Gordon Opted To Just Crank On Final Day

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

Shawn Gordon got even with Grand Lake and got a nice little bonus in the process.

“I’ve been over there four times now,” said the Russellville, Ark., native. “The first two times I got my teeth kicked in in those Nichols Marine tournaments. Another time, I fished a BFL there and took second.”

He outdid himself on his most recent visit as he claimed victory at the TBF National Championship and the accompanying Living the Dream package that includes entry into this year’s BFL All-American, the Forrest Wood Cup as well as paid entry into the 2016 FLW Tour and use of a boat and truck next year.

Gordon, who won a BFL at his home lake of Lake Dardanelle a few weeks ago, was focused solely on being the top finisher in the Central Division after day 2 since that would clinch a spot in the All-American, an event he finished 4th at in 2013. He caught 31-08 over the first 2 days to edge out Dean Matts for the top spot in the Central group.

He tacked on 18-10 on the final day to prevail by nearly 5 pounds over Sam Heckman of Colorado.

“I guess I got lucky,” he said. “It’s got everything you want to do over there. You can fish shallow in the dirt or go down in the clear water by the dam. I’ve won the (Arkansas) state federation tournament a couple times, but this outdoes that. I’ve won Mr. Bass of Arkansas, which is a pretty neat deal, but not on this scale.”

Here’s how he did it.

Practice

The week before the TBF event, Grand Lake was a veritable sight-fishing paradise. Waves of bass moved shallow just in time for the Central Rayovac Series tournament that was dominated by those looking at fish on beds.

Gordon said he tried to capitalize on the remnants of the spawners that had moved up shallow, but rising water made it more challenging.

“Those Rayovac guys hit it at the absolute peak,” he said. “After they left, the water came up over a foot plus it cooled off.”

Gordon came expecting a warm-weather event.

“I took nothing but shorts,” he quipped. “I figured I’d burn the banks looking for sight fish.”

He marked a handful on Monday, the first day of practice, but they were long gone by the start of the tournament.

“The deeper beds were harder to see with the water coming up,” he said. “I tried to find other stuff I could trust if I wasn’t going to be able to look at them.”

He found areas where he could get bites on a couple topwater baits (big Pop-R and a Spook) and also got bit with a ChatterBait in dingy water.

“I looked for fish every day,” he said. “I didn’t mark that many. I’m not sure if they caught them all or if they backed off because of the cool weather. I’m sure it was a combination.”

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 17-03
> Day 2: 5, 14-05
> Day 3: 5, 18-10
> Total = 15, 50-02

Gordon started the event with a old square-bill crankbait and caught two keepers in the first couple hours to break the ice.

“I had a pretty good starting spot every day,” he said. “I’d fish that for an hour or two until the sun got up.”

He went to some bedding fish and finished off his limit and culled a few times flipping a creature a bait.

“I wish I’d left a few more of them for Friday,” he said, “but I wound up with 10 keepers and left a couple (on beds) that I knew were decent for Friday.”

He caught one cranking and picked off three bedders Friday before running to new water.

“I found a new spot and worked on a female for 30 minutes, but she got funky on me,” he said. “I found another 3-pounder and stuck it, but it came off.”

He went back to the bigger female, but couldn’t trigger a bite so he ran back close to the ramp with four fish.

“I ended up catching one more on the crankbait at 2:15 and Dean Matts, the guy I needed to beat, was across the same pocket so he got to watch me catch my fifth fish,” Gordon added.

Heckman had 34-03 through the first 2 days, which gave him about a 2 1/2-pound cushion over Gordon entering the final day when just the seven division winners competed. Facing an early check-in time – the competitors had to check in at 1 p.m. in order to drive to Rogers, Ark., to be part of the FLW Tour weigh-in festivities – Gordon opted to scrap the sight-fishing program since he’d pretty much exhausted most of his options.

Instead, he went with his confidence bait – a tired and faded square-bill that he says “used to be chartreuse, but now is more of an off white,” and features a more rounded bill just from repeated use.

He managed to catch eight keepers on the shorter day, but they were all quality fish. His co-angler also came in with 16-plus pounds.

“All of the fish came off flat, shallow points close to creek channels,” he said. “It was a lot more action-packed than Friday. I really struggled Friday.”

Winning Gear Notes

> Sight Fishing gear: 7’ heavy-action G. Loomis Classic Bass GLX casting rod, Shimano Chronarch E casting reel (7:1 gear ratio), 20-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon line, 3/8-oz. unnamed tungsten worm weight, 4/0 unnamed straight shank flipping hook, YUM Christie Craw (green-pumpkin).

