By BassFan Staff

Editor's note: This is part two of a two-part series summarizing the winning patterns and tackle used by winners in Elite Series and FLW Tour competition in 2018. Part one examined the Elite Series. Below are the details from the FLW Tour events.

Tim Frederick – Lake Okeechobee (FL) FLW Tour, Jan. 25-28

With the water high, dirty and cooler than normal at Lake Okeechobee for the FLW Tour season opener, Tim Frederick opted to hunker down in a bay near Harney Pond and work over the irregularities in the various forms of vegetation and countless targets. A soft stickbait was his main option, but a vibrating jig produced his bigger fish on days 2 and 3. In the closing moments of day 4, he boated an 8-pounder on the stickbait to seal the deal.

"I tried to visualize what it was like underwater in my head," he said. "My confidence was high because I knew my best chance to get a big bag was fishing this way."

> Worm gear: 7'3" magnum-heavy Enigma Fishing Aaron's Edge casting rod, Okuma Helios casting reel (7.3:1 ratio), 15-pound P-Line Tactical fluorocarbon line, 3/16-oz. Strike King Tour Grade tungsten worm weight, 5/0 Mustad Grip Pin worm hook, Strike King Perfect Plastics Ocho (green-pumpkin).

> While others opted for braided line, Frederick went with fluorocarbon because "I still think fluorocarbon will produce more bites in clean water," he said.

> Vibrating jig gear: 7'3" medium-heavy Enigma Fishing HPT casting rod, same reel (6.4:1 ratio), same line (20-pound), 3/8-oz. Strike King Pure Poison swim jig (black/blue), Strike King Rage Tail Denny Brauer Structure Bug (black and blue flake).

> Click here to read more about Frederick’s winning pattern.

Chris Johnston – Harris Chain of Lakes (FL) FLW Tour, Feb. 22-25

To pull off his first FLW Tour win, Chris Johnston went the reaction route, relying on a vibrating jig and a lipless crankbait to trigger bites from areas where wolfpacks of bass were holed up in hydrilla. Timing was a key factor as was being around the right places when the fish started to feed.

"The fish would get on top of the grass and that's where I threw the vibrating jig," he said. "It was different, though. The fish were in wolf packs on top of the grass. You might see a white bass come up and if you got to that area and made some casts, you could catch a couple. If you caught a largemouth, you could catch five or 10 of them. They were all grouped up.”

> ChatterBait gear: 7'5" heavy-action G. Loomis NRX casting rod, Shimano Metanium MGL casting reel (7.4:1 ratio), unnamed 20-pound fluorocarbon line, 3/8-oz. Z-Man/Evergreen Jackhammer vibrating jig (white), Jackall Rhythm Wave 4.8 (golden shad).

> Lipless crankbait gear: 7'1" medium-heavy G. Loomis NRX casting rod, same reel, same line (15-pound), Jackall TN 70 (HL black & gold).

> With the lipless, Johnston said it was difficult to reel it through the hydrilla, so he used a yo-yo presentation to target fish holding tighter to the bottom. "It imitates a dying shad," he said. "On day 2, I caught one on my first cast with it, lost one on my second cast and caught an 8-pounder on my third cast."

> Jerkbait gear: 7'1" heavy-action G. Loomis GLX crankbait rod, same reel, same line as lipless, unnamed jerkbait (shad pattern).

> The jerkbait he used would dive 4 to 5 feet along the edges and trigger the fish that were out roaming along the edge of the grass.

> Click here to read more about Johnston’s winning pattern.

Bradley Hallman – Lake Lanier (GA) FLW Tour, March 8-11

Bradley Hallman feasted on the pre-spawn spotted bass at Lake Lanier, employing a shaky-head on points and shoals running off main-lake islands. He also mixed in other presentations, including a jerkbait which helped him amass 23-11 on day 1.

"I didn't have a clue there was a group of fish there like that. It was just a place I'd found in practice where I'd gotten a few bites dragging a shaky-head,” he said. “I was hoping that would happen in some of those places – with the wind blowing and the front coming, they'd really get up on top and feed."



FLW
Photo: FLW

Bradley Hallman hit paydirt at Lake Lanier by focusing on pre-spawn spotted bass.

> Jerkbait gear: 6'6" medium-heavy older model All Star TX40 rod, unnamed casting reel (6.4:1 ratio), 10-pound unnamed fluorocarbon line, Megabass Vision 110+1 (sexy ghost).

