By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor
Caleb Sumrall had heard of anglers using their outboards to move their boats around in such a way that the boat wake can fire up a school of baitfish and, in turn, provoke bass in the area to chase the bait to the surface. In essence, the bass boat becomes a primitive fish-finder. No fancy GPS units required.
He’d not done it before being that he’s from Louisiana, but on the points and shoals around Lake Hartwell, it proved to be an effective method of confirming the location of bait and bass during the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship last week.
The tactic was helpful on day 2 when he caught 15-10 (the second-biggest bag of the event), including a 5-15 largemouth, that moved him into 2nd place entering the final day.
“I figured out they were on the back side of a shoal and I decided to come off pad on top of the shoal, where it was 5 feet deep,” he said, describing the method he used on day 2. “When I did that, the shad went insane and fish started breaking everywhere around the boat.”
He’d make a few casts and the activity would fade. He’d fire up his engine and do a few full circles before setting down. The shad would come alive again and so, too, would the bass. It got to the point where he never put his trolling motor in the water. He had his rod in the floor of his boat so when he’d shut off his outboard, he’d be ready to fire a cast in the direction of any fish that showed itself.
“I’d heard of guys doing it before,” he said. “I wasn’t one to sit and wait for waves. I’d rather make my own.”
With a 9-13 limit on the final day that gave him a three-day total of 36-12, Sumrall erased a 2 1/2-pound deficit to win the Bryan V. Kerchal Memorial Trophy, one of the most coveted pieces of hardware in tournament fishing which is given annually to the B.A.S.S. Nation national champion.
The 30-year-old from New Iberia, La., was still processing all that had transpired during his drive home on Sunday.
“It’s still unreal,” Sumrall said. “It’s still really hard to grasp that I’m fishing the Bassmaster Classic. For a guy like myself and so many other anglers, that’s the main goal. That was the goal going into the third day.
Being 3 pounds out of the lead, I wanted to get a Classic spot and go from there.”
Not only did he nab one of the three Classic berths (the top three finishers all qualified for the 2018 Classic, which is at Hartwell), he earned the following:
> Elite Series invitation for 2018 ($16,000 to be applied to entry fees);
> Skeeter ZX200 equipped with Yamaha SHO 200, Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics;
> Paid entry fees for Bassmaster Opens division of his choosing;
> Use of B.A.S.S. Nation’s Best package for one year (Phoenix boat with standard factory accessories).
“To come out with the win and come away with the trophy and the boat and an Elite Series bid, I still don’t have a grasp on it yet,” he added. “It’s truly unbelievable.”
Sumrall said the win came at a very opportune time as he was laid off from his job as an oil field location manager back in August. Since then, his sole focus was on preparing for Hartwell.
“I was all in for this tournament,” he said. “It worked out and God had a plan for me. I went all in and put every bit of effort I could into this tournament. One thing that rings true is God has a plan and this just proves it. If I fish the Elites and fall flat, I’ll smile and say, ‘At least I tried.’”
Here’s a breakdown of how Sumrall caught ‘em at Hartwell.
Practice
Coming from Louisiana, where shallow water tactics rule, Sumrall was a bit unsettled during practice at Hartwell, where the fish were in the midst of their fall transition.
“It was extremely difficult,” said Sumrall, a member of the Atchafalaya Bassmasters. “I think I caught six keepers in three days. I had an idea of where the big fish were and what they were doing. They were schooling, but I never caught one like that in practice.
“I tried to force the shallow bite with cranking and flipping laydowns and docks.”
Ultimately, he knew the shallow game plan would not amount to much.
“I decided to go around where the big ones lived, which was down lake near the herring,” he said.
Competition
> Day 1: 5, 11-05
> Day 2: 5, 15-10
> Day 3: 5, 9-13
> Total = 15, 36-12
Sumrall took off last Thursday without a conviction on where he wanted to start the tournament. He wound up grinding a Strike King 5XD crankbait over some points to catch his first three keepers.
“From there, I moved to a shoal near the mouth of a creek where I’d found some fish schooling the day before,” he said.
He bombed a Zoom Super Fluke to coax bites from solid fish – 2 3/4 and 3 1/4 pounds, respectively – on consecutive casts. Oddly enough, the bites came in sync with some cloud cover moving into the area.
From there, he targeted brush piles with a dropshot in various depth ranges to catch four more keepers and cull up to 11-05.
His main takeaway from day 1, though, was finding the area that wound up being the flashpoint for his big day-2 surge.
“I’d found some schoolers concentrated in one area and there were some big ones, but I couldn’t get them to commit,” he said. “I knew if I needed a big bite, I could get some fish in the boat and then go there.”
Under the low-light conditions to start day 2, he picked off a 3 1/2-pound spotted bass that ate his Fluke on the surface. What was unique about that area was the presence of a big patch of hydrilla in about 11 feet of water.
