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Norman Patterns 2–5
Morgan Pitched, Others Looked And Shook
Thursday, April 30, 2009
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Photo: FLW Outdoors/Brett Carlson
Andy Morgan caught several of his good fish off bushes near current.
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BassFan recently published the details of Stetson Blaylock's winning pattern from the Norman FLW Tour. He relied on a jig the first 3 days and skipped docks. He added sight-fish along the way, and on the final day, switched to a shakey-head. Here's how the rest of the Top 5 caught their fish.
2nd: Andy Morgan
> Day 1: 5, 10-15
> Day 2: 5, 13-08 (10, 24-07)
> Day 3: 5, 11-02
> Day 4: 5, 12-13 (10, 23-15)
Morgan described his pattern as "kind of junk-fishing," but there were several refinements.
He said he caught 60% of his fish flipping and pitching, while he caught the majority of the rest on a swimbait and finesse worm. The swimbait was especially effective the final 2 days, he noted.
On day 2, he switched to a finesse presentation in order to conserve his better fish until after the cut.
He noted that he came into the event with power-fishing on his mind.
"I knew that was something you could do," he said. "If I had to finesse I would, and I did that on day 3 to catch 10 pounds. I was hoping that would make the cut, so I rolled the dice, hoping to save a couple areas for the final 2 days. I had the perfect gameplan. My execution was lacking."
He pitched and flipped bushes in areas that he called "bottlenecks." These had flowing water that often switched direction – he said he never really figured out the how and why of the flow. "They were post-spawn – spawned out females. They'd set up on the edge of bushes and trees where the water was flowing by. You knew where you were going to get bit. Everybody kind of ignored that deal."
He also pitched docks the first few days, but on the final day, focused almost exclusively on the bushes.
About his swimbait presentation, he said: "I threw a (Reaction Innovations) Skinny Dipper in bad shad, and I'd just go down the bank and catch one spawning every now and then – especially in the mornings before 9:00. I caught two or three that way the last couple of mornings."
> Flipping/pitching gear: 7'5" medium-heavy 2-power G. Loomis 892 rod, Shimano Core casting reel (7:1), 16- and 20-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon, 1/4-ounce weight, 5/0 straight-shank hook, Zoom Super Hog (green-pumpkin) and Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver (green-pumpkin).
Main factor in his success – "Probably moving around a lot, but also saving some water. And just kind of figuring it out early. Heck, we've been here for three springs in a row, so I had a good bead on something a little different. I think Stetson and I both had it figured out pretty well."
Performance edge – "It was probably that Skinny Dipper swimbait. I'd jump on it pretty quickly in the morning and catch two or three 2 1/2-pounders."
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Photo: FLW Outdoors/Rob Newell
Koby Kreiger noted patience was crucial.
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3rd: Koby Kreiger
> Day 1: 5, 11-14
> Day 2: 5, 12-05 (10, 24-03)
> Day 3: 5, 12-09
> Day 4: 5, 9-02 (10, 21-11)
It was no surprise that Koby Kreiger spent his tournament sight-fishing. After all, many say he's the best sight-fisherman in the sport today.
About where he looked, he said: "I was looking more for natural banks inside little secondary pockets. I was doing basically the same stuff as when I fish places like Kentucky Lake. It's pretty good because you can drive down the lake and you didn't really have to fish pockets. You can run by, see what the pocket had in it, and if there were little grass clumps or natural banks with just a downed tree or something, you could go in and fish."
He noted that all his fish were shallow – the deepest he caught fish was probably 3 feet.
He weighed one fish on day 3 that he caught on a 25-year-old Rebel P70 Pop-R in baby bass. He missed several topwater fish the final day.
> Sight-fishing gear: 7' heavy-action G. Loomis 844 IMX rod, Daiwa Steez casting reel, 17-pound McCoy Mean Green line, 1/4-ounce Bass Pro Shops XPS tungsten weight, 4/0 Gamakatsu round-bend hook, Zoom Super Hog (white).
Main factor in his success – "I'd say it was just my ability to sight-fish. I caught six or seven fish this week where my co-anglers were like, 'I don't know if anybody else could have caught that fish.' Basically it was finding a couple of key fish and being able to get them to bite."
