Clarks Hill Reservoir near Augusta, Ga., has sort of developed a personality of its own the last 3 years. And if there's one thing that defines that personality, it's that it changes all the time.
Some of that's because of the BASS scheduling. Two years ago, the Bassmaster Tour visited during the pre-spawn. Last year, the Elite Series (the new version of the Tour) visited during the post-spawn. This time, it came right at the tail end of the initial spawn, so some fish were still waiting to move up, while others were already in the post-spawn transition.
But that's just part of the equation. The bite also changes, often on a daily basis, because of the blueback herring – a nomadic baitfish that the bass pursue with a vengeance. As the bait goes, so do the bass. In other words, if the bass aren't up and feeding on the bait,
almost nothing will catch them. And when they are up and feeding, only a lightning-quick, dead-accurate cast will catch them.
There are exceptions, as Mike McClelland proved 2 days ago when he won the Clarks Hill Bassmaster Elite Series. He focused on shallow fish that weren't yet actively feeding on bluebacks. And on the final day, he ditched all his used water and fished new points with the same technique.
What he did on day 4 was similar to how he fishes at home. It's also exactly how he fished at last year's Grand Lake Elite Series, which he won. He calls it "chasing the wind," and it worked. He shocked the field with a 19-15 limit and moved up from 3rd to win by a 1-07 margin.
It was his second BASS tour-level victory in as many years. Here's how he did it.
Practice
This was McClelland's third tour event at Clarks. He finished 29th in 2006, and 30th in 2005. Pretty darn strong.
"I'd always caught them on a jig at some point here the prior 2 years," he said. "(In 2005), I caught them on a jig way upriver in off-colored water. I caught fish that were basically post-spawn fish guarding fry. Last year, I realized the river deal wouldn't hold up. I caught one good bag upriver, then worked my way down-lake, trying to learn why they catch them like they do in the lower lake."
He mostly threw topwater in the lower lake last year, but said he never slowed down enough to get the jig going like it should have. Of course, Davy Hite won last year on a jig.
"That's the reason I kept the jig in my hand so much this year," McClelland noted. "In practice, I felt I just needed to figure out which Jewel jig they were going to bite."
He worked the lower lake and went into competition with basically two areas where he'd contacted fish, with several spots in each. But he wasn't sure what each area truly held. His plan was to keep rotating between the two until he hit one while the fish were feeding.
"That's exactly how I fish Grand (Lake)," he added. "I might fish each place two or three times a day."
Day 1 & 2
> Day 1: 5, 20-09
> Day 2: 5, 17-04 (10, 37-13)
McClelland's plan for day 1 was to let the wind dictate what he should fish, and when he should fish it. But it turned out other people had found the same fish, so is was musical boats for a while.
About how he handled it, he said: "The biggest thing was letting the fish rest. If another boat fished it (after me), I wouldn't go back. I'd give the fish time to reposition themselves. Boats moving in and out would spook them and move them off what they were keying on."
He was able to watch several of his areas as he fished others, to judge traffic. Also key, he noted, was his Lowrance GPS. He had all his waypoints marked, and could pull in and make a cast before dropping the trolling motor.
"The other key was low-light conditions and knowing I was throwing in the right area."
He ended day 1 in 3rd, and improved one spot to 2nd after day 2. He caught all the fished he weighed on a Jewel jig.
Days 3 & 4
> Day 3: 5, 12-11
> Day 4: 5, 19-15
> Total = 20, 70-07
The biggest change on day 3 was the wind. It didn't blow, and most of the lake was slick-calm under bright, sunny skies. Previously, the south wind had been key for McClelland's bite. Consequently, day 3 was his lightest of the tournament.
McClelland said long casts were critical, but the shallow fish were quick to drop the jig, so a long rod paired with fluorocarbon was key.
"I don't think I fished poorly the third day – I caught everything that bit me – but the slick conditions without any wind really hampered me a little bit," he said. "I think I fished a little fast the third day, which was pretty critical, because up to that point, 80% of the fish I'd caught bit the jig when it was almost sitting still."
Day 4 was nearly as calm, but there was a slight breeze at times that hit specific spots on the lake. His primary areas had been beat up, so he didn't even hit them. Instead, he dedicated himself to new water.
The slight wind played into his hand, but the most important factor on day 4, he said, was his fast start, which included a 5-pounder and a few other quality fish.
