By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Alton Jones believes that the Major League Fishing format is the most difficult tour-level structure to win under, and it's particularly tough considering that he's now in his late 50s.

"It's not like you can just have a good start to a day and catch five good ones and then take it easy," said the Texan who'll celebrate his 58th birthday this summer. "On most days you have to keep your foot on the gas the whole time and the older you get, the harder it is to do that."

The 2008 Bassmaster Classic champion ended a victory drought that extended back to the 2012 St. Johns River Elite Series with his recent triumph at the Heavy Hitters event in Raleigh, N.C. He caught 12 scorable bass that combined to weigh 45-09 in the Championship Round at Shearon Harris Reservoir, easily outdistancing runner-up Jeff Sprague (eight fish for 30-04).

He credited an intermittent fasting program (he consumes calories only between noon and 6 p.m. on most days) that's seen him lose 50 pounds over the past two years for helping him remain competitive against much younger anglers, including his son Alton Jr.

"I haven't really had to give anything up as long as I stay in my eating window," he said. "If I want Baskin-Robbins to be a pair to my day, I can do that."

In his Element

Jones fished conventionally – primarily throwing a wacky-rigged worm at laydowns on secondary points and in pockets – during the two-day Qualifying Round at Falls Lake to advance to the Knockout Round, which also played out at Shearon Harris.

"I was still just fishing on the morning of the Knockout Round and it spun me out because I wasn't catching them," he said. "Late in the first period I realized that I needed to be looking at them and once I made that adjustment, everything totally changed.



MLF/Garrick Dixon
Photo: MLF/Garrick Dixon

Jones used a stealthy approach involving long casts to catch spawning fish at Shearon Harris Reservoir.

"It wasn't totally unexpected, but I had to wait until the sun got up to see what was going on around me. I was very happy that I had to sight-fish because I love to do that."

He found the areas that he exploited at Shearon Harris on the one day of practice that he spent there, but he had to find the specific fish as he moved along in the Championship Round.

"That's not a bad situation to be and it some ways it helps," he said. "You can find new fish that have moved up or whatever. Whenever I saw one that I was sure was at least 3 pounds, I'd stop on it.

"Probably at least half of those were catchable. There were a couple that I spent quite a bit of time on that I couldn't get to bite."

He revealed a few of the tactics he employed to get the willing ones to commit.

"I'm always really careful to stay as far away from the fish as I can, but still be able to see what's going on. I keep more distance between me and then than probably even most of the guys at the pro level. I'm always concerned about boat angle – I want them to see the rear or the nose of the boat and not the side because that's too big of a profile. Stealth is a big part of it and I'll use sawgrass or a tree if I can to hide from them.

"I never care about seeing my bait, so I use all natural colors. I pay close attention and I can tell where the bait is by the way the fish is acting. I only used one bait (a small tube) for the week, but I altered the movement on it – hopping it or letting it sit still or whatever. You have to start with a clean mental slate on every fish and figure out what they want."

Winning Gear Notes

> Bed-fishing gear: 6'9" medium-heavy Kistler Z Bone rod, 13 Fishing Concept Boss casting reel (8.1:1 ratio), 30-pound Gamma Torque braid (main line), 20-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon (leader), 3/16-ounce Reins Tungsten weight, 3/0 Owner Jungle Flippin' hook, 3 3/4-inch Canyon Plastics tube (gree-pumpkin/purple and black flake).

> He said the rod, which is shorter than what most anglers use for sight-fishing, allows for extremely accurate casts with a small bait.

> "A tube will almost always work for sight-fishing," he said. "It's my go-to bed-fishing bait."

> Wacky-rig gear: 7' medium-heavy Kistler Z Bone rod, unnamed spinning reel, 15-pound Gamma Torque braid (main line), 9-pound Gamma Touch fluorocarbon leader, size 1 VMC Ike Weeless Neko hook, O-ring, Zoom Trick Worm (various colors), 3/32-ounce nail weight.

> He said his Wiley X sunglasses played a pivotal role in helping him see beds and fish in the Championship Round.