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