TTBC Winning Pattern
Jordon's Team 20 Cranked Deep, Added Some Bed-Fish

Photo: TTBC Team 20 relied primarily on a deep bite, but also poked around with some shallow stuff.

That's pretty much the staple at Lake Fork. But getting on top of that bite takes some study.

This year, the deep-crank crown went to Team 20, which included captain Kelly Jordon, plus teammates David Smith, Lance Vick and David Walker.

They almost let the event slip through their fingers when Bobby Lane's Team 9 made a late charge, but in the end, Jordon and company prevailed by a little more than 8 pounds. Here's how they did it.

Practice

Both Jordon and Vick are Lake Fork experts. Jordon's a former guide on the lake, and Vick's currently a top guide (some say the top guide) on the waterbody.

Given that local knowledge, Jordon said he and Vick had "two or three ideas" of what they thought should be going on. The lake was far behind though, and the major wave of big fish hadn't spawned yet. In fact, Jordon said it was the latest spawn he'd seen in the past 20 years.

"We had a really good feeling the fish would be coming with the full moon," Jordon noted. "Then there's always the deep bite, which was really strong last year. So we looked for that – Lance and I know all the same stuff. Together, we were able to really dial in on them and when it came down to it, we had four deep spots that were holding fish, plus another one that held a couple."

He noted that "other spot" was a big-fish spot, and that's where Lane caught the big fish of the tournament.

The team also had several bed-fish marked, and caught a few swimbait fish.

However, the night before the event began, a major front moved through, which Jordon said changed things up a lot.

Still, the team's plan was to fish deep for the morning session, but quickly jump shallow if it wasn't happening, and do the same thing in the afternoon.

Day 1

> AM Session: 4, 14-12
> PM Session: 8, 31-08

"The first morning was ideal swimbait conditions," Jordon said. "Mike McClelland and Dave Wolak whacked them, but we didn't take advantage of the swimbait bite. We just missed that cue."

Another problem was Vick felt a lot of home-lake pressure, Jordon said, and that likely affected how he fished. The morning duo of Vick and Smith caught just four fish for 14-12, which pretty much put the team in last place.

"It was post-frontal and super windy," Jordon noted. "It was like a replay of the first day last year. Lance got out there, it was really windy, and it was really difficult for him. He tried to fish deep and it wasn't working. I think he got really frustrated. Then he was trying to run around and it didn't work.

"I think he was a little shaky with the format and the weather, and I think he tried to do too much too quick. That kind of put us behind the eight-ball. I talked to Dave and Lance, and said, 'We all know this is a big mental game.' I wanted to tighten up (Vick) and make sure he stayed on track. I think he really had a battle with the mental game the first quarter with the tremendous amount of pressure from his friends and family."

When Jordon and Walker launched, the wind was still rocking, but they scored eight fish for 31-08.

"The deep fish weren't feeding that great," Jordon said of that afternoon session. "We caught some out there, then ran shallow for 45 minutes, then ran back out deep and were able to catch a couple more key fish."

With that session, the team moved up to finish the day in 11th.

"We were back in the game," Jordon added. "In that first period, we had like 14 pounds, but other teams had 49 or 59 pounds. I'll tell you, big Dave (Smith) was so excited. You could see his frustration in being so far back. But (Walker) and I were able to pull us back in the game."

Day 2

> AM Session: 10, 39-04
> PM Session: 9, 37-04

Jordon instructed Vick and Smith to head to the team's best deep spot in the morning "and camp out."

That's exactly what the two did and they sacked a double-limit weighing 39-04.

"Dave Smith turned out to be the anchor of that team," Jordon noted. "He was the guy that put them in the boat."

Jordon and Walker repeated their strategy from the day before – mostly deep stuff, but a short period of bed-fishing – and likewise boxed a high-30s sack.

With the two sessions combined, the team moved into the lead with 1 day left to fish.

Photo: BassFan Kelly Jordon said the win meant something extra because they did it as a team.