"If you can boat two or three fish pretty quick, you have the ability to really slow down," he noted. "Every tournament I've won, I've got myself in a pretty specific area and slowed down and thoroughly covered the water. It always helps when you catch one or two pretty quick. It calms the nerves and you can sit back and chill out the way you need to."
With those fish in the box, he began to "chase the wind." He hit every point he could find with some wind and the right structural elements. Again, he caught everything on a jig.
Winning Pattern Notes
McClelland said he fished "extremely shallow" water.
"I never caught a good fish in water deeper than 4 feet. They were all very shallow places, but they did have deep water close to them. They were all clay points with scattered rock mixed in. That was the key."
He added that "99% of them were post-spawn fish, but they weren't in an area they should be in. The points they were on were very susceptible to wind and weather. They were waiting on the blueback to show up.
"I think that's the reason the jig worked so well. They weren't schooling yet on the blueback. They were up there trying to find something to eat, and that 1/2-ounce football jig was the perfect morsel."
Technique Notes
A football-head jig, by design, is meant to catch on rocks.
About how he worked his jig, McClelland said: "I did it a number of different ways, but probably the most consistent bite was dragging the jig on bottom until it hit a rock. Then I'd almost try to shake it in place. I'd just raise my rod up high, shake it as much in one place as I could, then snap it off the rock."
Most of his bites came on the shake, but plenty also came as he snapped it off the rock.
One part of McClelland's success was he let his fish rest and reposition.
"Long casts were probably as big a key to this win as anything," he added. "That gets into the equipment factor. I used 15-pound fluorocarbon, because you couldn't have caught them on mono with the long casts I was making – it stretches too much and you'd have never got a hook in them. The rod was important too."
Winning Gear Notes
> He used two different rods – a 7' heavy-action Falcon Expert and a 7'3" medium-heavy Falcon Mike McClelland signature series. "You had to have that long rod to make a pretty aggressive hookset," he said. "Typically, when you're fishing deeper and dragging the jig more, you can get away with a more sweeping hookset. But these fish weren't eating the jig good. They'd suck it in quick, and if you didn't hit them then, you'd miss them. When they're shallow, they do that."
> He used a Quantum Tour Edition casting reel with a 6.3:1 gear ratio. He noted that the 7:1 Quantum "Burner" would have probably been better, but he hadn't fished with it yet and was more comfortable with the 6.3:1. The high gear speed was important, he added, because a lot of times the fish ate the jig and swam toward him, and he needed to take up line quickly before the hookset.
> He spooled up with 15-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon.
> His primary jig was the same one he used to win at Grand – a 1/2-ounce Jewel Heavy Cover Finesse football jig in peanut butter and jelly, tipped with a green-pumpkin/purple Zoom Super Chunk.
> He also threw a 3/8-ounce Jewel finesse jig on occasion.
> He used the stock finesse-style skirt that comes with the 1/2-ounce football, but often removed it and went with a bulkier skirt. Notable is that Hite won last year with an oversized skirt, too, albeit on a Buckeye Mop jig, not a Jewel.
> About the bigger skirt, McClelland said: "The gentleman I fished with the first day was a local, and he got the first bite on a jig. He was using the Mop jig. And I actually caught my first 6-pounder on the finesse skirt, but he was getting a few more bites than I was, so I bulked up and it made a difference. I caught fish on the finesse-style skirt all week – probably five or six that I weighed – but the bigger, bulkier jig was the key to getting quality bites."
The Bottom Line
> Main factor in his success – "In all honestly, the first fish I caught set the tone for this tournament. It was the first 15 minutes into the first day, and it was a 6-05. I really didn't know I was around that kind of quality. And the first fish my partner caught was a 4. It really made me believe that the deal I was on would be enough to carry me through."
> Performance edge – "I'd have to say it was the fluorocarbon matched with the rod and reel I was using it with. It was balanced – I could make long casts and get a good hookset."
Notable
> He wanted to add that his boat was crucial this week. "I'm running a new Champion 210 with a Mercury Pro XS. We had a couple of days of rough weather, and it allowed me to go out and be comfortable fishing the areas I wanted to. And it's definitely one of the fastest boats on the circuit this year. I was able to pass a few people and get to a spot first."
> On the weigh-in stage, after he won, he told the crowd: "I know they caught them last year on a Buckeye jig, but that Jewel jig will catch them at Clarks Hill."
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