Dave Wolak won the recent Champlain FLW Tour Open with a series of patterns. He fished for smallmouths in the mornings, then hunted upgrade fish in the afternoons. He made a critical switch the second day and followed fish as they moved from grass to rock.

Here's a look at how the rest of the Top 5 caught their fish at Champlain.



2nd: Gary Yamamoto

> Day 1: 5, 24-04
> Day 2: 5, 17-08
> Day 3: 5, 17-05
> Day 4: 5, 15-11
> Total = 20, 74-12

Famed bait designer Gary Yamamoto fished his Senko all 4 days, but with a twist. He Texas-rigged it through the thin end, and inserted a woodscrew in the fat end. That way the bait fell somewhat backwards, which was key because most the docks on Champlain are floating docks, and that way he could reach the fish underneath.

"I can skip it very easily and it'll go away from me and fall away from me," he said. "Bass react to that. But it's difficult to rig (the Senko) straight through the small end.

"Also what I tell people is I don't set the hook. I just put tension on the fish. Let him swim and he'll hook himself."

He set a new FLW Outdoors 1-day catch record for Champlain the first day, but as the post-frontal conditions set in, his shallow bite faded. To complicate matters, owners began to remove the docks he was fishing in preparation for winter.

> Senko gear: 7' medium-light Gary Yamamoto rod, Shimano Stradic 2500 spinning reel, 10-pound PowerPro braid, 16-pound Gary Yamamoto Sugoi fluorocarboin leader, 4/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hook, Gary Yamamoto Senko (color 912).

> As noted, he inserted a wood screw into the traditional head of the Senko, then Texas-rigged it through the tail. His screws, which he bought at a hardware store, were No. 6s in either ¾" or 1", depending on depth of water.

  • Main factor in his success – "Catching 24 pounds the first day."

  • Performance edge – "I guess it was really the bait. I've been using it this way for about 6 months now and keeping it a secret. It'll skip docks really well. That's what I designed it for. But these docks were primarily floating, so it was pinpoint flipping."

    3rd: Daryl Biron

    > Day 1: 5, 21-04
    > Day 2: 5, 17-10
    > Day 3: 5, 20-03
    > Day 4: 5, 13-14
    > Total = 20, 72-15

    Daryl Biron, a Connecticut pro, flip-flopped between largemouths and smallmouths. He worked docks and fished some milfoil for the largemouths, and Carolina-rigged his smallmouths.

    "I was fishing out a little deeper for smallmouths, but not real deep," he noted. "The slick conditions kind of hurt me, because my smallmouths were sitting in 14 to 16 feet and the boat was right over their heads. The fish were a little spooky.".

    > Dock gear: 7' medium-heavy Kistler Helium rod, Shimano Stradic spinning reel, 30-pound PowerPro braid, 14-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon leader, 3/8-ounce Keitech jig (black), Gary Yamamoto Double Tail grub (black/blue-flake).

    > He also skipped a Senko (green-pumpkin and watermelon/black-flake), rigged wacky on a 1/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook.

    > Smallmouth gear: 7' medium-heavy Kistler Helium 2 rod, Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Gold Series casting reel, 14-pound Berkley Trilene XT mono (main line and leader), 3/4-ounce tungsten weight, 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook, Zoom Super Speed craw.

  • Main factor in his success – "It might sound stupid, but I didn't have a lot of practice. My trolling motor broke down so I only had 4 hours the first day, and the last day we had 20 to 30 mph winds. When it blowing that hard, I actually found a little area out of the wind that was stacked with fish and I think that was the key to my success. I went there for a limit and that allowed me to relax and go for a few bigger fish and I caught that big 21-04 bag."

  • Performance edge – "I'd say it was the Carolina-rig. That was my money bait. When it blew real hard on Friday, that Carolina-rig enabled me to cover a lot of water and stay on bottom. You couldn't stand on the trolling motor. You had to motor up and drift over and over."



    BassFan
    Photo: BassFan

    Glenn Browne's attack plan centered on wood.

    4th: Glenn Browne

    > Day 1: 5, 17-02
    > Day 2: 5, 20-00
    > Day 3: 5, 19-02
    > Day 4: 5, 16-02
    > Total = 20, 72-06

    Glenn Browne, a Florida pro, was ultra dialed in on a shallow wood pattern.

    "I was running trees and willows and laydowns with a big jig in water 3 feet deep at best," he said. "If you could find a tree blown over with a rootball, it was about automatic."

    > Jig gear: 8' extra-extra-heavy E21 Carrot Stix Microguide rod, Lew's Tournament Pro casting reel (left-handed), 65-pound Spiderwire Stealth braid, 3/4- and 1-ounce homemade jigs (black/blue), Zoom Big Salty Chunk (sapphire blue).

  • Main factor in his success – "Just really putting my head down and covering a lot of water. And it was a real good pattern. Once I figured out what they were on, I could run down the banks and if I saw the right trees, pull over and catch a fish."

  • Performance edge – "I'd say it was my rod and reel and my boat. As many fish as I caught and jerked on, you have to have a good rod and reel. And you need a good boat and motor. I ran that Evinrude and Ranger every day across good water and bad and always got back."

    BassFan
    Photo: BassFan

    Wesley Strader likewise targeted wood.

    5th: Wesley Strader

    > Day 1: 5, 16-11
    > Day 2: 5, 17-03
    > Day 3: 5, 18-08
    > Day 4: 5, 17-13
    > Total = 20, 70-03

    Wesley Strader spent his tournament flipping a 5/8-ounce Phenix jig and soft-plastic craw. He understood that fish were moving from the grass to hard targets, so he changed from flipping mats to flipping shallow wood.

    "Most of it was logs," he noted. "I caught a few out of some green trees, but they pretty much had to be old."

    > Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Powell Endurance 765 CBR rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier casting reel, 65-pound Spiderwire Stealth braid.

    > His jig was a 5/8-ounce Phenix jig (green-pumpkin/brown) tipped with a Zoom Big Salty Chunk (green-pumpkin).

    > His plastic was a Zoom Super Speed craw (green-pumpkin) rigged with a custom-bent 4/0 hook and 1-ounce weight.

    > He also caught some smallmouth dropshotting a Zoom Swamp Crawler worm (green-pumpkin).

  • Main factor in his success – "Well, on the third day, I made a decision to concentrate mainly on largemouths. One the way back in, I pulled up on a smallmouth spot I'd fished in years past and caught a 4-pounder with 5 minutes to go. I started there (on day 4) and had 16 pounds of smallmouths in the first 20 minutes. So being able to transition from largemouths to smallmouths was the biggest key to my success."

  • Performance edge – "I'd have to say my Power-Pole. The wind blew really hard the first day and the second day and I was able to fish those laydowns effectively and not spook the fish."

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