A simple bait change or a move to a different area wasn't enough to save Clark Reehm at last week's Alabama River Bassmaster Elite Series. He needed to shift his focus to a different species of bass.
After weighing 8-09 and sitting in 83rd place after day 1, he doubled up on his weight the following day to move up to 45th place and earn his fourth paycheck in five outings this season.
"The difference from day 1 to day 2 was I went after largemouth on day 2," he said. "On the first day I chased after spotted bass, and that all stemmed from practice. I caught a 4-pound-plus spot, which was my biggest one ever, and I let that mess with my head.
"On day 1 I was leap-frogging in the river with guys like Skeet, KVD and Ike, guys who caught them, but I wasn't getting the quality. I don't know if my timing was off or what."
With nothing to lose on day 2, he opted to pursue green fish, which were basically ignored throughout the event because the big spots were chomping in the rampaging rivers.
He threw a DUO Realis Popper 64 topwater in grass and lily pads and pitched a Kicker Fish Hightail Lizard around trees to catch his 17-pound stringer. He said he should've backed up that bag with another strong weight on day 3, when he managed just 9-01 and fell one place to finish 46th.
"I should've had 14 or 15 pounds that day, but I didn't put the bites in the boat."
The Sunline Strong Performer, which focuses on the angler who makes the most significant single-day move in the standings at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great people at Sunline.
