Wheeler Winning Pattern
Starks Fished Sparingly, Conserved His Quality

Photo: ESPN Outdoors Jeremy Starks found his spot during a chance pull-over on the first day of practice.

Do you continue to stick fish all day to improve another pound or so, or do you pull off and hit the spot fresh the next morning?

Although it's arguable that every tour-level tournament hinges on fish-management decisions, it's also a fact that in no tournament this season was fish management more crucial than last week at the Wheeler Bassmaster Elite Series in Alabama.

The fish were in a phase somewhere between post-spawn and summer, which meant they were on the move out from the shallows to the main-river channel.

That also meant that fishing spots between the flats and river channel replenished throughout the tournament. But fishing wasn't a no-brainer. Numbers were always present, but quality bites were limited.

The big fish were typically the most aggressive and first to hit in the mornings. The pros therefore had most of their weight early, then had to decided whether to lay off or continue fishing their primary spot.

Top patterns for the event almost universally focused on shellbeds on and near the Decatur Flats, where the flats met the main-river channel. Grass doesn't grow on shell, so the bass used those open areas to pick off easy meals.

In a classic shootout, Jeremy Starks and Kevin VanDam squared off on day 4. Starks had barely fished his area the first 3 days, while VanDam fished his spot harder – especially on day 3 when he weighed 22-12, vs. Starks' 20-00.

But day 4 was all about Starks, who weighed 21-15 (vs. VanDam's 20-00) and won by an 8-ounce margin.

What follows is a detailed look at Starks's strategy and gear.

Practice

Starks, a 3rd-year pro from West Virginia, arrived at Wheeler for official practice with the intent to fish the bottom end of the lake, near the dam. But as he ran down the lake the morning of the first practice day, he was watching his Navionics electronic maps. He noticed a creekmouth about halfway down the lake and decided to fish it.

He cranked a couple of bites on the flats around the creekmouth, including a big fish.

"When I caught those few fish and that big one, I looked at my map on my Lowrance and noticed another creekmouth entrance just down below where I was fishing," he noted. I" went right to that one and didn't catch any.

"Then I started throwing a Fat Free Shad and Rat-L-Trap up the creek to where (the creek) entered the main-river channel. (The creek) went up on a flat like in the other location, and that's when I found the little ditch I caught all my fish out of in the tournament."

The "little ditch" was a depression in the flat, but one area inside the depression was "a little high spot." He threw his Rat-L-Trap there, brought in some shell, and knew that the high spot was a shell bed.

He then picked up a 10" Berkley Power worm, fired to the high spot and caught a 7-pounder. He fired back out again and the worm never touched bottom. He shook that fish off, left and never looked at the spot again until day 1 of competition.

Photo: ESPN Outdoors Starks made no more than 21 casts to the heart of his spot, he said, over the first 3 days.

> Day 1: 5, 17-00
> Day 2: 5, 19-11
> Day 3: 5, 20-00
> Day 4: 5, 21-15
> Total = 20, 78-10

Starks went right to his spot the morning of day 1 and "caught them as fast as you could throw in there."

Day 2 was pretty much the same.

He estimated he made 20 casts to the spot each of the first 2 days. He caught his weight, then backed off the area and guarded it against other pros who wanted to fish it.

Also key, he said, was he concealed where, exactly, the "meat of the spot" was. No boats, including local anglers, saw him catch his fish there.

Day 3 was a little different, because he caught four of his five weigh-fish from around the spot, but not in the meat of it. As he moved closer to the meat, his co-angler (who didn't know where it was) happened to fire a cast right on top of it. That cast produced a 5-pounder for the co-angler. Starks then threw to the meat, caught a 6-pounder, and was done for the day.

Day 4 offered him the first opportunity to fish the spot extensively, since he didn't have to save fish. But his excitement to fish it was immediately tempered as soon as he arrived.

"I almost had a heart attack when I got there," he said. "There was an aluminum boat that went by me about 50 times yesterday right on it. But they never saw me fishing the meat of the spot. They were putting a giant in their cooler when I got there.

"I said, 'Hey guys, if y'all don't mind, I'd really like to fish here.' They ignored me and kept fishing. I waited about 30 minutes, trying to calm down and let them fish their way out of there. They were so close to my best spot they could have cast to it. But they hadn't found it exactly. They stayed there about half the day and tried to come in on me all day, but never did. Once I started fishing, I caught my limit pretty quick."

Those limit-fish came as he fished his way over to the meat of the spot. Once he fished the meat, he caught three over 5 pounds in four casts.

That gave him three good fish and two small ones.

He quickly caught another decent fish, then it all quit and he went the next 3 hours without a bite. He did have a backup spot, but didn't think he could cull out the small fish there.

After 3 hours, though, he got the bite he was looking for – a 5-pounder – and he had his winning weight by 2:00. He continued to catch fish – "4-pounder after 4-pounder" – but never improved his bag.

Photo: Berkley Starks' primary weapon was a 10" Berkley Power worm in plum (junebug shown).

Spots all along the Decatur Flats were heavily fished, but his wasn't. About that, he said: "Everything down there gets fished so hard, but I think it was a spot that doesn't get fished because it's not obvious at all."

He caught most of his fish in 7 1/2 to 8 feet of water, but some as shallow as 4 feet. He was throwing across the ditch and dragging the worm across the shell.

Winning Gear Notes

> Worm gear: 7'3" medium-heavy E21 Carrot Stix rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel, 17-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon, 1/4-ounce Tru-Tungsten Worm weight (junebug), 4/0 Owner XXX-strong hook, 10" Berkley Power worm (plum).

> He occasionally threw a 1/2-ounce jig with the same rod, reel and line setup. He created it with a friend and calls it the Heisman jig. It's a football-head with an HP-style hook. The jig was green-pumpkin with five orange strands, and he tipped it with a green-pumpkin 3" Berkley Chigger craw.

The Bottom Line