By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Andy Newcomb's runner-up finish at the Lake of the Ozarks Plains Division Toyota Series event in early March was his best to that point at the triple-A level. A few weeks later, he did himself one better on the same circuit at Grand Lake.

The 33-year-old from Camdenton, Mo. took top honors at Grand with a three-day total of 52-13, eclipsing 2nd-place finisher Chris M. Jones by 11 ounces. The Top 10 had begun the final day separated by only about 4 pounds and when he arrived at the weigh-in, he didn't think his 15-11 bag would be sufficient to garner him the trophy.

"I didn't think it was going to be nearly enough," he said. "Chris Jones was right behind me; it was his home lake and he's crazy good, and a lot of other guys were close.

"The main thing for me was just staying open-minded and being willing to not only adjust patterns, but also locations. I didn't practice at all in the Elk River, but I ran in there on day 2 and did all my damage and I never left it on day 3."

From Gravel to Bluffs

Newcomb, formerly a foreman for a yacht-cleaning firm at Ozarks who's fishing full-time this year, had been to Grand on a few previous occasions. He qualified there for the 2019 BFL All-American (where he finished 25th) and he had a 7th-place showing in a two-day BFL Super Tournament last fall.

He put in 2 1/2 days of practice for this one. He accomplished nothing on the first half-day, but then picked up a spinnerbait the following day and started getting some bites.

He caught a solid 17-13 stringer on day 1 of the event fishing chunky gravel about halfway back in spawning pockets, compiling the majority of his weight before 10 o'clock. He tried to force that program to produce again on day 2, but with little success. He eventually transitioned to some bluffs in the Elk that he'd soon on Google Maps the previous evening and went from about 9 pounds to more than 19 in the last 90 minutes of the day.

His final-day haul was about 3 1/2 pounds lighter and he had to switch from the spinnerbait to a small jig to catch it, but it was enough to hold off Jones and the other tightly bunched contenders.

There were a lot of fish suspended a ways off the bluffs, but those were uncooperative. Most of the ones he caught were oriented to a piece of wood or rock in 4 to 6 feet of water.

"Day 3 was just tougher," he said. "All throughout the day, it just never got really good at any point in time."

Winning Gear Notes

> Spinnerbait gear: 7'4" medium-heavy Daiwa Tatula Elite Vibrating Jig rod, Daiwa Tatula casting reel, 17-pound Vicious Pro Elite fluorocarbon line, 1/2-ounce Booyah Covert or War Eagle spinnerbait (chartreuse), BioSpawn ExoSwim trailer (Feider shad with tail dyed chartreuse).

> Jig gear: 7'1" medium-heavy Daiwa Tatula Elite rod, same reel and line (20-pound), 1/2-ounce Apex Tackle Dirk's Jig, Zoom Ultravibe Speed Craw trailer.

> He said that jig color didn't seem to matter – the fish he got it in front of were eager to bite.

Notable

> Newcomb is married, but has no children. "I've got a bass boat and I didn't think I could afford both," he said.

> His goal is to compete on the Pro Circuit next year. He has a 10-point lead in the Angler of the Year race with only this week's event at Lake Dardenelle remaining on the Plains schedule.