Bass Fishing Jul 2017 | Page 84

Pattern no. 3: flipping debris Piles Meyer caught good smallmouths down in the deep, clear water, but he also anchored his initial limits with largemouths flipped from “debris piles,” also known as “trash pockets.” No mat- ter the terminology, the pattern is the same – targeting flotsam in the backs of pockets that rises with the water, creat- ing a nice “bass hut.” Meyer probed the newly formed cover by punching through with a Strike King Rage Bug. Brandon McMillan of Clewiston, Fla., scored a ninth-place finish in the floating slop by punching it with a 1/2-ounce 4X4 jig and a Zoom Z Craw Jr. under a 3/8- ounce weight. He also teased a few off the surface of the debris with a SPRO frog. Pattern no. 4: targeting run-ins With so much rain falling in the Ozarks during tournament week, water was pouring into Beaver Lake from waterfalls and “run-ins,” usually located in the back ends of the steepest pock- ets. This fresh run-off attracted bass looking for an opportunity to feed in the new currents. Pros targeting these areas fished jigs, finesse soft plastics, spinner- baits and even crankbaits, depending on the cover and bank type. Several pros, including Meyer, McMillan, fourth-place finisher Keith Bryan of Novato, Calif., and eighth-place pro Chris Brasher of Longview, Texas, put some of these cur- rent-driven areas in their rotations. The hard rains and rising water changed Beaver Lake by the hour. Those who rose to the top cracked the high-water code by fishing flooded lawns, punching sawdust, targeting the old shoreline or catching fish in the current created by run- ins, proving there are several viable options for tackling rising water. Though he tossed a jig and spinnerbait too, McCombs caught nearly every keeper he weighed in on a buzzbait. TOP FIVE name 1. JOHNNY McCOMBS 2. JASON REYES 3. BRYAN THRIFT 4. KEITH BRYAN 5. CODY MEYER WeIght 47-01 44-11 43-03 42-14 40-10 fIsh 17 18 20 20 18 WInnIngs $100,200 $30,000 $25,100 $20,000 $19,000 By Chad Love Beaver’s rising waters vexed pros and co-anglers alike, but 38-year-old Charley Slaton of Valliant, Okla., eventually solved just enough of the puzzle to win the co-angler championship and a $20,200 check. Slaton caught a two-day total of 17 pounds, 15 ounces by dragging a Carolina rig behind the boat in deeper water he suspected was holding bedding bass, but the winning pattern didn’t come easily. “It just wasn’t happening for me at first,” says Slaton, who fished on day one with Rockwood, Tenn., pro Derrick Blake. “Derrick was throwing a spinnerbait along the bank, and I was following him with a Senko and a Fluke, and nothing was really happening for me, so I got to thinking that with the banks coming up 7 to 9 feet, those fish are going to be out there in 10 to 12 feet of water.” Slaton started dragging a Carolina rig parallel to the bank, and the gamble paid off when his first fish turned out to be a 5-pounder. On day two, with the exception of one fish caught on a wacky rig, Slaton stayed with a Carolina rig all day. “I didn’t have near the weight that I did on day one, but I guess it was enough,” he says. 82 flWfIshIng.com I july 2017 SLATON WINS CO-ANGLER TITLE hometoWn MORRIS, AL HUFFMAN, TX SHELBY, NC NOVATO, CA AUBURN, CA