> Swimbait gear: 7'2" medium-heavy Falcon Amistad rod, same reel (7.1:1 ratio), 15-pound unnamed fluorocarbon, 1/2-ounce Buckeye Lures J-Will jighead, 3.8" Keitech Fat Swing Impact swimbait (sexy shad).

> Shaky-head gear: 6'9" Fenwick Elite Tech rod, Lew's Mach II Speed Spin reel, 10-pound Power Pro braided line (main line), 10-pound unnamed fluorocarbon leader, 1/4-ounce War Eagle jig head, Zoom Trick Worm (green-pumpkin).

> Spinnerbait gear: Same rod and reel as swimbait, 20-pound unnamed fluorocarbon, 1/2-ounce War Eagle spinnerbait (white with silver double willow-leaf blades).

> The reason he can't name a make or model on his casting reels is the graphics on them are all in Chinese. He purchased them on eBay.

> Click here to read more about Hallman’s winning pattern.

Bryan Thrift – Lake Cumberland (KY) FLW Tour, April 12-15

On a lake where he relied upon largemouths and spotted bass for a top-15 finish in 2017, Bryan Thrift switched gears to smallmouth at Lake Cumberland this spring to capture his sixth career Tour win. What seemed to start as a junk-fishing program quickly was reduced to a dialed-in swimbait pattern that Thrift deployed around submerged cover.

“Sometimes they’d bite against the bank and some were out at the boat,” he said. “It was weird. It goes back to just fishing down the bank. I never knew when I’d get a bite on the bank and I never knew where on the cast it would happen.”

> Swimbait gear: 7’ medium-heavy Fitzgerald Fishing Stunner HD casting rod, Abu Garcia Revo MGX II casting reel (8.0:1 ratio), 8-pound P-Line Ultimate fluorocarbon line, 1/8-, 1/4-, 3/8-oz. unnamed ball-head jigs, 3” Damiki Armor Shad paddle-tail swimbait (flash shad), 3.8” unnamed paddle-tail swimbait (Tennessee shad).

> Under the sunny conditions Thursday and Friday, Thrift opted for the smaller profile Damiki swimbait. Amidst the low-light conditions on the weekend, the larger bait was more effective.

> Click here to read more about Thrift’s winning pattern.

David Williams – Lewis Smith Lake (AL) FLW Tour, April 26-29

Docks, docks and more docks is how David Williams arrived at the top of the leaderboard at the Smith Lake FLW Tour back in April. Initially focused on shallow largemouth, he retreated to his comfort zone and fired a multitude of baits at Smith’s floating boat shelters, where post-spawn bass were feasting on spawning shad.

“Those bass would follow the shad in at night and then get under those docks as the sun came up,” he said. “I caught my weight every day by 10 or 10:30 a.m., and when the bite started to slow down I left to save some for the next day.

“I realized these fish were bigger because they were feeding up after the spawn. They were in recovery mode. Fish in other parts of the lake were still skinny from the spawn.”

> Jig gear: 7-foot heavy-action Fitzgerald Vursa casting rod, Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Signature Series casting reel (6.8:1 ratio), 20-pound Hi-Seas 100% Fluorocarbon line, 7/16-oz. TrueSouth Fathead Jig (white), Zoom Z-Craw, Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw or Bizz Baits Cutter Craw trailer (all white)

> He likes white for skipping and swimming a jig because he can see it better. “I can see it coming through cover so I know when I need to get it over a branch, and I can see when a fish gets it.”

> Swim jig gear: Same rod, reel, line, and trailers, 1/2-oz. Queen’s Tackle Tungsten Swim Jig (white)

> He fished the swim jig down the bank and in the bushes between docks.

> Vibrating Jig gear: Same rod, reel, line, and trailers, 1/2-oz. TrueSouth Pro Shimmy Jig (white/chartreuse)

> Buzzbait gear: Same rod, reel, and line, 3/8-oz. TrueSouth V-Twin Buzzbait (white), Zoom Horny Toad trailer (white)

> Spinnerbait gear: Same rod, reel, and line, 1/2-oz. homemade spinnerbait (white/chartreuse) with double willow blades (silver), Zoom Split Tail trailer (white/chartreuse)

> All of Williams' rods and reels are the same. He likes them to feel familiar every time he picks one up, no matter what he has tied on. “I just reel faster or slower if I need to. I’m real comfortable with those rods. I really like the action.”

