the comeback
When Dortch arrived to his two
hydrilla clumps on day three, the bite
was on. He caught several keepers but
lost his two biggest bites of the morn-
ing, including one he believed was in
the 7-pound class.
Once the sun got up and the lake
slicked off, Dortch moved back to the
pads to start the pitching game again.
He redeemed himself with an 8-
pounder, which kept him in fifth place
going into the final day.
Day four started with a big bonus
for Dortch: The time change due to
daylight saving meant anglers would be
leaving right at safe light, essentially an
hour sooner.
“Low light or wind was the key to
that single-cast spot,” Dortch says.
“When they let us go so early that final
day, I knew that spot would be on.”
Dortch lit up the leaderboard with a
7-pounder right off the bat. An hour
later he switched to a paddle-tail worm
and finished off his limit with an 8-
pounder that capped a final-day rally of
22 pounds, 2 ounces for the win.
“The five years I lived in Florida, I’d
struggle in January and February,”
Dortch says. “But once they started
ganging up in offshore grass after the
spawn, I’d be the first guy out there
winding something for them to eat.
And that’s exactly what happened at
the Harris Chain.”
TOP FIVE
name
1. BRADLEY DORTCH
2. JT KENNEY
3. JOHN COX
4. SHANE LEHEW
5. MATT REED
hometoWn
ATMORE, AL
PALM BAY, FL
DEBARY, FL
CATAWBA, NC
MADISONVILLE, TX
Winning lures
Dortch primarily relied on three
lures throughout the tournament.
On day one, he was committed to
pitching as he tried to milk the last
wave of spawners that were bedding
on main-lake pad roots. For that tech-
nique he relied on a NetBait Salt Lick
(junebug) with a 5/16-ounce Picasso
tungsten weight. He pitched the rig on
60-pound-test Sunline FX2 braid with
a 20-pound-test Sunline Super FC
Sniper leader.
On days two