Performance edge – "My sunglasses. I wear Costa Del Mars with Sunrise lenses, which are yellow. Most people use gray or black."
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Photo: FLW Outdoors/Brett Carlson
Greg Pugh threw a slew of baits en route to his 4th-place finish.
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4th: Greg Pugh
> Day 1: 5, 12-11
> Day 2: 5, 10-07 (10, 23-02)
> Day 3: 5, 8-08
> Day 4: 5, 10-12 (10, 19-04)
Greg Pugh's another accomplished sight-fisherman who spent most of the event looking.
"Here, you pretty much just look and see where they're coming up at," he said. "They bed on so many different types of banks here that I don't think one bank can always be better than any other.
"My best fish this week came on the riprap. The water this year was about a foot and a half to 2 feet higher than in the past, and the fish were bedding out deep in front of the riprap banks."
He noted he caught most of his fish in about 4 feet of water, and some a little deeper. He spent most of his time above the 150 bridge, where the water was more stained.
> Spinning gear: 7'6' Fenwick Techna AV rod, Abu Garcia Cardinal spinning reel, 6-pound Berkley FireLine Crystal line, 10-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon leader.
> Casting gear: 7'3" heavy-action Fenwick Elite Tech Riggin' Stik, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel, 15- and 20-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon.
He threw a variety of baits, including a 7" Berkley Power Shaky worm, 4 1/2" Berkley Power Slim Shaky worm – both on a 3/16-ounce football head jig. He also used 5/16-ounce PJ's jigs, Hawg Caller spinnerbaits and a Hawg Caller buzzbait.
"There were so many things you had to use this time to get those fish to bite," he said. "I had more rods on my deck than I needed, and every time I turned around I'd step on one. The fishes' attitudes were a lot different this year. They just wouldn't act right and some of them you had to work a lot longer than normal."
Main factor in his success – "Patience. Anytime you're sight-fishing or bed-fishing, you have to have a lot of patience. And a lot of times the fish don't start moving up good until the sun warms up the beds. You just have to wait them out."
Performance edge – "My amber Solar Bat sunglasses. They allowed me to see the fish much better. I went through several different lens colors to get the best one, and that was it."
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Photo: FLW Outdoors/Brett Carlson
Sean Hoernke was able to locate several good docks in practice with a swimbait.
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5th: Sean Hoernke
> Day 1: 5, 9-13
> Day 2: 5, 15-10 (10, 25-07)
> Day 3: 5, 9-00
> Day 4: 5, 8-14 (10, 17-14)
Sean Hoernke won the event last year, and ran pretty much the same pattern this year.
"I mostly fished docks and sight-fished," he said. "What was a little different this year was in the morning during practice I found them on a 4-inch hard swimbait from Reaction Strike called a Revo Shad. The color was ghost blueback. I found at least five good docks that way when they came out and showed themselves."
He found fish in the very backs of the creeks – "The crappie were spawning there too." He pitched a finesse jig to beds (without a trailer) and used a shakey-head for the docks.
He said the deepest bed he fished was in a foot and a half of water.
He caught a few fish the final day on a "4-inch sinking worm-type bait."
> Shakey gear: 7'2 medium-heavy Setyr DSF rod, Pflueger 2500 spinning reel, 10-pound braid, 8-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon leader, 1/16-ounce Hoern Toad Tackle Porky's Revenge jighead (black), 4" unnamed finesse worm (watermelon candy).
> Jig gear: 7' heavy-action Setyr CLS190 rod, Shimano Curado casting reel (7:1), 15-pound P-Line CXX, 1/4-ounce Hoern Toad Tackle Finesse jig (green-pumpkin).
Main factor in his success – "I had two good events here in a row. I won last year, and was close this year, and I think the main factor was simply confidence. I come here and I feel confident. Last year I won by fishing 4 days of new water. This year I did the same. Norman has a tendency not to replenish. I think I drove 200 miles, according to the GPS."
Performance edge – "This year over last year I think it probably had to be that Revo Shad swimbait, simply because it helped me find some fish on some docks. You can cover a lot more water with it than you can with a shakey-head. I used the waking version. I didn't weigh any fish on it, but it helped me find the right stretches."
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