ON TOUR
COSTA FLW SERIES detaIls sept. 28-30, 2017 presented by evinrude hosted by konocti vista casino Resort & marina costa Flw series division: western
CLEAR LAKE lAKEPORT, CAlIF.
By David A. Brown photos by kyle wood
Winning angler bryant smith, castro valley, calif. Winning Weight: 53-15( 15 fish) stat line: this is smith’ s first pro win. previously, fishing as a co-angler, he won the 2011 costa Flw series event at lake shasta.
Winning baits
Despite the urge to use reaction baits – an instinct born out of extensive Clear lake experience – Smith kept those crankbaits and bladed jigs in his rod locker. Instead, he committed to a Neko-rigged 5-inch green pumpkin / watermelon laminate Yamamoto Senko.
“ I know where the fish usually hold this time of year in the fall transition, but I just couldn’ t get them to bite,” he says.“ I’ ve gotten my butt kicked so many times by a guy with a Senko or a drop-shot, and I said,‘ I’ m not gonna do it this time. I’ m going to at least try it [ finesse tactics ].’ I made probably 50 casts with a crankbait. All the rest were with the Senko.”
Smith rigged his bait with a 3 / 0 Decoy finesse hook and inserted a 3 / 32-ounce nail weight into the tail.
“ It falls with kind of a circular motion, and I think that’ s why I got a lot more bites than other guys,” says Smith of his rig.“ A lot of guys were throwing a drop-shot, and I would come in behind them and catch fish.”
The ruse was convincing enough for him to deliver the only 20-pound bags of the event – 20-15 on day one and 20- 8 on day two. Adding 12-8 in the final round completed his wire-to-wire victory.
CONDITIONS
Weather | mostly sunny on day one; partly cloudy on day two; sunny on day three air temperature | low 90s on day one; upper 80s on day two; low 80s on day three Water temperature | 79 to 82 degrees Water clarity | 4 to 6 inches of visibility on the northern end; 8 to 15 inches of visibility on the southern end Wind | light on day one; SSE at 15 to 20 mph on day two; south at 7 to 10 mph on day three moon Phase | first quarter Predominant lake features | tules, docks, bluffs, points, shallow reefs and deep rock piles fishery type | natural lake
target areas
Docks in the Redbud arm and along the lakeport area at the north end were Smith’ s main targets. He says these spots aligned with the annual transitions upon which he was depending.
“ In a lot of the bays down south, the shad are going to be along the deeper structure on the outside in the summertime, and when they start to move in, you can kind of follow the fish right on in,” Smith says.“ I fished a lot of the same areas I’ d fish this time of year with reaction baits, but I just slowed down and caught them with a Senko.
“ The fish were really scattered for me, and I didn’ t know when my next bite was going to happen. But I knew if I stayed in the bays, I’ d eventually run into them. I was just trying to get bit, and I knew if I fished enough dock pilings I would.”
Covering his bases, Smith fished a handful of deeper main-lake docks, but he couldn’ t catch any better quality. By day two, he’ d decided to stick with the bays.
68 flWfIshIng. com I november-december 2017