was not making a cast until I saw fish
busting, and I was literally sitting down
on my deck waiting for them to come
to the surface.”
Casting accurately was critical for
Britt, and he says the key was leading
the fish, casting ahead in the direction
the fish were chasing herring.
“You could see the herring skipping
across the surface, and you would have
to make a cast exactly to where the
bass was going,” he says
“Generally, sunny conditions are
harder to get bites with topwater, but I
did best when it was high sun and no
clouds.”
OCTOBER 2017 I FLWFISHING.COM
bRItt’S GeaR FoR mURRay
Britt caught the majority of what he weighed in on two different topwater baits,
one a bit unusual for the scenario, and the other a bit more common: a 6th Sense
SplashBack 90 popper in the 4k shad color and an Evergreen SB-125 pencil pop-
per-style bait in the half-mirror wakasagi color.
“The key was to have a topwater bait with a really obnoxious sound. It had to be
loud enough to distract a fish that was about to eat a herring,” says Britt.
Britt also weighed in one fish that he caught on a double-Fluke rig.
Tackle selection was important for making long, accurate casts when opportu-
nities presented themselves. He fished the popper on an iRod Genesis II 733 7-
foot, 3-inch, fast-action rod and went with the heavier 734 model for the pencil
popper. He paired the rods with a Shimano Curado baitcasting reel (7.1:1) and 50-
pound-test Seaguar Smackdown braid, a common line preference for the pros
chasing schoolers during Cup week. ■
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