E
lite Series Pro Casey Ashley
brought a handful of techniques &
fundamentals that he learned at age
18 to the 2015 Bassmaster Classic on Lake
Hartwell. On Sunday afternoon, he held up
the trophy for his hometown crowd. Here’s the
easy-to-follow formula – and baits – that have
made him a winner!
Don’t let the looks fool you. There’s a lot of
old treasure buried beneath that youthful
Country and Western star veneer!
“I guess I’m what you would call ‘Old School,’” said
Casey Ashley as he dropped his trolling motor
and eased his Triton into a cove on Table Rock
Lake. “I like to keep things simple!”
That was several years ago. At the time, I
wasn’t sure if the remark was philosophy,
trademark, disclaimer or apology, and “smart”
self-marketing today calls more and more for
personal branding, so I look on self-summary
with suspicion. When we docked the boat four
hours later, however, I knew that “Old School”
was a moniker befitting the man!
“Growing up, I fished with my dad all the time.
I figured out things that would work for us, and
that’s what we did all the time. For me, going out
on a body of water that I have no knowledge at all
about patterns and the stage the fish are in, I (at
least) want to be confident in what I’m using. It
may not always be the best thing to be using at the
time, but at least I will be fishing with something
that I have confidence in.” – Casey Ashley
still pretty simple as far as my bait selection
and approach…still using the same stuff. I’m
just on the water more and have been in more
tournament situations now. It’s not like I am doing
anything different. I am just learning to be more
efficient at what I do! The more simple you keep
it, the better off you are.”
That’s not to say he hasn’t added to his game.
Take his Bassmaster Classic victory on Lake
Hartwell as evidence. A pro with a preference
for plucking bass from shallow water targets,
he caught the lion’s share of his fish from deep
water. He even fought off an almost haunting
conviction that his best chance to win would be
fishing a jig before yielding to a deep pattern,
using a Zoom Super Fluke Jr. and a homemade
spinner jighead fashioned by his father.
At our first meeting, he had said: “I like to stay
with my particular strengths, but if I have to do
something else to win, that’s what I am going to
do, whether I am good at it or not.”
That theme had not changed years later in the
wake of his Bassmaster Classic win following
a 2014 season that included an FLW Tour
Victory. “The reason I am where I am today
is that I’ve stuck with a basic, simple arsenal
to break down any fishery – a few baits I have
confidence in when they are in my hands and a
few colors I have confidence in.”
Here’s how bass fishing’s current King of
the Hill covers all bases with four basic
“confidence” baits.
Casey Ashley, the latest Bassmaster Classic
champion, remains as immutable today in the
middle of a wildly cheering crowd and cloud of
confetti as the 18-year-old kid who learned to
chuck a Zoom Fluke to the edge of a school of
thrashing blueback herring with his dad.
“I’m pretty relaxed all the time. I don’t get
too uptight….Before a tournament, I’ll go out
in my boat, straighten out my tackle, remove
stuff I don’t need…and get a feel for what I’ll
be doing. It’s not really meditating, but it is
somewhat like that. – Casey Ashley
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” he laughs, now with
better reason than ever to rest comfortably
in that “Old School” conceptual armchair. “I’m
Fluke
Much has been made of the handmade
“horsehead spin,” a Road Runner-style bait that
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