17 JtKENNEY
18 biLLCHAPMAN by Colin Moore
Photo by Jody WhitE
17 JtKENNEY
29LbS, 5oZ by Colin Moore
Tactics
It took Kenney all of a day to admit to himself that he was wrong about where the Cup would be won.
“ Most people expected that the fish would be deep – myself included,” admits the Florida pro.“ The up and down of my tournament was not being as open-minded as I should have been.”
Kenney spent practice and pre-practice searching for the deep bite and started the tournament out deep, but he was disabused of that notion on day one, when he weighed in a single fish that totaled 1-11. That evening, he stowed all his offshore gear and got out his shallow-water“ confidence” baits and tackle. He returned to a creek near Guntersville Dam and caught the biggest limit of the tournament – 19-2 – fishing shady banks for bass gorging on shad. It boosted him from 48th to 18th place.
Hoping to repeat the following day, Kenney returned to the creek, but most of the fish he caught were small keepers.
Baits
Kenney alternated among a Nichols Pulsator Spinnerbait( JT’ s chartreuse shad), a 6th Sense Movement 80X crankbait, and a 4-inch Gambler Flipp’ n Tube with a 5 / 16-ounce Reins tungsten weight and 4 / 0 Trokar hook. Kenney’ s line for all baits was 18-pound-test Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon.
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18 biLLCHAPMAN by Colin Moore
29LbS, 3oZ
Tactics
The West Virginia pro originally intended to fish up the Elk River about 65 miles from the launch site at Ditto Landing, but on the third day of practice, he located fish not far from the ramp.
“ My game plan was to hit those closer fish first and then – depending on how I did – make the long run to the Elk River,” says Chapman.
Turns out that he didn’ t have to burn much gas after all. By 10 o’ clock on the first morning of the tournament, he had a limit and decided to stay in the area.
“ I was up in the [ Tennessee ] river in water that was about 6 feet deep or less,” recalls Chapman.“ Mainly it was very rocky, with some grass. There was also a stump where, at different times, I caught seven keepers.”
Baits
Chapman mainly fished a 3 1 / 2-inch green pumpkin Cabin Creek Baits tube rigged with a 1 / 4-ounce jighead inside the bait. The head was equipped with a weedguard, and Chapman fished the tube on 8-pound-test Seaguar fluorocarbon. Otherwise, he used a bone-colored Heddon Zara Spook fished on 15-pound-test monofilament.
“ I needed the weedguard with the tube because of all the junk where I was fishing. I would have to break off every cast otherwise,” he says.“ I’ d just cast upriver into the current and let it wash the tube down across the rocks.”
Photo by FLW MarShaL
FLWFISHING. COM I OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2016