By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Chris Macy has high praise for the local anglers who place fish-holding cover in South Carolina's Lake Hartwell.
"Those boys sink some dandy brush piles," said the 44-year-old Missourian who recently won the 37th edition of the BFL All-American. "It seems like there's almost always a cane pile next to a brush pile and if the fish aren't in one, they're in the other. They were definitely in the piles last week."
He was totally unfamiliar with cane piles before arriving for pre-practice about 2 weeks prior to the start of the event. Such structures usually consist of a bucket or block containing several bamboo stalks held together at the base by concrete. The stalks often rise to a height of 10 feet or more and are attractive to suspending fish during summer and fall.
"I have to apologize to somebody; I hooked one in practice and pulled it all they way up. I had to see what we were dealing with here."
Solid Each Round
Macy, who builds homes for a living, weighed a double-digit bag on each of the event's 3 days for a 34-10 total. His winning margin over the runner-up, day-2 leader Todd Goade, was an ounce under 3 pounds.
He started the final round in 5th place, 3 pounds behind Goade, before catching his heaviest sack of the tournament to claim the $100,000 top prize.
The team tournament partner of FLW Pro Circuit competitor Jeremy Lawyer, Macy had never been to Hartwell prior to his pre-practice trip. Over the course of 5 days, he said he put about 35 hours on his Mercury outboard idling offshore and trying to figure out what the fish might be doing about 2 weeks from then if the water cooled down a few degrees.
"I was kind of banking on catching them on a Spro RkCrawler (crankbait)," he said. "In pre-practice the water temperature was still in the low 70s, which was high for that time of year, and I was guessing it might be in the upper 60s when we came back, which it was. I knew that the offshore bite would come into play for keepers, if nothing else."
He ran the crankbait pattern on the lone official practice day and caught four solid fish, but the conditions were sunny and windy. It rained steadily on the first 2 competition days and there was almost now wind, which shut down that program.
He threw a bunch of different baits at the pile-oriented fish, with only a small swimbait meeting with much success. For it to be effective, he needed to find a pile holding multiple fish with his Garmin LiveScope unit and he could sometimes catch one, but the rest would follow it to the boat and the proper scenario would be blown – at least until they regathered at some point later on.
He didn't have a fish in his livewell at 11 o'clock on the final day. The sun had returned and they were well-positioned on the piles, but he couldn't entice them to bite.
He pulled up to the pile that had been most productive for him to that point and saw "seven good marks" on the LiveScope. From a distance of 60 or 70 feet, he made a cast beyond the pile and brought the swimbait past it, and he watched (electronically) as all seven fish followed it, staying about 3 feet back.
With the bait about 10 feet beyond the pile, he opened the bail on his spinning reel and allowed it to fall to the bottom.
"All seven of them nosed down after it," he said. "I popped it off the bottom and gave the reel two cranks and one climbed all over it."
To his surprise, the other six went right back to their positions on the pile while their compadre was involuntarily pulled toward the surface. He ended up catching three more out of that group in the same manner, losing a fourth about halfway up.
He ran to another pile and employed the same technique to fill out his limit. A powerful wind had kicked up, creating 3-foot waves, so he turned his boat in the direction of the ramp, thinking he'd throw the RkCrawler on some points along the way. He had a 1-06 specimen that he hoped to get rid of.
"I stopped at a place less than a quarter-mile from the take-off and put my trolling motor in the water and looked across (on the Garmin), and I'll bet there was a school of 40 bass there," he said.
"I caught one on the first cast (with the swimbait) that didn't help. Then three casts later I caught one that was about 3 pounds and that was it. I got back to the check-in with 7 minutes left."
He said there's no chance he would've won without the aid of LiveScope.
"I'm not sponsored by them and I don't want to sound like a commercial, but it was crucial."
Winning Gear Notes
> Swimbait gear: 7'4" medium-heavy G. Loomis NRX rod, Team Lew's spinning reel, 16-pound Sunline SX1 braided line, 8-pound Sunline FC Sniper fluorocarbon leader, 1/4-, 5/16- or 3/8-ounce hand-poured jighead, Keitech 2.8 (Tennessee shad or sexy shad).