> Cranking gear: 7’ medium-heavy G. Loomis GLX crankbait rod, Shimano Chronarch E casting reel (6.5:1), 12-pound unnamed monofilament line, unnamed square-bill crankbait (faded chartreuse).

The Bottom Line

> Main factor in his success – "Punting on sight-fishing and staying close and catching those cranking fish (Saturday). If I hadn’t caught a couple early, I probably would’ve run down to where I was looking at them, but only have one 3-pounder for sure to look at, making the decision to scrap that was key. It made more sense with it being a short day and it being rough.”

> Performance edge – "Those Power-Poles for sight-fishing. I don’t have them on my boat, but I think I will be looking into getting a set. Those were the biggest tools fishing wise.”

Final Results

1. Shawn Gordon -- Russellville, Ar -- 17-3 (5) -- 14-5 (5) -- 31-8 (10) -- 18-10 (5) -- 50-2 (15) -- $5,000 + Living The Dream Package ($95,000), Ranger Cup Z518 Boat ($33,000)

2. Sam Heckman -- Fountain, Co -- 15-15 (5) -- 18-4 (5) -- 34-3 (10) -- 11-7 (4) -- 45-10 (14) -- $1,500 + Bfl All-American Package ($2,500)

3. Brian Laclair -- Denton, Md -- 13-10 (5) -- 13-11 (5) -- 27-5 (10) -- 13-4 (5) -- 40-9 (15) -- $1,500 + Bfl All-American Package ($2,500)

4. Mark Lundgren -- Cocoa, Fl -- 10-13 (3) -- 16-14 (5) -- 27-11 (8) -- 9-3 (4) -- 36-14 (12) -- $1,500 + Bfl All-American Package ($2,500)

5. Curtis Richardson -- Belleville, On -- 14-1 (5) -- 7-6 (3) -- 21-7 (8) -- 12-9 (5) -- 34-0 (13) -- $1,500 + Bfl All-American Package ($2,500)

6. Nicholas Smyers -- Franksville, Wi -- 10-7 (5) -- 14-1 (5) -- 24-8 (10) -- 2-12 (1) -- 27-4 (11) -- $1,500 + Bfl All-American Package ($2,500)

7. Mark Maderos -- Maple Valley, Wa -- 11-12 (5) -- 11-5 (3) -- 23-1 (8) -- 2-13 (1) -- 25-14 (9) -- $1,500 + Bfl All-American Package ($2,500)

The following anglers did not make the cut and did not fish on day 3.