> AM Session: 11, 51-00
> PM Session: 12, 54-04

The Top 5 teams that survived the cut faced a somewhat different format on day 3. There were still two sessions, but all four team members fished each session. A team could therefore weigh a total of 40 bass.

About his team's final-day strategy, Jordon said: "We had a couple of key spots, and I told Lance to stay on the same one (from the day before) and fish that. It's real close to some other stuff he really likes to fish, and it was close to some bed-fish in case the water slicked off.

"Four hours is so short, you don't want to be too spread out. You want to have a lot of stuff close together so you can bounce. That was part of our strategy."

While Vick and Smith camped on their deep bite, Jordon and Walker launched into a run-and-gun attack, where they hit every little spot Jordon knew that was reasonably close by.

Jordon and Walked couldn't get their deep bite going in the morning, but ran the bank to catch some weight.

After the morning session, the team was still in 1st place.

In the afternoon session, Jordon sent Vick and Smith deep again, but told them to go to the bank if they had to.

Jordon and Walker tried their deep bite and caught a 5-pounder, but that was it. They went to the bank and caught some bed-fish, which gave them four fish.

Then they met back up with Vick and Smith, who only had one fish. "That was like a stab in the heart," Jordon noted. "We'd heard on the radio that Bobby was catching them."

Jordon left Vick and Smith to fish deep at the spot where they met.

Jordon and Walker then caught good weight out deep, while Vick and Smith managed three more fish.

That was it. Their total was enough to win by a little more than 8 pounds.

Winning Pattern Notes

Jordon said the team's deep spots were very small, and littered with timber. Most were about 18 feet deep, but one topped out at 27 feet.

The trick was to get the crankbait down and banging bottom, which was difficult given the standing timber. But he and Vick knew the proper alignment from years of fishing.

Jordon added that he'd use the trolling motor to help extend the cast, then stop the trolling motor and begin cranking. He estimated the bait would be in the strike zone for perhaps 10 to 15 yards of the retrieve, at most.

Winning Gear Notes

The team used a few different deep cranks. Jordon caught all his deep fish on a Lucky Craft Fat CB D-20 crank, which he helped design.

He said Walker threw the D-20 and a Norman DD22, while Vick worked just the DD22.

About the D-20, Jordon said: "It's the finest deep-diving crank there is. I had a pretty good hand in designing the bait. It has a different action down there when it hits bottom, and 95% of the time, it'll beat anything else you can throw in there. And it wanders a little bit like a (Storm) Wiggle Wart."

Jordon threw the D-20 on a 7' medium-action Techna AV rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel, and 12-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon. His best colors for the D20 were white/splatterback and pearl/ayu.

> About his choice of 12-pound fluoro in heavy timber, he said: "Any heavier and they wouldn't bite it. You can still get the bait down with heavier line, but they won't bite it. I don't know why that is. I think maybe the heavier line hums more in the water. Ten years ago it didn't matter, but the fish are a lot smarter now."

> He bed-fished with a green-pumpkin Lake Fork Tackle Baby Fork craw.

The Bottom Line

> Main factor in their success – "Knowledge of the lake helped a bunch. It was a tough event, so that's when (local knowledge) can really shine. Also, we stayed with it. We didn't fill our limits every period – I think we scored 54 bass out of a possible 80 – but we were catching some very good fish. The key was staying with that bite and knowing how to fish deep. Also, dealing with all the pressure and hoopla was tough. David (Walker) fished great. Dave Smith, like I said, was an anchor. He was really able to be a strong leader for our team. Not only did he put points on the board – he worked with Lance to help him make the right decisions. You can see that in how they bounced back from disaster."

Notable

> About the win, Jordon said: "I've never been so excited for a win in my life. I think what made it so special was, you've got your team and everybody's so excited. You're happy for yourself, but you're really happy for your teammates. Man, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. It was unbelievable."

> About why the typically reliable deep bite was so unstable, he noted: "There wasn't a whole lot of fish out there, and they weren't big ones. The average fish we were catching were 3 to 5 pounds. The big ones were all up near the banks waiting to spawn. The vast majority of the big fish, like 95%, are up shallow. That's why the deep fishing was such a spotty deal."