> He caught one key fish on a dropshot rig featuring a 1/4-ounce tungsten bullet weight, a Gamakatsu G-Finesse hook and a Roboworm (Ehrler's edge).
Final Standings
1. Chris Macy -- Diamond, Mo -- 11-6 (5) -- 10-3 (5) -- 13-1 (5) -- 34-10 (15) -- $100,000
2. Todd Goade -- White Pine, Tn -- 11-7 (5) -- 13-2 (5) -- 7-13 (5) -- 32-6 (15) -- $20,000
3. Cole Floyd -- Leesburg, Oh -- 11-10 (5) -- 8-15 (5) -- 11-2 (5) -- 31-11 (15) -- $15,000
4. Jayme Rampey -- Liberty, SC -- 10-3 (5) -- 11-6 (5) -- 9-14 (5) -- 31-7 (15) -- $21,000
5. Bryan Dowdy -- Florence, Al -- 11-7 (5) -- 10-14 (5) -- 8-2 (5) -- 30-7 (15) -- $18,000
6. Roger Fitzpatrick -- Eldon, Mo -- 10-4 (5) -- 12-8 (5) -- 5-5 (5) -- 28-1 (15) -- $12,000
7. Randall Allen -- Owens Cross Roads, Al -- 9-9 (5) -- 10-8 (5) -- 7-10 (5) -- 27-11 (15) -- $12,000
8. Kip Carter -- Mansfield, Ga -- 10-4 (5) -- 9-12 (5) -- 7-11 (5) -- 27-11 (15) -- $10,000
9. Dustin Lippe -- Lampe, Mo -- 12-0 (5) -- 10-4 (5) -- 3-7 (2) -- 25-11 (12) -- $9,000
10. Dennis Berhorst -- Holts Summit, Mo -- 11-1 (5) -- 9-6 (5) -- 3-4 (3) -- 23-11 (13) -- $8,000
The following anglers did not make the cut and did not fish on day 3.
11. Jeramiah Sifers -- Sellersburg, In -- 9-7 (5) -- 10-8 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 19-15 (10) -- $3,000
12. Bradford Beavers -- Summerville, SC -- 7-12 (5) -- 12-2 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 19-14 (10) -- $3,000
13. Mason Hoke -- Conroe, Tx -- 9-12 (5) -- 10-2 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 19-14 (10) -- $3,000
14. Wesley Sandifer -- Chapin, SC -- 11-4 (5) -- 8-5 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 19-9 (10) -- $3,000
15. Mitch Crane -- Columbus, Ms -- 10-12 (5) -- 8-0 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 18-12 (10) -- $3,000
16. Ryan Deal -- Elberfeld, In -- 8-10 (4) -- 9-14 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 18-8 (9) -- $3,000
17. Bryan New -- Belmont, NC -- 9-10 (5) -- 8-12 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 18-6 (10) -- $3,000
18. Kerry Frey -- Middlebury, In -- 8-9 (5) -- 9-10 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 18-3 (10) -- $3,000
19. John Coble Garrett -- Union City, Tn -- 5-15 (4) -- 12-0 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 17-15 (9) -- $3,000
20. Shawn Kowal -- Linn Creek, Mo -- 8-13 (5) -- 9-1 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 17-14 (10) -- $3,000
21. Kyle Palmer -- Estill Springs, Tn -- 9-1 (5) -- 8-4 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 17-5 (10) -- $2,000
22. Blake Wilson -- Benton, Ar -- 8-4 (5) -- 9-0 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 17-4 (10) -- $2,000
23. Toby Corn -- Paducah, Ky -- 6-6 (4) -- 10-13 (3) -- 0-0 (0) -- 17-3 (7) -- $2,000
24. Ryan Davidson -- Branchland, WV -- 10-10 (5) -- 6-0 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 16-10 (10) -- $2,700
25. Andy Newcomb -- Camdenton, Mo -- 8-9 (5) -- 7-15 (4) -- 0-0 (0) -- 16-8 (9) -- $2,000
