ASWEGAN WINS TOPWATER DUEL AT KENTUCKY LAKE
CO-ANGLER CHAMP
ON TOUR
BFL REGIONALS
DEtAILS oct . 13-15 , 2016 presented by mercury hosted by kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors bureau Divisions : buckeye , Great Lakes , Illini , michigan
ASWEGAN WINS TOPWATER DUEL AT KENTUCKY LAKE
SON ’ S LUCKY ZARA SPOOK KEYED THE VICTORY
By Curtis Niedermier
the mid-October showdown on Kentucky Lake that was the 2016 T-H Marine Bass Fishing League Regional presented anglers with a mix of old and new . Old , in the sense that , as usual in fall , weights were lower than what Kentucky Lake is known for in the summer . New , because Kentucky Lake ’ s southern waters were mostly void of the grass that usually attracts about half of the Regional field each year .
With the grass pattern out of play , nearly all of the top 10 finishers relied on the other “ usual ” fall pattern at Kentucky Lake : fishing topwater on shallow flats in creeks or on shallow bars on or near the main lake . Finding key areas with bait and schools of foraging bass became the winning program , and tournament champ Chris Aswegan uncovered the most productive spot .
Utilizing a “ lucky ” Heddon Zara Spook that was given to him by his 5-year-old son , John , for Father ’ s Day , the Tiffin , Iowa , boater tallied 47 pounds , 4 ounces in three days .
“ Normally , I always throw a bone-colored Zara Spook ,” says Aswegan . “ He [ his son ] knows I like to fish a Spook and a frog , but he bought me a shad-colored Zara Spook .”
For sentimental reasons , perhaps , Aswegan tied on the Spook , “ wrong color ” that it was , for some summer derbies on the Mississippi River back home , and then he never cut it off , including at Kentucky Lake . The fish didn ’ t seem to mind .
With a buzzbait mixed in , Aswegan fished a shallow flat all three days . He keyed on a subtle drop-off – from about 8 inches deep down to 18 inches deep – that stretched about 100 yards long where schools of shad were visible along the breakline . Aswegan ’ s only real adjustment was to dial in the sweet spot each day .
CO-ANGLER CHAMP
Name : Jim Budde hometown : Waterloo , Ill . total Weight : 30-04 ( 11 fish ) Winning program : Just like most of the top pros , coangler champ Jim Budde caught most of his fish on a Zara Spook topwater around shallow bars . Budde also used a spinnerbait and a buzzbait .
“ The majority of that 100 yards I didn ’ t catch a fish off of ,” says Aswegan , who fished about 50 miles south of the Moors Resort takeoff site . “ It was a different stretch each day . Most of my bites each day came from a spot about triple the size of a boat .”
Aswegan says that fishing the spot reminded him of fishing shallow sandbars on the Mississippi back home . The biggest difference was that there ’ s a lot less current on Kentucky Lake .
In either case , Aswegan suspects that bass don ’ t hang out in deeper water and rush up to ambush bait . Rather , he believes they hang tight along those shallow depressions and feed when the opportunity presents itself .
“ I didn ’ t see them working a lot of bait ,” Aswegan adds . “ Most of the good bites I got were not when they were busting .”
2017 All-American Qualifiers
boaters : cHris aswegan Tiffin , Iowa mike Brueggen La Crosse , Wis . Bradley leiFermann Andover , Minn . ronald nutter Newark , Ohio lloyd Pickett jr . Bartlett , Tenn . clayton reitZ Morton , Ill .
Co-anglers : jim Budde Waterloo , Ill . tim gilliland Wellston , Ohio jim stone Greenwood , Ind . carl lingle Dongola , Ill . mike raBer Wolcottville , Ind . randy westerField Constantine , Mich .
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FlwFisHing . com i january 2017