“I made it a point to start there in the morning because I couldn’t get bites there later in the day,” he said.
He also threw a big pencil-popper bait as well when targeting schooling fish.
“It was a solid start, but that bite died off,” he said. “I told myself to go get a limit before chasing the schoolers.”
He went back to the brush piles and finished out a limit with a finesse worm on a dropshot. From there, he went to his big-fish spot where he used his boat as a fish-finder.
When he caught the 5-15, which wound up being the big fish on day 2, he knew he was doing the right thing.
“That set the pace for me for the rest of the day,” he added.
Jumping from 9th to 2nd on day 2 had Sumrall focused solely on staying in the top 3 on the final day. That would ensure him a Classic berth.
He started Saturday on the hydrilla spot and lost a good fish early on. He moved to the big-fish spot and caught a keeper and lost another good one.
“It was a day of losing fish,” he said. “I was sitting on those schooling fish waiting for them to come up.”
As morning turned to afternoon, he still had one keeper in the livewell and he sensed his Classic hopes were starting to fade.
“I ran up the lake and caught a 2 1/4 out of some brush with a topwater,” he said.
He finished out his limit with three keepers caught on top off the deeper side of points. He still had 45 minutes to return to his big-fish spot.
“It took a few minutes before I saw a fish bust, but I noticed the schools were more broken up,” he said. “They were chasing shad further out than they had been. It had been easier to target them before where I didn’t need to move the boat much, but seeing how spread out they were, I figured I’d just get lucky to get a bite. I ran back up lake to grind out a better limit.”
He stopped on a point jutting off an island and caught two more keepers to cull up 1 1/2 pounds. His last three keepers came fishing a soft-plastic worm erratically near the surface.
“They weren’t eating a Fluke like before,” he said.
He said losing those fish early in the day put a dent in his Classic aspirations.
“Knowing what was on the line, I was feeling like I was going to give that up,” he said. “There was second-guessing going on all day long. After I got a limit, though, I was more cool and collected.”
He made a point to not look at BASSTrakk during the weigh-in, but when a B.A.S.S. cameraman mentioned to him that the unofficial leaderboard indicated he’d had a good day, Sumrall’s curiosity got the best of him.
“I told him I had a horrible day,” Sumrall said. “I thought my execution lost the tournament. I felt good about making the Classic, but felt like I’d have a shot at winning if I landed everything. After I looked at BASSTrakk, I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”
When he outlasted everyone else, he was overcome with emotion on stage, knowing he’d made the Bassmaster Classic.
“It was just a flood of emotions knowing what kind of doors this could open for me,” he added.
Winning Gear Notes
> Topwater (hard bait) gear: 7’10” heavy-action Kistler Feel and Reel casting rod, Abu Garcia Revo Rocket casting reel (9.0:1 ratio), 50-pound unnamed braided line, EverGreen Shower Blows 105 (blue back herring).
> Sumrall said the 7-10 rod is the same he uses to sling deep-diving crankbaits as he wanted to maximize his casting distance. He opted for the Revo Rocket so he could retrieve his bait quickly in case fish showed themselves after he made a cast.
> Topwater (soft bait) gear: 7’3” medium-heavy Kistler Helium 3 casting rod, same reel, 15-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, 5/0 Gamakatsu Superline EWG Weighted Hook (1/8 oz.), Missile Baits The 48 (fishalicious).
> Rigged on the keel-weighted hook and worked aggressively, Sumrall said The 48 would come out of the water every other twitch.
> Dropshot gear: 6’9” medium-light Kistler KLX spinning rod, Quantum Smoke Inshore spinning reel, 15-pound Daiwa Samurai braided line, 8-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line (leader), size 2 Gamakatsu dropshot/splitshot hook, 6” Roboworm Straight Tail Worm (morning dawn).
> The key to catching fish related to brush piles was positioning his boat off away from the waypoint, especially around the shallow brush.
> He also fooled a couple keepers with a War Eagle Jiggin’ Spoon.
The Bottom Line
> Main factor in his success – “Just putting myself around the areas where I saw the fish busting. I learned a valuable lesson in that you can have a terrible practice since it helps you fish the moment and make decisions to pull up and go. The main key was that I covered a lot of water – I was hitting 30 to 60 spots a day. I’d stop and leave if I didn’t see fish. It was all a timing deal.”
> Performance edge – “Everything just came together. Those guys are hammers and to fish against those guys it’s just awesome.”
Much of the tackle referenced above is available at the BassFan Store. To browse the selection, click here.
