Reigning Bassmaster Classic champion Casey Ashley had a decent first day, a poor second day and a great third day at last week's Lake St. Clair Bassmaster Elite Series. The end result was a 13th-place finish – he was just 4 ounces short of making the cut to the final day.
"I caught pretty much everything in one place and I had it all to myself," he said. "It was in the northern part of Lake St. Clair and it was pretty shallow – about 8 to 10 feet.
"The first day I busted them on a jerkbait, which was how I caught them in practice. I had three largemouths that day and one of them weighed 4-14."
The conditions turned slick and sunny on day 2 and on his third cast he popped a smallmouth in excess of 4 1/2 pounds. It was easily his biggest bite of the day.
"I had a lot of followers on the jerkbait, but I never could follow up with a dropshot and catch them," he said. "I did everything I could do – I event went to a super-light, wacky-rigged Senko and that didn't work either.
"Also, I had to throw two 3-pounders back because of the rule that they had to be hooked in the mouth, and I caught them in the side with the jerkbait."
The jerkbait was a complete non-factor on day 3, which featured clouds but very little wind.
"I just plunked around with the dropshot and caught a 5-15, and a few casts later I got a 4 1/2. That last day I only got eight or nine bites, but every one of them was a good one – at least 3 1/2 pounds.
"Where I was fishing, the water wasn't as clear as it is on the main part of the lake. In 8 feet I could see the grass, but in 10 feet I couldn't see the bottom. The fish were holding on isolated clumps and when they were hitting the jerkbait, it was pretty easy. Fishing the dropshot was kind of a needle-in-a-haystack deal, but there were a lot of good fish in that area."
The Big Bite Lookback, which focuses on the angler who's first out of the final cut at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great folks at Big Bite Baits.
