CUP TOP 10
2
3
4
5
60
33lb, 6oz (15)
2-10
KYLE WALTERS | GRANT VALKARIA, FL
A pair of kickers during each of the first two days gave Kyle
Walters a chance at catching Thrift, but Walters never got the big
bites on Sunday. He spent the tournament on Hamilton’s lower
end rotating through 60 brush piles in 15 to 25 feet of water. The
best brush was on breaks close to deep water, and Walters had to
hit some piles several times before the fish would fire. He used
classic summertime brush baits: a Texas-rigged 10-inch worm and
a SPRO Little John DD crankbait in citrus shad.
32lb, 2oz (14)
31lb, 6oz (15)
31lb, 2oz (15)
DAKoTA EBARE | DENHAM SPRINGS, LA
Current was critical to get the fish to set up and eat in the cold,
clear tailwaters below Blakely Mountain Dam and Lake Ouachita,
where Dakota Ebare spent his tournament. When it was flowing,
Ebare caught 70 percent of his keepers firing a weightless water-
melon magic Zoom Salty Super Fluke to inside grass edges, lay-
downs, docks and other current breaks. He says downsizing to 8-
pound-test line was critical. The rest of Ebare’s catch came by skip-
ping a weightless Zoom Trick Worm under docks and any shady
cover nearby.
JEREmY LAWYER | SARCOXIE, MO
In the mornings, Jeremy Lawyer threw a River2Sea Whopper
Plopper 130, Freedom Tackle Buzzbait with a Zoom Horny Toad
trailer or 3-inch Livetarget Glass Minnow BaitBall Popper around
the backs of docks located in the front half of coves and creeks.
Ideal docks were close to a riprap bank, seawall or some other
type of hard structure and had 3 to 4 feet of water under them.
Later in the day, he fished brush piles in front of docks in 12 to 18
feet with a Zoom Swamp Crawler on a drop-shot or a Texas-rigged
Zoom Magnum Trick Worm.
ScoTT mARTIN | CLEWISTON, FL
Scott Martin fished some of the same water in Hamilton’s
upper end as Ebare, but in addition to a wacky-rigged Googan
Baits Slim Shake or Googan Baits Lunker Log, Martin employed a
unique presentation with a few big glide baits, which he changed
out each day to constantly give the fish a new look. The baits
included a Duel Hardcore Twitch’n Ninja Glider, River2Sea S-Waver
168 and a custom model. The Florida pro pitched the gliders
around dock corners and other current breaks, plus anywhere he
saw cruising bass. He mostly skipped the worms under docks.
FLWFISHING.com I FALL 2019