Bass Fishing Jan 2018 | Page 75

photo by andy hagedon out there, so I practiced the first three days within reasonable range. It was so bad, I talked to my dad every night and said,‘ This could be embarrassing.’ So, I said,‘ To heck with it, I’ m gonna go where I want to go.’ And I caught three fish and found that spot.”
“ That spot” carried him the first two days of the tournament, when Beavers weighed limits of 15 pounds, 13 ounces and 15 pounds. Before tournament’ s end, he added a third place to his itinerary. All three were typical fall“ bars,” or shallow riverchannel edges and other humps and drops, located about five miles north of New Johnsonville. He ended up catching 14-15 the final day for a 45-12 total.
TOP FIVE
name
hometoWn
WeIght
fIsh
WInnIngs
1. BRADFORD BEAVERS
RIDGEVILLE, SC
45-12
15
$ 50,200
2. TODD HOLLOWELL
FISHERS, IN
37-07
11
$ 30,000 *
3. LARRY STOAFER
LEAVENWORTH, KS
34-13
11
$ 23,500 *
4. TIM FOX
MERIDAN, MS
34-00
10
$ 17,100 *
5. CHAD FOSTER
SAINT CLOUD, FL
33-06
9
$ 10,000
* Includes Ranger Cup
the bars. Though he wasn’ t fishing back in creeks or far off the main channel, Beavers also wasn’ t just rolling up on the most accessible portions. Instead, he idled and ran to the backsides of bars to access less-pressured bass.
There were stumps on two of his three spots, but Beavers wasn’ t exclusively casting over or around stumps on the bars, as some others were. He caught most of his fish near the stumps, though they
Beavers.“ Every once in a while you’ d spook one with the boat and see the puff of sand with the fish going by. It’ s hard to be that stealthy in shallow water, but I tried to move slowly and take advantage of the wind and use the Power- Poles.”
The first two days Beavers mostly stuck with a bone and chrome Heddon Zara Spook that he fished at a moderate pace. He adjusted on the final day with a pearl photo by Matt paCe photo by andy hagedon
WINNING CO-ANGLER
justin hIcks roanoke, va.
Winning Weight: 30-11( 8 fish)
setting himself apart
Almost everyone in the field threw a topwater on shallow bars at least a little, but Beavers was more consistent, catching about 15 pounds every day and breezing past the competition in the final round when he was the only pro to catch more than two keepers. Throughout the tournament, a variety of small adjustments set him apart.
Beavers tended to focus on the inside sections of
weren’ t directly relating to the wood.
How Beavers fished was probably just as important as the spots he chose. Instead of kicking along on high or chasing breaking shad or bass, Beavers slowed way down and covered his places with patience and stealth. At one point on the last day he spent six hours to fish 300 yards, which resulted in 15 bites.
“ I had to run my trolling motor on, like, 25, to keep from spooking them,” says
white Zoom Magnum Super Fluke rigged with a stinger treble. That change was key when the fish stopped hitting topwater, and allowed him to fill his limit and cull up with a 4-pounder.
In the end, his disastrous practice might have helped him win. Without a ton of spots to run to, Beavers basically camped on a few areas. Rationing them prudently, he ended up running away with the event by more than 8 pounds.
Winning Program:
Justin Hicks credited hard work and prayer for his 16-pound, 13- ounce day-one catch, and he followed up with three more fish in the subsequent rounds to lock up his co-angler victory.
“ I just got fortunate,” Hicks says.“ I just fish hard and pray harder. That’ s all there is to it.”
Hicks caught all his fish on a chrome and black Heddon Super Spook that he wore the paint off of. He got two big bites on it during his one day of practice and simply rode it from there, taking other rods along, but making almost all of his casts with the Spook.
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