8. Jon Griffith -- Mesa, Az -- 18-13 (5) -- 14-14 (5) -- 33-11 (10) -- 33-11 (10) -- $1,000

9. Dean Matts -- Yukon, Ok -- 16-3 (5) -- 15-1 (5) -- 31-4 (10) -- 31-4 (10) -- $1,000 -- $1,000

10. Brian Maloney -- Osage Beach, Mo -- 14-7 (5) -- 15-5 (5) -- 29-12 (10) -- 29-12 (10) -- $1,000

11. Kent Priel -- North Platte, Ne -- 13-7 (5) -- 15-11 (5) -- 29-2 (10) -- 29-2 (10) -- $400

12. Norman Foskey -- Biloxi, Ms -- 12-1 (5) -- 14-11 (5) -- 26-12 (10) -- 26-12 (10) -- $400

13. David Keisel -- Chesapeake, Va -- 11-5 (5) -- 14-8 (5) -- 25-13 (10) -- 25-13 (10) -- $400

14. Ed Loughran -- Mechanicsville, Va -- 14-13 (5) -- 10-13 (5) -- 25-10 (10) -- 25-10 (10) -- $400

15. Brian Hickey -- Cadiz, Ky -- 14-12 (5) -- 10-9 (5) -- 25-5 (10) -- 25-5 (10) -- $400

16. Joey L. Nichols -- Cumming, Ga -- 13-4 (5) -- 11-13 (5) -- 25-1 (10) -- 25-1 (10) -- $400

17. Aaron Britt -- Yuba City, Ca -- 11-10 (5) -- 12-11 (4) -- 24-5 (9) -- 24-5 (9) -- $400

18. Heath Wagner -- Angola, In -- 10-5 (5) -- 12-12 (5) -- 23-1 (10) -- 23-1 (10) -- $400

19. Terry Tucker -- Gadsden, Al -- 9-5 (4) -- 12-11 (4) -- 22-0 (8) -- 22-0 (8) -- $400

20. Chris Irigoyen -- Henderson, Nv -- 12-10 (5) -- 8-8 (4) -- 21-2 (9) -- 21-2 (9) -- $400

21. Kyle Gelles -- Pingree, Id -- 13-0 (5) -- 8-0 (5) -- 21-0 (10) -- 21-0 (10)

22. Danny Stamper -- Eureka, Mt -- 15-15 (5) -- 4-11 (2) -- 20-10 (7) -- 20-10 (7)

23. Justin Hicks -- Gunnison, Co -- 10-1 (5) -- 9-13 (5) -- 19-14 (10) -- 19-14 (10)

24. Michael Mcnary -- Methuen, Ma -- 15-7 (5) -- 4-0 (2) -- 19-7 (7) -- 19-7 (7)

25. Dan Marcolini -- Joliet, Il -- 7-10 (3) -- 11-7 (5) -- 19-1 (8) -- 19-1 (8)

26. Scott Janus -- Wallingford, Ct -- 9-2 (5) -- 9-10 (5) -- 18-12 (10) -- 18-12 (10)

27. Dennis Hastings -- Flower Mound, Tx -- 13-5 (5) -- 5-6 (3) -- 18-11 (8) -- 18-11 (8)

28. Alex Orme -- Maplewood, Mn -- 11-10 (5) -- 6-12 (3) -- 18-6 (8) -- 18-6 (8)

29. Scott Cooke -- Marengo, Oh -- 9-4 (4) -- 9-0 (5) -- 18-4 (9) -- 18-4 (9)

30. Jason Baird -- Gypsum, Ks -- 10-1 (5) -- 7-14 (3) -- 17-15 (8) -- 17-15 (8)

31. Brian Morin -- Manchester, Nh -- 6-1 (3) -- 11-13 (5) -- 17-14 (8) -- 17-14 (8)

32. Dan Rodriguez -- Monkton, Md -- 8-6 (3) -- 9-3 (3) -- 17-9 (6) -- 17-9 (6)

33. Mike Hardin -- Pleasant View, Tn -- 9-2 (5) -- 8-3 (4) -- 17-5 (9) -- 17-5 (9)

34. Jeff Hager -- Alexis, NC -- 4-5 (2) -- 12-12 (5) -- 17-1 (7) -- 17-1 (7)

35. Steve Dinkler -- Daniels, WV -- 10-4 (5) -- 6-12 (2) -- 17-0 (7) -- 17-0 (7)

36. Keith Kurpicki -- Washington, NJ -- 11-11 (5) -- 4-10 (3) -- 16-5 (8) -- 16-5 (8)

37. Davey Thomas -- Sumter, SC -- 3-4 (2) -- 12-13 (4) -- 16-1 (6) -- 16-1 (6)

38. David Barnes Sr -- China, Me -- 13-0 (5) -- 2-11 (1) -- 15-11 (6) -- 15-11 (6)

39. Edward Chin -- Gresham, Or -- 5-15 (2) -- 9-5 (4) -- 15-4 (6) -- 15-4 (6)

40. Bubba O’Neil -- Evanston, Wy -- 11-12 (4) -- 2-3 (1) -- 13-15 (5) -- 13-15 (5)

41. Byron Kenney -- Griffin, Ga -- 12-0 (5) -- 1-10 (1) -- 13-10 (6) -- 13-10 (6)

42. David Hart -- Watertown, NY -- 1-14 (1) -- 11-4 (5) -- 13-2 (6) -- 13-2 (6)

43. Ryan Anderson -- Reading, Pa -- 7-2 (3) -- 5-5 (2) -- 12-7 (5) -- 12-7 (5)

44. Shane Cowan -- Pierre, SD -- 4-4 (2) -- 7-5 (3) -- 11-9 (5) -- 11-9 (5)

45. Brett Hortman -- West Monroe, La -- 2-10 (2) -- 7-0 (3) -- 9-10 (5) -- 9-10 (5)

46. Thomas Blank -- Warwick, RI -- 0-0 (0) -- 6-12 (3) -- 6-12 (3) -- 6-12 (3)

47. Bob Keb -- Ft Wayne, In -- 4-1 (2) -- 1-15 (1) -- 6-0 (3) -- 6-0 (3)

48. Mark Bilodeau -- Burlington, Vt -- 0-0 (0) -- 0-0 (0) -- 0-0 (0) -- 0-0 (0)