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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