By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor


Five distinct bodies of water were in play for last week's Lake St. Clair Bassmaster Elite Series, and three of them produced at least one Top-5 finish.

In addition to the host lake, anglers had the option to fish either of two Great Lakes (Erie and Huron) or the St. Clair or Detroit rivers. The Detroit, which connects lakes Erie and St. Clair, wasn't a factor, but the other four choices were all viable during the final event of the regular season.

Winner Todd Faircloth stayed in Lake St. Clair, as did 3rd-place finisher Chris Lane and 5th-place Greg Vinson. Runner-up Brandon Palaniuk caught his best fish way up the St. Clair River (nearly all the way to the headwaters at the southern tip of Huron) and 4th-place Chad Pipkens made the rugged daily run to the north shore of Erie.

Dropshotting was the predominant technique, but there were other ways to fool the big bronzebacks.

2nd: Brandon Palaniuk

> Day 1: 5, 23-04
> Day 2: 5, 21-01
> Day 3: 5, 20-00
> Day 4: 5, 14-01
> Total = 20, 78-06

Either Palaniuk or eventual 10th-place finisher James Elam might've been able to win the event had they not been forced to share their hot spot in the upper river. Then again, both said the breakup of the enormous congregation of big smallmouths that was there the first 2 days was the issue, so the place might not have held up for 4 days under any circumstances.

Palaniuk, who led after days 2 and 3, has made the 40-minute run up there each time he's visited the venue – twice for Elite derbies and once for a Bassmaster Northern Open.

"The way it sets up suits me pretty well," he said. "You're fishing more structure than you are anywhere else and there's more depth changes."

There was a short section that he'd make drifts through, but unlike Elam, he spent most of his time casting his dropshot rig. A small eddy was particularly productive.

"I was concentrating on a 50- to 75-yard stretch and just one current line," he said. "Most of the fish were in 24 to 30 feet of water.

"There wasn't much grass right where the fish were positioned, but they were just off the grass. There's a big grass point that comes out and it was just loaded with bait and the current was pushing the bait out. The fish were sitting on a little ridge that had some gravel and some shells."

He caught all of his weigh-in fish there on the first 2 days, including a 6 1/4-pounders, a 5 3/4, a 5 1/2 and a 5. He had to return to the home lake for his fifth one on day 3 and for all five on the final day when the river locale failed to produce a single bite for either him or Elam.

> Dropshot gear: 6'10" medium-action Abu Garcia Fantasista Regista spinning rod, Abu Garcia Revo MGX 30 spinning reel, 8-pound Berkley FireLine Crystal (main line), Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon leader (8'), 3/8-ounce Eco Pro Tungsten Full Contact dropshot weight, size 1 VMC dropshot hook, Berkley PowerBait Twitchtail Minnow (green-pumpkin).

Main factor in his success – "Fishing that area put me around the right quality of fish. I just wasn't catching enough of them."

Performance edge – "It'd have to be the Humminbird 360 with Navionics. It allowed me to see exactly where the little drops were on the shell beds and the rock bar and it was important for figuring out what the fish were holding on and how they were positioned."



B.A.S.S./Gary Tramontina
Photo: B.A.S.S./Gary Tramontina

Chris Lane had to fish slower than he prefers to catch the big smallmouths in Anchor Bay.

3rd: Chris Lane

> Day 1: 5, 17-09
> Day 2: 5, 16-13
> Day 3: 5, 24-00
> Day 4: 5, 19-02
> Total = 20, 77-08

Lane, who won the 2013 St. Clair event, fished right in the middle of Anchor Bay in the northern portion of Lake St. Clair, which was only about a 2-mile run from the launch in Harrison Township, Mich. He casually drifted along with the current provided by the St. Clair River and made casts to either side of his boat.

He used a soft-plastic swimbait to catch grass-oriented fish in about 12 feet of water.

"It wasn't hard current; it was a nice, easy drift and I could fish for an hour or 2 hours straight," he said. "I'd run all the way up, but I wouldn't drift exactly the same stuff coming down every time – I'd be maybe 50 feet to the side of where I'd just come down. Everything's the same in that area.

"I'd throw the bait as far as it would go, the count to 4 and start swimming it back. I'd keep it just off the grass – about 2 feet off the bottom. It seemed like every 20 or 30 minutes, from morning until 1 o'clock, I'd get a bite. After 1:30, it was over."

He missed several good fish on day 1, but rectified that issue by switching to a heavier rod and faster reel. His 24-pound sack on day 3 was the best of the tournament.

> Swimbait gear: 7'3" heavy-action Bass Pro Shops CarbonLite rod, Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Signature Series casting reel (7:1 ratio), 12-pound Stren 100% Fluoro line, unnamed 3/8-ounce jighead, unnamed 3 1/2" swimbait (sexy shad).

