
fLWfIsHINg.com I august-september 2016