26. Dennis Burdette -- Pembroke, Va -- 3-15 (3) -- 12-5 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 16-4 (8) -- $2,000
27. Troy Stokes -- Brownstown, Mi -- 9-2 (5) -- 7-2 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 16-4 (10) -- $2,000
28. Matt Mccoy -- Indianapolis, In -- 9-8 (5) -- 6-10 (4) -- 0-0 (0) -- 16-2 (9) -- $2,000
29. Brian Futch -- Herrin, Il -- 6-13 (5) -- 9-1 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 15-14 (10) -- $2,000
30. Al Fiorille -- Mount Airy, Md -- 8-8 (5) -- 7-3 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 15-11 (10) -- $2,000
31. Stacy Adams -- Hazlehurst, Ga -- 6-12 (4) -- 8-13 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 15-9 (9) -- $1,500
32. Clabion Johns -- Social Circle, Ga -- 8-12 (4) -- 6-6 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 15-2 (9) -- $1,500
33. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, Md -- 7-13 (5) -- 7-4 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 15-1 (10) -- $1,500
34. Chris Fiore -- Midlothian, Va -- 8-1 (5) -- 6-10 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 14-11 (10) -- $1,500
35. Michael Miller -- Greenville, SC -- 10-9 (5) -- 4-1 (3) -- 0-0 (0) -- 14-10 (8) -- $1,500
36. Mark Myers -- Cedar Falls, Ia -- 9-15 (4) -- 4-0 (3) -- 0-0 (0) -- 13-15 (7) -- $1,500
37. Nathan Quince -- Imperial, Pa -- 7-0 (5) -- 6-15 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 13-15 (10) -- $1,500
38. Nick Cupps -- Chattanooga, Tn -- 1-11 (1) -- 11-13 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 13-8 (6) -- $1,500
39. Otto Hecht -- Sneads Ferry, NC -- 9-4 (5) -- 3-1 (2) -- 0-0 (0) -- 12-5 (7) -- $1,500
40. Will White -- Wake Forest, NC -- 6-10 (4) -- 5-9 (4) -- 0-0 (0) -- 12-3 (8) -- $1,500
41. Keith Cleary -- Bethel, Ct -- 8-13 (5) -- 2-10 (2) -- 0-0 (0) -- 11-7 (7) -- $1,500
42. Billy Schroeder -- Paducah, Ky -- 3-15 (2) -- 7-8 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 11-7 (7) -- $1,500
43. Harold Buchmeier -- Gilbertsville, Ky -- 9-15 (5) -- 1-7 (1) -- 0-0 (0) -- 11-6 (6) -- $1,500
44. Jayce Garrison -- Conroe, Tx -- 6-10 (5) -- 4-9 (3) -- 0-0 (0) -- 11-3 (8) -- $1,500
45. John Polly -- Nauvoo, Al -- 6-15 (4) -- 3-12 (2) -- 0-0 (0) -- 10-11 (6) -- $1,500
46. Loren Torok -- Hayden, Id -- 7-9 (5) -- 2-9 (2) -- 0-0 (0) -- 10-2 (7) -- $1,500
47. Lance Freeman -- Eddyville, Ky -- 6-7 (4) -- 2-2 (1) -- 0-0 (0) -- 8-9 (5) -- $1,500
48. Mike Miller -- Trinity, NC -- 4-5 (3) -- 3-12 (4) -- 0-0 (0) -- 8-1 (7) -- $1,500
49. Dathan Jones -- Harrodsburg, Ky -- 5-13 (3) -- 2-3 (1) -- 0-0 (0) -- 8-0 (4) -- $1,500
50. Sam Caron -- Pleasant Lake, Mi -- 7-4 (5) -- 0-0 (0) -- 0-0 (0) -- 7-4 (5) -- $1,500
51. Mark Flick -- Delton, Mi -- 3-5 (2) -- 2-13 (2) -- 0-0 (0) -- 6-2 (4) -- $1,500
52. David Schneider Jr -- Indianapolis, In -- 1-8 (1) -- 2-11 (2) -- 0-0 (0) -- 4-3 (3) -- $1,500
53. Sam Heckman -- Pueblo West, Co -- 2-3 (2) -- 1-13 (1) -- 0-0 (0) -- 4-0 (3) -- $1,500
54. Cody Neal -- Evans City, Pa -- 0-0 (0) -- 0-0 (0) -- 0-0 (0) -- 0-0 (0) -- $1,500