19 20
SCOTT MARTIN
15 LB 5 OZ (9) SHANE L E HEW
14 LB 15 OZ (9)
By Tyler Brinks
a
PHOTO BY ANDY HAGEDON
cup winner on Ouachita in 2011, Martin believed
going into the 2018 event that it would take a mixture
of patterns to win. He didn’t know the right combination,
so he split his practice between fishing submerged trees,
running shallow water and searching for schooling fish.
The shallow bite and schoolers were manageable, but
he eventually ruled out the timber.
“All I could find there was small spotted bass and
stripers,” Martin adds.
During the tournament, the Florida pro started both
mornings on his schooling fish with a variety of topwaters,
including the LIVETARGET Yearling BaitBall Walking Bait.
“Fishing was challenging because the bass were feed-
ing on tiny bait, and each fish you caught was stuffed
full,” he says.
Martin spent the afternoons shallow up the South
Fork with what he called “organized junk-fishing.” This
approach accounted for multiple fish each day of the
tournament, and in hindsight, Martin wishes he had
spent more time covering shallow water.
58
By David A. Brown
W
PHOTO BY SEAN OSTRUSZKA
ith practice yielding no solid leads, LeHew locked in
a strategy of burning the banks in hopes of running
into active fish. He started each day with a Berkley
Choppo 120 in the perfect ghost color and picked up one
keeper each day with the plopping surface plug.
Once the morning bite waned, LeHew rotated through
a trio of baits, starting with a buzzbait. He used a Berkley
PowerBait Rib Toad for a trailer and alternated colors
between grey ghost and white.
A Rib Toad rigged on a 5/0 wide-gap hook was also in
the mix. He used white for the early morning hours and
then switched to green pumpkin once the sun got up.
This bait ended up producing the majority of his weight.
Lehew’s cleanup bait was a green-pumpkin Berkley
MaxScent Hit Worm on a Ned head, which he mostly
threw on points whenever he felt like he’d gone too long
without a bite.
FlWFISHING.COm I Fall 2018