By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor
If Randall Tharp were to visit Lake Norfork to go fun-fishing, he’d tie on a jig and go down some rocky banks, target the stair-step rocks and crevices in between. That’s easy for him to say – that’s exactly how he fished all 4 days en route to winning his first Elite Series tournament last week at Bull Shoals Lake and Norfork.
While others had different patterns and baits pegged for each lake, the Florida resident stuck with what he’s comfortable (and effective) with and that simple approach allowed him to tally 61-10 over 4 days to collect his fourth career B.A.S.S. win and third tour-level triumph.
“Sometimes I fish a technique where I don’t enjoy catching them that way, but it works,” he said. “If I were to go fun-fishing here, I’d pick up my flipping stick and go down the bank. It’s my favorite way to fish.”
At all three events so far, he’s been able to have success targeting and catching fish in manners he’s comfortable with and the result is a 16-point lead in the Angler of the Year race a third of the way through the season.
“I hadn't seen either of these lakes before other than being on Bull Shoals for Ranger (Boats) test drives,” Tharp said. “I’d never made a cast there. I didn’t figure it would be hard to get a good bag because we caught them at a good time with them spawning. I knew they’d be on the bank. I figured I’d catch some, but this tournament is the last one I would’ve picked on the schedule and told you I had a chance to win.”
Here’s how he did it.
Practice
Tharp said he paid close attention to what went down at the Beaver Lake FLW Tour, which concluded just as he and his Elite Series competitors were beginning their practice at Bull Shoals and Norfork. He cashed checks in three of the five FLW Tour events he competed in at Beaver between 2009-14 and he figured he could pick up a few clues based on how the Beaver Lake event played out.
What’s more is he and Scott Canterbury, who won this year’s tournament at Beaver, tend to attack that lake in a similar fashion – focusing on shallow-water targets with a jig more often than not.
“I paid attention to Beaver Lake,” Tharp said. “It gave me some kind of idea of what was going on and to be perfectly honest, Scott and I fished alike whenever we fished Beaver.”
But Tharp didn’t start thinking the jig would be his main weapon until the third day of practice, which he spent at Bull Shoals.
He spent the first day at Norfork and caught 15 pounds worth of smallmouth on a wacky rig, a VMC Rugby Head and a shaky-head.
He went to Bull Shoals the following day, but had no success trying the same array of baits. On the third day of practice, he returned to Bull Shoals and started to take note of where fish were bedding, but had a frustrating time.
“I couldn’t even catch the bedding fish,” he said.
Around 3 p.m. that day, he regrouped and made a run toward Diamond City where East and West Sugarloaf creeks empty into the White River.
“There were some creeks up there with channel-swing banks and I knew that’s how Scott won at Beaver,” he said. “On my first stop, the third pitch a big one ate my jig. I ran 50 gallons of gas out of my boat until dark that day marking all of the creeks with swings like that.”
He went back to Norfork for the final day and tried to expand on what he’d found at Bull Shoals.
“The first place I stopped, I had a big one get it,” he said. “I had three creeks on each lake. All of them had colored water and the right stuff. I basically spent the entire event in one creek at each lake.”
Competition
> Day 1: 5, 15-08
> Day 2: 5, 13-12
> Day 3: 5, 16-04
> Day 4: 5, 16-02
> Total = 20, 61-10
What most deemed as a day they were trying to survive in order to position themselves to make a run at a top-50 berth on day 2 at Bull Shoals, the opening day of the tournament turned into a memorable experience for Tharp.
After enduring nearly a 2-hour fog delay, he proceeded to have one of the most fun days he’s ever had on the water at Norfork as he sorted through an estimated 50 keepers to total 15-08, good enough for 5th place.
He picked apart areas in Bennett’s Bayou and by day’s end, he couldn’t wait to (hopefully) get back for the final day when only 12 competitors would be left.
Day 2 saw the tournament shift to Bull Shoals and he caught his lightest bag of the event (13-02) while moving between three different creeks. With the water in the bushes, he opted to target bluff banks and channel swings. He caught some fish around wood, but didn’t focus solely on bushes or buck brush like others did.
On day 3, he committed to one creek and got away from the steeper banks and started to hone in on flooded bushes. He made a pass down what he thought was his best channel swing and didn’t get a bite. The first bush he came to produced a 2-pounder and from there, he kept an open mind and put his jig near any cover that he came across. It resulted in a 16-04 bag that pushed him into the lead by 6 ounces over Chris Zaldain, who was committed to a dropshot pattern in bushes at Bull Shoals.
“I started Sunday in the same spot I fished Thursday and got bit regularly all day long,” he said. “I fished that stretch twice and on my second pass I caught big ones. It was a place I literally found on the map.”
He described his best stretches as stair-step rock bluffs, where fish would be setting up to spawn either on the rocks on in the crevices in between them.
“Most of the time, I kept the boat over 10 to 12 or 15 to 20 feet and all of the fish came from 6 inches to 4 feet,” he said. “Most of the big ones, I’m guessing, were up in about 2 feet.”
His last fish on Sunday, which proved to be the winning fish, came from a spot that caught his eye.
“It was a perfect white spot on a shelf near a dark crevice,” he said. “I was just pitching to those types of targets – ledges or dark spots. I was trying to visualize where they’d be spawning or laying.”
Winning Gear Notes
> Jig gear: 7’6” heavy-action Halo Fishing Twilite Series casting rod, Team Lew's Pro Magnesium Speed Spool casting reel (7.5:1 ratio), 16-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, 1/2- and 5/8-oz. 4x4 Bass Jigs Randall Tharp Signature Series flipping jig (golden craw), Zoom Big Salty Chunk trailer (green-pumpkin).
> A key adjustment for Tharp was going from the 1/2 oz to 5/8-oz. jig toward the end of day 2. His last fish that day was his best one and he stuck with the heavier version the rest of the way because the faster fall rate seemed to trigger more bites.
The Bottom Line
> Main factor in his success – “Being stubborn as hell. After I got those bites in practice on that jig, I told myself that with those fish laying on beds all over the place, my best chance to beat the sight-fishing guys was to do what I’m good at it and that’s the flipping stick. That’s the coolest thing about tournament fishing. There’s no right or wrong way to do things. You do what’s best for you and when you do that, you become a better fisherman.”
> Performance edge – “Right now, I have an unbelievable amount of confidence in my equipment. I haven’t had that in a long time. I feel like I have the best boat and motor and rods and reels. I feel like I’m representing the right companies right now.”
Much of the tackle referenced above is available at the BassFan Store. To browse the selection, click here.
