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JUSTIN ATKINS | 28 LB 12 OZ (15)
ATKINS’ ARSENAL
Atkins used a flutter spoon
to churn up action in deep
brush. He also turned to a
Berkley PowerBait Fatty
Bottom Hopper Worm that he
Neko-rigged with a nail
weight to coax suspended
fish from their midsummer
ambush points.
While he did turn to a
Berkley Choppo topwater in
search of a big shallow bite on
Championship Sunday, it was
primarily offshore fishing that
led to Atkins’ third-place finish
and another successful Cup.
Fall 2018 I FlWFISHING.COm
a
By Justin Onslow
PHOTO BY KYLE WOOD
tkins missed out on back-to-back Cup victories, thanks in part to losing
a few keepers he couldn’t get in the boat. Still, the second-year Tour pro
crushed them by mid-August Ouachita standards by doing what few
others found success doing – fishing deep for most of the tournament.
For the most part, the Alabama angler targeted brush piles and ledges or
creek beds in the South Fork of the Ouachita. He fished close to Jason
Lambert, who also cooked up a recipe for success by targeting suspended
bass in deep water.
Ultimately, it was a lack of quality deep fish that forced Atkins to go shallow
late in the tournament, and he couldn’t manage to find the right bite to propel
himself to another Cup victory.
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