Main factor in his success – "It was slowing down. Especially with smallmouth, I usually like to run and gun and beat around and be pretty aggressive. I couldn't do that this time."

Performance edge – "Once I got the rod, reel and line all dialed in right, that was the deal. The first day I lost three that were 4 to 5 pounds."

B.A.S.S./Gary Tramontina
Photo: B.A.S.S./Gary Tramontina

Chad Pipkens posted his second straight finish among the Top 4.

4th: Chad Pipkens

> Day 1: 5, 18-12
> Day 2: 5, 22-01
> Day 3: 5, 16-07
> Day 4: 5, 19-14
> Total = 20, 77-02

Pipkens relied on his vast knowledge of Erie to post his second consecutive Top-5 finish. Erie's north shore is never at its best during the "dog days" of August and a massive algae bloom was another aggravating factor.

The big smallmouth weren't grouped up there like they are during early summer and in the fall, but Pipkens, who won the Bassmaster Northern Open there in 2014, had enough experience that he could bounce around between numerous waypoints and pick them off here and there.

On the final practice day he went farther down the lake to one of the places he'd exploited during last year's Open and used a crankbait to catch 18 pounds in less than half an hour.

"I figured I could come down and catch 14 to 16 pounds on the crankbait with my eyes closed, and then maybe go deep," he said. "I only caught one fish on a crankbait in the tournament, and that was at 9:30 on the first day. Everything else came on a dropshot."

He ran into a group of fish at noon on the second day that produced the bulk of his 22-pound stringer. It was a place he was unable to investigate during practice due to the powerful winds.

"My lake history was a huge factor," he said.

> Dropshot gear: 7' medium-light Powell 702 rod, Abu Garcia Revo SX 30 spinning reel, 8-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, 3/8-ounce unnamed round dropshot weight, size 1 Gamakatsu Split Shot/Drop Shot hook, Poor Boys Erie Darter (stone or smoke pepper).

> His crankbait fish, a 4 1/4-pounder, came on a Damiki DC 300 in real shad.

Main factor in his success – "Being in areas I had confidence in."

Performance edge – "The Humminbird 360 played a big role. With that crankbait fish I caught, I just saw a shadow, and the same thing with one of my better culls. It's so easy when you're looking at the picture to (determine) the exact angle to drag the bait."

Greg Vinson/Facebook
Photo: Greg Vinson/Facebook

A couple of big bites on day 1 put Greg Vinson on the path to a high finish.

5th: Greg Vinson

> Day 1: 5, 19-03
> Day 2: 5, 19-09
> Day 3: 5, 18-13
> Day 4: 5, 18-11
> Total = 20, 76-04

Greg Vinson ran two programs, both within about 5 miles of the launch ramp. One consisted of dropshotting isolated weed clumps in 18 feet of water and the other involved cranking in shallower water once the sun got high and the wind kicked up.

In addition, he picked up a couple of key fish throwing a swimbait.

"On day 1 I was really struggling in one area that had shown promise – I'd run all my waypoints and gotten one bite," he said. "I eventually caught one decent one on a dropshot, but I decided I needed to punt and go catch a limit.

"I'd wanted to avoid cranking because of the rule that fish had to be hooked in the mouth, but I caught a quick limit and I realized I could get some bigger bites doing it. The more fish I caught on the crankbait, the more confidence I got that they'd be hooked in the mouth and the second day it produced a couple of big ones."

He also caught a 5 1/2-pounder and a 5 on day 1 by drifting the dropshot around deep weed clumps.

"That tipped me off to the right depth for that area. Then I just kept piecing things together a little more each day."

> Dropshot gear: 7' medium-light Halo Daylight spinning rod, Shimano Stradic 2600 spinning reel, 20-pound Seaguar SmackDown braided line (main line), 8-pound Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon (20' leader), 3/8-ounce unnamed dropshot weight, 1/0 Gamakatsu G-Finesse hook, Jackall Cross Tail Shad (green-pumpkin).

> He colored the tails of the bait chartreuse with JJ's Magic dye. "It seemed to make a difference, especially when there was cloud cover," he said.

> Cranking gear: 7'3" medium-heavy Halo Twilight rod, Shimano Metanium casting reel (6.2:1 ratio), 10-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon line, Rapala DT 10 (blueback herring).

> Swimbait gear: 7'6" medium-heavy Halo Twilight rod, Shimano Metanium casting reel (7:1 ratio), 10-pound InvizX, 1/2-ounce Fish Head V-Lock jighead, unnamed 4" swimbait (sexy shad).

> He designed the V-Lock jighead, which he says will hold a swimbait in place without the need for glue.

Main factor in his success – "Getting those two big bites on day 1 did a lot for my confidence."

Performance edge – "I'd say my Phoenix/Mercury for getting me around in those rough waves and my Lowrance electronics for helping me find the key weed clumps."

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