|
As for baits , Grier went about as California as possible in leaning on a 7-inch Osprey swimbait as well as a Neko rig to do his damage . On Day 1 ( 15-15 ), Grier wasn ’ t able to effectively fish his big school of prespawners due to the wind , but he chose to brave the wind and waves the final two days , as his deeper fish were less affected by the windy conditions as those in the shallows .
11 . BASS PRO TOUR BASS BOAT TECHNOLOGIES STAGE FOUR PRESENTED BY BASS CAT Lake of the Ozarks April 30 – May 5
Lake of the Ozarks , Missouri , and Smith Lake , Alabama , are about eight hours apart as the crow flies . But as far as Bass Pro Tour pro Jesse Wiggins is concerned , the two fisheries are one and the same . Wiggins channeled a lifetime of knowledge about the spawning behavior of bass
|
in Smith Lake ( his home lake ) into a championship run in Bass Pro Tour Stage Four , applying some basic northern Alabama philosophies to Lake of the Ozarks .
While a good majority of the 80- man field sight fished on Lake of the Ozarks , Wiggins blind-casted a shaky head and cut-down 6.6-inch Jackall Flick Shake Worm to three key spawning areas that he fishes on Smith Lake in late spring : corners of docks , walkways and dock cables . While other competitors spent time working on individual fish , Wiggins simply cast to his three key areas of the plethora of docks he had marked in practice . If fish were present , they ’ d react to the bait . If not , Wiggins would simply roll on to the next dock .
The Alabama pro connected with 11 bass for 27 pounds , 11 ounces on the final day , outdistancing Dean Rojas by 2-7 to earn his fourth career win and his first victory at the Bass Pro Tour level .
|
12 . TOYOTA SERIES PRESENTED BY A . R . E . SOUTHWESTERN DIVISION Sam Rayburn Reservoir
May 4 – 6
Hayden Heck moved from California to Texas just a couple years ago in the hopes of pursuing a professional fishing career . It only took him three events to check off one major milestone in his quest : a Toyota Series victory – over none other than Texas fishing legend Keith Combs .
Heck had a solid Day 1 on Rayburn with 18-9 before plopping a 28-pound , 9-ounce mega-bag on the scale on Day 2 . Unfortunately for Heck , Combs mirrored his success both days ( 19-6 and 28-11 ) and left Heck feeling like he ’ d need another massive bag on Day 3 to finally earn the win . Instead , Combs managed just 14-11 to Heck ’ s 18-1 , giving the latter a 2-pound , 7-ounce win he ’ ll never forget .
|
The winning pattern was fairly simple : running multiple brush piles and points at the mouth of spawning areas where Heck could get on both prespawn and postspawn bass . For the task , he leaned on Garmin LiveScope and a Strike King 5XD as well as a drop-shot and a 6-inch swimbait .
13 . TOYOTA SERIES PRESENTED BY A . R . E . CENTRAL DIVISION Lake Chickamauga May 5 – 7
Matt Stanley put the new-forthis-season Toyota Series format to the test ( with the final-day field increased from 10 anglers to 25 ) to catapult from 13th to first with the second-largest bag of the tournament on Championship Saturday . Only one limit from the 255-boat field was better than Stanley ’ s 22-2 on Day 3 , which he caught using forward-facing sonar and a Megabass
|