California Delta Winning Pattern
Crews Stayed With Program Despite Shortage Of Bites

Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito John Crews rallied from 4th place on the final day to win the California Delta Bassmaster Elite Series.

The Virginian's triumph wasn't all about one late bite, however – far from it. He spent the entire tournament in an area that he was convinced held the winning fish, but it was extremely difficult to get them to bite. He could count on no more than a handful of nibbles a day from the chilled-out Delta bass, and that put a premium on patience, focus and execution.

He failed to weigh a limit on 2 of the 4 days, but caught a full sack that went 20 1/2 pounds on Sunday. That pushed his total to 72-06 – just enough to add his name to the still relatively short list of Elite Series winners.

Here's how he did it.

Practice

Practice was as difficult for Crews as it was for most of the 93-angler field. Water temperatures were more than 5 degrees cooler than when the Elite Series came to the Delta 3 years earlier during the same calendar week, and most of the fish weren't active in preparation for the springtime spawning ritual.

"Practice started out slow, and then it got slower, and then it came to a complete standstill," he said. "I got a few bites in two areas – one north and one south – and I was torn about where I was going to fish. I really battled with it."

He discussed his dilemma with road roommates Ish Monroe and Mike Iaconelli. Monroe told him to go in whichever direction he had a better gut feeling about.

"That's what I did, and I ended up going south."

He had two specific places within that southern area that he thought could be at least semi-productive – a small one with potential that was limited to high-tide periods and a long, dead-end slough where the hydrilla ran deeper than anywhere else he found.

The grass started at the bank and extended out to a depth of 8 or 10 feet, and it harbored some quality fish that seemed to be just waiting for the water to warm up a little bit so they could get on with their reproduction duties.

Competition

> Day 1: 4, 15-02
> Day 2: 5, 21-13
> Day 3: 4, 14-15
> Day 4: 5, 20-08
> Total = 18, 72-06

Crews ended up catching two of his weigh-in fish from the high-water spot and the other 16 from the slough. That same ratio held for baits – two were enticed by a crankbait and 16 were flipped up from the grass.

Day 1 was one of his four-fish days, but that was offset by the fact that one of them was a 7-pounder. He caught his first keeper of the season on a Spro Little John crankbait of his own design, and that might've been a good omen.

"It was neat to catch that first one on a bait that I have so much pride in," he said. "Then I caught one on a bed, a 3 1/2-pounder, and flipped the other two."

He started rainy day 2 in 7th place, but ended it in 3rd after catching 21-13 sack that was his best of the tournament. He got six bites and converted on five, including a 7-12 and another fish that topped 6.

He dropped one spot on day 3 when he was again one fish shy of a limit. It left him 5 1/2 pounds behind new leader Greg Hackney with 1 day to go.

He caught a 3 1/2-pounder fairly early on the final day, and then went about 2 1/2 hours without a bite. He got five more bites from 11:00 on, though, including the hefty one on his final presentation.

"I had about a 30-minute run to get back and I had that Bass Cat/Mercury smoking. I can say that I passed a lot of boats."

Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito Crews downsized his gear for the final day in a quest to get more bites, and it paid off.

Crews said most of his fish were positioned on the outer edges of the hydrilla, no matter the tide stage.

"My theory as to what was going on with those fish was that they wanted to come up and spawn, but they were knocked in the head by the cold water," he said. "The water was 55 degrees most of the time and I think they were just hanging out a little deeper and waiting for it to warm up.

"Almost all of the bites came when the bait was on the bottom or when it was just about to hit the bottom. That was kind of weird because when you're flipping stuff like that, you'll usually get some bites from suspended fish."

He went to monofilament line and downsized his weight on the final day in an attempt to get more bites, and it worked. He said healthy dousings of his bait with Carolina Lunker Sauce was key – he used a new scent called craw-lic (a combination of crawfish and garlic).

Gear Notes

> 7'6" heavy action custom-made flipping stick, Daiwa Zillion casting reel (7:1 ratio), 65-pound Vicious braid or 25-pound Vicious fluorocarbon line, 1- or 3/4-ounce Tru-Tungsten weight, 5/0 Gamakatsu hook, Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver (penetration) or Gambler BB Cricket (riverbug).

> Cranking gear: 7' medium-action custom-made rod, Daiwa Zillion casting reel (6:1 ratio), 12-pound Vicious fluorocarbon, Spro Little John (blood craw).

> "I really made that color for fishing out West," he said of the crankbait. "It's not as good in water that's heavily stained, but if there's just a light stain I really like it."

The Bottom Line

> Main factor in his success – "Committing to that area and staying positive. Also, when it's your time, it's your time, and the longer the tournament went on, the more I started thinking it might be my time."

> Performance edge – "The Carolina Lunker Sauce and the Vicious Line. I had no issues with line and the Sauce might've been the one thing that got me an extra bite or two on the last day."