Final Results
1. Caleb Sumrall -- New Iberia, LA -- 15, 36-12 -- $56,985
Day 1: 5, 11-05 -- Day 2: 5, 15-10 -- Day 3: 5, 09-13
2. Luke Gritter -- Otsego, MI -- 15, 34-08 -- $50,335
Day 1: 5, 08-14 -- Day 2: 5, 11-01 -- Day 3: 5, 14-09
3. Marty Giddens -- Eclectic, AL -- 15, 32-10 -- $37,293
Day 1: 5, 17-09 -- Day 2: 5, 04-15 -- Day 3: 5, 10-02
4. Tray Huddleston -- Russellville, AR -- 11, 31-15 -- $3,250
Day 1: 5, 14-03 -- Day 2: 5, 15-05 -- Day 3: 1, 02-07
5. Mark Lodge -- Alfred, ME -- 13, 31-07 -- $2,000
Day 1: 3, 05-14 -- Day 2: 5, 11-15 -- Day 3: 5, 13-10
6. Mike Lavallee -- Sandy, UT -- 15, 30-12 -- $1,000
Day 1: 5, 13-02 -- Day 2: 5, 07-11 -- Day 3: 5, 09-15
7. Dean Silvester -- Boonah Queensland, Australia – 15, 29-08 -- $1,000
Day 1: 5, 08-06 -- Day 2: 5, 10-05 -- Day 3: 5, 10-13
8. James Van Rooyen -- Lidwigsdorf Windhoek NA -- 15, 28-15 -- $500
Day 1: 5, 12-03 -- Day 2: 5, 07-13 -- Day 3: 5, 08-15
9. Wyatt Smith -- Stroud, OK -- 14, 27-12 -- $500
Day 1: 5, 08-11 -- Day 2: 5, 10-14 -- Day 3: 4, 08-03
10. Matt Pangrac -- Norman, OK -- 15, 27-11 -- $500
Day 1: 5, 13-06 -- Day 2: 5, 05-08 -- Day 3: 5, 08-13
11. Mike Powell -- Midway, UT -- 12, 27-10 -- $49,835
Day 1: 5, 14-06 -- Day 2: 5, 09-06 -- Day 3: 2, 03-14
12. Rick Svoboda -- Cockeyesvile, MD -- 14, 26-09 -- $500
Day 1: 5, 12-15 -- Day 2: 4, 06-01 -- Day 3: 5, 07-09
13. Kalib Lund -- Glendale, AZ -- 10, 18-03
Day 1: 5, 12-08 -- Day 2: 5, 05-11
14. Mark Lodge -- Alfred, ME -- 8, 17-13
Day 1: 3, 05-14 -- Day 2: 5, 11-15
15. Jared Thompson -- Marvell, AR -- 10, 17-13
Day 1: 5, 11-07 -- Day 2: 5, 06-06
16. Ken Golubjatnikov -- Pittsford, NY -- 10, 17-06
Day 1: 5, 09-01 -- Day 2: 5, 08-05
17. Soshi Kataoka -- Ohtsu-Shi Shiga-Ken, Japan -- 10, 17-02
Day 1: 5, 09-14 -- Day 2: 5, 07-04
18. Beau Govreau -- Cedar Hill, MO -- 10, 16-13
Day 1: 5, 07-13 -- Day 2: 5, 09-00
19. Jason Hooper -- Salem, OR -- 9, 16-01
Day 1: 4, 05-02 -- Day 2: 5, 10-15
20. Rick Hamer -- Charleston, WV -- 8, 16-00
Day 1: 5, 10-10 -- Day 2: 3, 05-06
21. Mike Seal -- Richmond, IN -- 10, 15-10
Day 1: 5, 08-01 -- Day 2: 5, 07-09
22. Larry Triplett -- Castle Rock, CO -- 10, 15-10
Day 1: 5, 07-14 -- Day 2: 5, 07-12
23. Kyle Fox -- Lakeland, FL -- 10, 15-00
Day 1: 5, 09-05 -- Day 2: 5, 05-11
24. Jamie Laiche -- Gonzales, LA -- 9, 14-14
Day 1: 5, 07-15 -- Day 2: 4, 06-15
25. Tim Hartman -- Effingham, IL -- 10, 14-12
Day 1: 5, 06-12 -- Day 2: 5, 08-00
26. Nicholas Papotto -- Meriden, CT -- 10, 14-12
Day 1: 5, 07-11 -- Day 2: 5, 07-01
27. Tom Jessop -- Dalhart, TX -- 7, 14-07
Day 1: 3, 04-13 -- Day 2: 4, 09-10
28. Ty Faber -- Pagosa Springs, CO -- 10, 14-05
Day 1: 5, 06-07 -- Day 2: 5, 07-14
29. Craig Torkleson -- Sand Springs, OK -- 9, 14-04
Day 1: 5, 05-12 -- Day 2: 4, 08-08
