Boyd Duckett used a combination of a Berkley Powerbait Chigger Craw and a Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap to win the Bassmaster Classic. Runner-up Skeet Reese utilized a similar combo, and 3rd-place finisher Kevin VanDam also threw a lipless crankbait.
BASS Federation Nation qualifier Terry McWilliams relied on the bait that got him there – a specially rigged tube – en route to his 4th-place finish, while veteran Gary Klein (5th) threw nothing but jigs in his 25th Classic appearance.
2nd: Skeet Reese
> Day 1: 5, 17-08
> Day 2: 5, 14-14
> Day 3: 5, 15-14
> Total = 15, 48-04
Reese traveled up the Coosa River and targeted laydowns in 3 to 6 feet of water.
"The positioning of the fish was different each day," he said. "The first day, they were all on the up-current side. (On days 2 and 3), they were all downstream and the bites were very subtle."
He flipped a Chigger Craw for most of his fish, but also caught a few on a lipless crank.
Kevin VanDam's 19-14 bag on day 2 equaled the tournament's best.
> Flipping gear: 8' heavy-action Lamiglas XFT806 flipping stick, Abu Garcia Revo casting reel (6.3:1 gear ratio), 25-pound Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon line, 1/2-ounce Tru-Tungsten weight, 4/0 Reaction Innovations hook, Berkley Powerbait Chigger Craw (green-pumpkin).
> Cranking gear: 7' medium-action Lamiglas SR705R rod, same reel, 12-pound Berkley Trilene line, Lucky Craft SKT Trap (red crawfish).
3rd: Kevin VanDam
> Day 1: 5, 13-01
> Day 2: 5, 19-14
> Day 3: 5, 12-05
> Total = 15, 45-04
VanDam concentrated on grass edges in about 3 feet of water.
"Basically what I was trying to do was parallel the edge of the grass with mid-range and short-distance casts," he said. "I was fishing 17-pound fluorocarbon, so it was pretty heavy line, and when (the bait) hit the grass, I'd just kind of rip it out of there.
"One of the keys was making about a million casts a day."
The Stupid Tube carried Federation Nation qualifier Terry McWilliams to a high finish.
> Cranking gear: 7'0" medium-action Quantum Tour Edition cranking rod, Quantum Tour Edition PT casting reel, 17-pound Bass Pro Shops XPS fluorocarbon, Strike King Red Eye Shad (crawdad and gold).
> He also caught some weigh-in fish on the custom Strike King Flat Shad (crawdad and gold).
4th: Terry McWilliams
> Day 1: 5, 15-09
> Day 2: 5, 12-04
> Day 3: 5, 17-06
> Total = 15, 45-03
McWilliams spent all but the last 2 hours of the tournament fishing a hotwater discharge from a powerplant. He used a bait he employs the vast majority of the time no matter where he's fishing – a Honey Creek Tackle Stupid Tube, produced in his hometown of Greenfield, Ind.
He slipped a 1/8- or 3/16-ounce jighead inside the tube, with the point of the hook Tex-posed. Its name was coined by one of his buddies. "I'd come in (from a day on the water) and he'd ask me, 'What'd you catch them on, that stupid tube again?''' McWilliams said.
> Tube gear: 7'6" medium-heavy Setyr rod, Daiwa Sol spinning reel, 10- and 12-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon line, 1/8- and 3/16-ounce jigheads, Honey Creek Tackle Stupid Tube (green-pumpkin).
> He went in search of a big flipping bite for the last 2 hours of day 3 and caught a 4-pounder on a Lunker Lure Rattleback jig.
Gary Klein switched from deep-jigging to flipping as the weather and water warmed up.
5th: Gary Klein
> Day 1: 5, 11-06
> Day 2: 5, 17-05
> Day 3: 5, 15-10
> Total = 15, 44-05
Klein began the tournament on a deep-jig pattern that he'd discovered in practice, catching fish that were moving toward the shallows to spawn. As the event progressed and the water temperature continued to warm, he began to flip docks.
In either case, precise bait presentation was paramount.
"It was the type of jig bite I excel at – the average angler would never feel the hit," he said. "I never had a textbook jig bite the entire week. It was nothing more than pressure and a sense of feel."
> Deep-jig gear: 7'4" heavy-action Quantum 747 PT rod, Quantum Accurist 570 casting reel, 17-pound Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon, 3/4-ounce Spro prototype jig (brown/purple), unnamed trailer (green-pumpkin/chartreuse).
> Flipping gear: 7'6" Quantum PT Gary Klein signature series flipping stick, same reel, 25-pound Berkley Vanish Transition fluorocarbon, 3/8-ounce Spro prototype jig (brown/purple), smaller unnamed trailer (green-pumpkin/chartreuse).
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