Farley Fished Deep, But Shallow Kickers Were Key

The primary focus at the Lanier FLW Series was on deep fish. The Gainesville, Ga. area had experienced chilly weather for several weeks and the majority of the lake's fat spotted bass had yet to make their big move to the spawning flats. They were camped out as far down as 40 feet.

Many of the 200 pro anglers spent all their time in pursuit of those deep-dwellers and totally ignored the shallows. Ah, but some chunky largemouths had already migrated toward the banks to prepare for the spawn – they'd done it about a month ago.

Tim Farley knew about them, and well he should. The resident of nearby Lula fishes the lake several times per week.

He won his tour-level debut – and the Series' first-ever event – with a 56-05 total. He caught the biggest bag on 2 of the 4 days, and his 10-pound stringer on day 4 pushed him 13 ounces in front of runner-up Terry Baksay, who caught only four keepers on the final day.

Here's how he did it.

Practice

Just what would be considered Farley's "practice" for this event? Was it the period of a week or so right before the tournament, when most of the field was there to prepare for the launch of the new Series? Was it all of the tournaments he's fished at Lanier over the past decade (he's won four boats in the past 3 years)? Maybe it was some or all of the approximately 150 days a year he spends on the lake.

Whatever, he was ready.

He discovered the pattern that would lead him to victory during the week prior to the tournament. He could catch an early limit with a locally made, spinnerbait-type lure that he helped design called a Sworming Hornet Fish Head Spin. Then from mid-morning on, he'd pound the shady sides of docks with a jerkbait in search of a bigger bite.

Those bag-boosters from the docks were the keys to his field-best bags on days 1 and 3. "They moved up there when the water was 47 or 48 degrees," he said. "They'd been there about a month. A lot of guys were fishing deeper stuff (exclusively) and they never checked them."

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 19-09
> Day 2: 5, 8-13
> Day 3: 5, 17-15 (15, 46-05)
> Day 4: 5, 10-00
> Total = 20, 56-05

Days 1 and 2

Gainesville-area pros Tom Mann Jr. and Mark Hardin both said the day before the tournament that any of several lesser-known local anglers could play major roles in the outcome. Farley proved them correct.

He whacked the tournament's biggest sack on day 1, a stringer that was topped by a 6-01 largemouth and included another that went 3 1/2. "My goal was to get two big ones every day," Farley said.

As planned, he got a quick limit from his best morning area with the Fish Head Spin. Most of those fish were in 8 to 25 feet of water near creekmouths.

"I'd cast it a long ways, then just work it close to the bottom to start and bring it up until I found what part of the water column they were in," he said. "It was close to where deep water moved up to shallower water and the (bass) had the baitfish corraled up there. I had four different places like that that I fished."

At about 10:30, he moved to his big-fish spot and caught the two largemouths. The dock-fish were in 5 to 6 feet of water and favored the shady side of the wood. He had several location choices for that type of structure as well.

Day 2 wasn't quite so glorious. He missed four good bites in the first 15 minutes (with a TV camera boat there to record them all) and had to scramble the rest of the day just to get five in the well. He dropped to 4th and was more than 5 pounds behind leader Baksay.

He noted that the pressure of being the frontrunner in his pro debut got to him. "I don't know if I was too hyped up or it was the camera-boat jinx or just plain nerves, but I was a little shook up and I got off my gameplan," he said. "But it was a learning experience, and if you don't learn something while you're fishing, then something's wrong."

Days 3 and 4

He pulled everything back together on day 3, which became nearly a carbon copy of the first day. This time there was a 7-pounder in the mix and he moved to within a pound of Baksay. That set up a final-day duel between two anglers who were almost 4 1/2 pounds ahead of the rest of the field.

The field was cut to 10 anglers for day 4, but several local tournaments got under way. He caught just 10-00 and didn't think it would be enough to win, but it held up when Baksay's stringer was a fish short.

He'd saved one morning area for the final day, but couldn't fully capitalize on it due to a 40-minute fog delay. Also, he said some friends of his in one of the local tournaments likely caught some of his fish before he got to them.

"I was catching a lot of short fish, and all day I felt like I was fishing behind people," he said. "I just didn't get the big bites between 11:00 and 1:30 like I had been."

He managed three from his morning spot, then moved to a similar location and bagged two more. He lost two that he estimated at over 4 pounds between 2:00 and 2:30 and thought they had cost him the win.

As it turned out, Baksay had his own story about fish that got away. He had three come unhooked after losing just one over the first 3 days, and the fifth one that he didn't bring in was more of a determinant than either of Farley's lost kickers.

Winning Gear Notes

> Fish Head Spin gear: 7'6" heavy-action Daiwa Heartland X rod, Daiwa Sol casting reel (5.8:1 ratio), 12-pound Seaguar fluorcarbon line, 3/8- or 1/2-ounce Sworming Hornet Fish Head Spin (albino or green albino with color-matched blade), Zoom Super Fluke trailer (white or albino).

> "The lure has both flash and vibration, but it's kind of subtle and the fish love it," Farley said. "You just have to figure out the mood of the fish: Some days they want just a steady retrieve, and other times you have to twitch it or sweep it and let it fall. It'll work in shallow water or water that's 50 feet deep."

> Jerkbait gear: 7'0" medium-action Team Daiwa rod, Pflueger President casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), 12-pound P-Line Fluoroclear, custom-painted Megabass Ito Vision X-110 jerkbait (greenish-brown).

> He painted the jerkbait himself. "The lake has blueback herring, but their color is actually more of a greenish-brown. It's painted up to look like a herring."

> On his jerkbait technique: "I wasn't giving it big jerks. I'd throw it out and pick up the slack, then slap the slack down on the water. It was just enough to make it move maybe a half-inch at a time."

Notable

> Main factor in his success – "Putting in a lot of time on the water and staying with the fish, but trying not to beat them up too much."

> He had empathy for Baksay's plight. "I felt a little bad for Terry, but we both had opportunities and missed them. When it was over, I did the same thing I would've done if he'd have been 1st and I'd been 2nd: I just shook his hand and said congratulations. It was a great start for both of us."

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