30. Justy Varkevisser -- Johannesburg, South Africa -- 8, 13-09
Day 1: 5, 09-05 -- Day 2: 3, 04-04
31. Greg Alexander -- Hebron, MD -- 10, 13-08
Day 1: 5, 05-09 -- Day 2: 5, 07-15
32. Gary Bonnet -- Borden, IN -- 8, 13-02
Day 1: 3, 05-03 -- Day 2: 5, 07-15
33. Tim Johnston -- Kalispell, MT -- 7, 12-13
Day 1: 2, 03-05 -- Day 2: 5, 09-08
34. Tony Lind -- Auburn, WA -- 9, 12-12
Day 1: 5, 07-03 -- Day 2: 4, 05-09
35. James Gildea -- Weston, MA -- 10, 12-11
Day 1: 5, 05-09 -- Day 2: 5, 07-02
36. Justin Spraske -- Ashuelot, NH -- 6, 12-09
Day 1: 1, 02-01 -- Day 2: 5, 10-08
37. Tadd Johnson -- Lakeview, MN -- 7, 12-08
Day 1: 5, 09-11 -- Day 2: 2, 02-13
38. Ed Berndt III -- Grandon, WI -- 7, 12-05
Day 1: 5, 08-14 -- Day 2: 2, 03-07
39. Chris Carnes -- York, SC -- 10, 12-02
Day 1: 5, 06-00 -- Day 2: 5, 06-02
40. Jordan Bellendier -- Cedar Rapids, IA -- 8, 11-15
Day 1: 3, 05-08 -- Day 2: 5, 06-07
41. Bryson Mort -- Post Falls, ID -- 7, 11-14
Day 1: 5, 07-15 -- Day 2: 2, 03-15
42. Michael McAdams -- Cincinnati, OH -- 8, 11-14
Day 1: 5, 07-14 -- Day 2: 3, 04-00
43. Ben Bilott -- Larimer, PA -- 8, 11-09
Day 1: 5, 07-07 -- Day 2: 3, 04-02
44. Michael Sentore -- Gloucester City, NJ -- 10, 11-08
Day 1: 5, 05-10 -- Day 2: 5, 05-14
45. Ryan Lavigne -- Gonzales, LA -- 10, 11-07
Day 1: 5, 05-14 -- Day 2: 5, 05-09
46. Richard Hladky -- Yankton, SD -- 9, 11-06
Day 1: 5, 07-02 -- Day 2: 4, 04-04
47. David Collyer -- Harare, Zimbabwe -- 7, 11-03
Day 1: 5, 08-01 -- Day 2: 2, 03-02
48. Keith Webb -- Virginia Beach, VA -- 6, 10-03
Day 1: 5, 09-02 -- Day 2: 1, 01-01
49. Tim Carini -- Marietta, GA -- 6, 09-07
Day 1: 5, 08-00 -- Day 2: 1, 01-07
50. Mark Williams -- Taylorsville, NC -- 5, 09-04
Day 1: 3, 06-11 -- Day 2: 2, 02-09
51. Jay Hotzak -- Aurora, Ontario, Canada -- 6, 08-11
Day 1: 4, 05-12 -- Day 2: 2, 02-15
52. Nick Wood -- Yreka, CA -- 8, 08-09
Day 1: 3, 02-12 -- Day 2: 5, 05-13
53. Jeff Thompson -- Camby, IN -- 7, 07-09
Day 1: 5, 04-12 -- Day 2: 2, 02-13
54. Kevin Wiggins -- Las Vegas, NV -- 5, 07-04
Day 1: 1, 01-09 -- Day 2: 4, 05-11
55. Alfredo Kury -- San Luis Potosi, Mexico -- 6, 07-04
Day 1: 3, 03-11 -- Day 2: 3, 03-09
56. Russell Phillips -- Guilford, VT -- 6, 06-05
Day 1: 3, 03-01 -- Day 2: 3, 03-04
57. Steve Vann -- Goldsboro, NC -- 4, 05-09
Day 1: 2, 03-08 -- Day 2: 2, 02-01
58. Brian Croteau -- Blackstone, MA -- 4, 04-11
Day 1: 4, 04-11 -- Day 2: 0, 00-00
59. Luigi Papa -- Italy -- 3, 03-15
Day 1: 1, 01-03 -- Day 2: 2, 02-12
60. Chris Barnett -- Russellville, TN -- 2, 03-12
Day 1: 1, 01-14 -- Day 2: 1, 01-14
61. Johnny Johnson -- Farmington, NM -- 3, 03-03
Day 1: 3, 03-03 -- Day 2: 0, 00-00
62. Ramon Menezes -- Fernao Ferro, Portugal -- 2, 02-12
Day 1: 0, 00-00 -- Day 2: 2, 02-12
63. Kent Priel -- No Platte, NE -- 2, 01-13
Day 1: 1, 01-00 -- Day 2: 1, 00-13
