Bass Fishing Oct 2017 | Page 101

“I live in Pittsburgh, so I fish Erie a bunch, and Ontario is identical to Erie,” says Becker. “I spent all my time on the lake looking around. I figure if you’re going to beat any of these guys you have to do what you’re good at.” Fishing vertically and efficiently was important as well. Instead of simply drift- ing over a swath, Becker lined himself up to go over key areas, and would reel up lightning-fast to drop on fish he marked. “I was dropping [vertical fishing] on every one of them,” says Becker. “I did catch a few just flipping out in front of the boat when I wasn’t marking them, but 90 percent of the ones I weighed, I dropped it straight on their head. “It took me a little bit to figure out where to position my bait to drag right into where the fish was. But once I figured that out, I could get it right through where I marked them and they would eat it almost every time.” WHY THE RIVER TOOK A YEAR OFF A basic drop-shot produced all of Becker’s winning weight. CO-ANGLER CHAmPION Name: Gary Haraguchi Hometown: Redding, Calif. Winning Weight: 53-02 (15 fish) Winning Program: Haraguchi’s day- one partner Jason Kervin suffered a breakdown on the way from the river to the lake. Despite being able to fish for only a short time, Haraguchi still scratched out a limit. Then, on the final two days the ever-smiling co-angler smashed them with a Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm on a drop-shot and a 5-inch Yamamoto Pro Senko rigged wacky style on a 5/16-ounce Frenzy Baits Whack-A-Sack jig. OctOber 2017 I fLWfIshIng.cOm CONDITIONS Weather | some rain and clouds the morning of day one; other- wise clear and sunny air temperature | mid-50s to upper 70s Water temperature | upper 60s to low 70s Water clarity | 15 feet Wind | strong and from the west on day one; strong and from the northeast on day two; lighter and from the northeast on day three moon Phase | waxing crescent Predominant Lake features | boulders, drops, large deep and shallow flats, and grass in most of the bays fishery type | Great Lake and large Northern river Leading up the to this year’s Costa FLW Series tournament at 1000 Islands, the St. Lawrence River was on everyone’s mind. Not only had Scott Dobson domi- nated for two days on the river the year before, but the Bassmaster Elite Series was fresh off a river derby where 20- pound bags were commonplace. When the dust settled, only one of the top-10 pros had stuck with the river for more than a fish or two, and the rest trekked to Lake Ontario. One of the best at the 1000 Islands, Cal Climpson was on some fish in the river prior to the tournament, but he made the cut largely based on an excel- lent day one out in the lake. “I think the big thing was the weather we had in the tournament,” says Climpson of the river’s failure to produce. “That was the No. 1 factor in my opinion. I think in the river, at least for me and the Elites, a lot of guys were on shallow fish on rock and sand. Later in July, when you get cold fronts or an unusual wind it really causes those river fish to pull off the shal- low spots, and they actually suspend in the main river. Then they’re very tough to target and hard to even find.” Dobson would readily agree that con- ditions weren’t ideal for a shallow bite in the river. It was mostly windy and rainy on day one, and on day two a stiff east wind kept the river very choppy. He finished 38th. Out on the lake, the fish were set up deeper and were less affected by the weather changes. Instead of trying to visually spot a waning population up shal- low in bad conditions, the pros could look to their graphs and drop down on unsus- pecting smallies. 99