> Click here to read more about Williams’ winning pattern.

FLW
Photo: FLW

Chad Grigsby nearly cracked the century mark with all smallmouth in winning at Lake St. Clair in early July.

Jason Lambert – Kentucky Lake (TN/KY) FLW Tour, May 17-20

This was one for the record books as Jason Lambert added another chapter to his Kentucky Lake dominance despite some day-3 drama between he and day-2 leader Randy Haynes. Lambert mined offshore ledges to the tune of 25-plus pounds per day to win by a record 28 pounds after Haynes withdrew following an on-the-water verbal confrontation between the two anglers who were vying to fish the same spot.

For Lambert, it was typical ledge-fishing fare – hitting community holes (and other spots) with a swimbait threaded on a scrounger jig head along with a shaky-head and worm for deeper fish.

"I approached it like any other ledge tournament at Kentucky Lake even though I knew the fish weren't as far along as they should be (due to a delayed spring warm-up)," he said. "I just drove around graphing ledges.

"I saw groups of fish in maybe 12 places that I was pretty sure were bass (and not the now-overabundant Asian carp). There are a couple different things you can do to clarify what you're looking at, but I'd really rather not discuss those – we're going to be dealing with this issue for a long time.”

> Swimbait gear: 7'11" heavy-action Duckett Fishing White Ice II swimbait rod, Duckett Fishing 360RW casting reel (7.1:1 ratio), 18-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, homemade 1-ounce Scrounger-style swimbait head, 5" or 7" Castaic Jerky J (green shad).

> Worm gear: 7'6" heavy-action Duckett Fishing Micro Magic rod, same reel and line, homemade 5/8-ounce jighead, Gene Larew TattleTail worm (plum).

> Click here to read more about Lambert’s winning pattern.

Chad Grigsby – Lake St. Clair (MI) FLW Tour, June 28-July 1

Chad Grigsby’s triumph at Lake St. Clair was a much-needed shot in the arm for the Minnesotan, who parlayed the win into a berth in the Forrest Wood Cup. It was a smallmouth shootout the saw him nearly eclipse the 100-pound mark.

He tallied up 97-08 over four days thanks to a steady combo of dragging a tube and slow-winding a spybait along the South Shore, which is on the Ontario side of the lake.

"I've always been a fan of the South Shore, so I wanted to concentrate on that," he said. "I still went to some other places, like Mitchell's Bay, and I found some other stuff, but it wasn't the same quality.

"As soon as I caught a couple on the South Shore, I knew that's what I was looking for."

> Tube gear: 7'6" medium-heavy St. Croix Legend Elite rod, Lew's Tournament Pro Speed Spool casting reel (8.3:1 ratio), 10-pound unnamed braided line (main line), 10-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon leader, 3/4-ounce Venom Lures jighead, 4" Venom Lures tube (green-pumpkin/gold).

> Spybait gear – 7'6" medium-light St. Croix Legend Extreme rod, Lew's Mach Crush Speed Spin 3000 reel, 10-pound unnamed braided line (main line), 8-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon leader, Duo Realis Spinbait 80 Spybait (various colors).

> He also caught two weigh-in fish on a hair jig.

> Click here to read more about Grigsby’s winning pattern.

Clent Davis – Lake Ouachita (AR) Forrest Wood Cup, Aug. 10-12

Clent Davis stuck with big baits around deep brush piles (22 to 30 feet) all three days at Ouachita and it paid off in a big way as he capped a historic rally with a tournament-best 17-13 to complete a 10th-to-1st comeback to win the Cup.

“We all have our strengths,” he said. “I think I’m a decent offshore fisherman and I think I’m a really good brush-pile fisherman. To me, I have one strength that I’m really good at and that’s fishing brush and I knew that the only way to beat these guys was to fish brush. It was the only thing I was going to do from day 1.”

> Worm gear: 7’7” heavy-action Phenix Rods Feather casting rod, Shimano Curado 200K casting reel (7.4:1 ratio), 16-pound Yo-Zuri Top Knot 100% Super fluorocarbon line, 1/2-oz. Nichols Lures Bulldozer swinging jighead (5/0 hook), 12” Mister Twister Mag 12 Buzz Worm (plum apple).

> Swimbait gear: Same rod, same reel, same line, 3/4-oz homemade swimbait jighead, 5” unnamed hollow-belly swimbait (shad pattern).

> Click here to read more about Davis’ winning pattern.