PHOTO BY JOSH GASSMANN
5 .
ANDY MONTGOMERY Blacksburg , South Carolina Championship Round weight : 24-2 ( 6 )
Andy Montgomery was one of the few anglers who hovered close to the Wolf Creek launch throughout the tournament . Starting each day within site of the ramp , Montgomery was able to catch enough each day to advance through the first four without a definitive plan .
“ It was a little scary each morning because I had no clue what I would do ,” Montgomery admitted . “ That can be a good thing because you don ’ t have any preconceived notions , and I did find a little pattern in the Knockout Round targeting shallow wood .”
Montgomery was in the mix for the lead through the first two periods on Championship Sunday , putting together a 14-minute , threefish surge in the noon hour that added nearly 13 pounds to his total . His bite died for most of the final period , though ( although he added two 4-pounders in the waning minutes to jump into fifth place ).
Montgomery caught fish on a Strike King Series 3 crankbait in the rootbeer color and a white spinnerbait , but a jig accounted for the majority of his weight throughout REDCREST .
“ I used my Strike King Tour Grade Skipping Jig , took the skirt off , and added a round rubber skirt ,” he said . “ It ’ s brown with orange , and I like the rubber in cold water . My trailer was a green pumpkin Midsize Strike King Rage Bug .”
PHOTO BY GARRICK DIXON PHOTO BY JOSH GASSMANN
6 .
ZACK BIRGE Blanchard , Oklahoma Championship Round weight : 21-9 ( 8 )
Oklahoma pro Zack Birge was a pre-tournament favorite thanks to his familiarity with Grand Lake , and it turned out his knowledge of the lake served him well . Relying on a voluminous collection of waypoints and an encyclopedic understanding of Grand ’ s nooks and crannies , Birge ran the lake and chased the right water conditions each day .
A gizzard shad Yo-Zuri 3DB Series 1.5 squarebill was his primary bait when he found the right water color .
“ I was running a bunch of places that I know the fish should be going to spawn and stayed midlake because I have the most confidence in that part of the lake ,” Birge said . “ I tried to play the water conditions and that was the biggest hiccup , trying to stay ahead of the dirty water from all of the mud coming down the lake . It was a curveball for me to try to stay in the cleaner water .”
7 .
EDWIN EVERS Talala , Oklahoma Championship Round weight : 16-13 ( 4 )
Another heavy favorite to win in his home state thanks in no small part to his Bassmaster Classic win on Grand in 2016 , Edwin Evers put the rest of the field on notice on Day 1 with 39-11 before eventually finishing seventh .
The 2019 Bass Pro Tour Angler of the Year worked his way to his eighth career Top 10 in a major championship thanks to skillful use of a jerkbait and forward-facing sonar . Evers focused on the middle section of the lake and utilized a Berkley Stunna 112 jerkbait in stealth shad and Table Rock shad .
“ It was a late-winter pattern and worked for fish that were staging before they spawn ,” Evers said . “ I was fishing offshore brush piles in different depths . The shallow ones were 6 to 7 feet and some were a little deeper out in 15 feet .”
40 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | JUNE-JULY 2022