Flipping And Blades Best For Rest Of Top 5

Kelly Jordon won the recent Okeechobee FLW with nothing but a flipping stick in his hand. No surprise there. It's also no surprise that most of the Top 5 flipped too. But mixed in were a few other Okeechobee staples – namely, spinnerbaits and rattlebaits. Yet Bolton was the only Top 5 finisher who reported a big bite on blades.

2nd: Kennedy Threw Cricket

Steve Kennedy fished the Okeechobee EverStart and finished 4th there. He said that experience helped him develop his pattern for the FLW event. "Before the EverStart I found three areas where I could catch

fsh. I had spots upriver at the dam, in Monkey Box and also in South Bay."

He said he caught a limit on day 1 of the EverStart at the dam, then got burned in the Monkey Box. He spent the final 2 days of the EverStart in South Bay.

"We had a week to practice before the FLW, and a lot of guys were practicing hard," he said. "You have to realize that this place changes so fast, so I fun-fished for a few days and only practiced hard right before the tournament began.

"They were chomping in South Bay before the north wind hit, and on the last day of practice I went back into Monkey Box. I knew the area I wanted to fish – I found one little stretch where I could call my shots.

"Even though I felt there were more fish in Monkey Box, I had to go to South Bay the first morning. In the 2 days since I'd been there, mud had moved in. I only caught one little fish, so I turned around and ran across the lake to Monkey Box. I caught 10 pounds the first day."

He said he spent the rest of the tournament in Monkey Box. "On day 2 I ran straight there and started flipping mats. I caught 26 pounds before 1:00. Some good clouds came over around noon, which I think turned them on."

He had the lead after day 2 and defended it on day 3. "I only had 17 pounds on day 3. To follow up 26 pounds with 17 – it was an extremely tough day. I caught a limit early, out of one mat, but they were smaller fish.

"I culled a few times later on, then with 15 minutes left I caught a 6-pounder. It was the longest Hail Mary fish I've ever hooked in my life. I flipped to a little spot in the hydrilla, the bait fell about a foot, I felt a thump then had to go in and get it. It was the best catch of my life by far – an incredible fish."

He went back to the same area on day 4. "We only had 4 1/2 hours of fishing time. I caught a limit without moving the boat, but it wasn't enough."

> Flipping gear: 7'10" heavy St. Croix flipping stick, Shimano Curado casting reel, 65-pound Power Pro braided line (tied direct), 1 3/4 ounce Penetrator weight ("unpegged, which was key for landing the bites"), 4/0 Academy Sports straight-shank round-bend hook, Gambler BB Cricket (junebug and black/blue for limit fish, black gray/blue glitter for big bites).

> On using braid versus mono: "You could get more bites on mono, but if you can't get them out of the mats, there's no point in hooking them."

> Main factor in his success – "I didn't get too worked up about practicing. I knew what I was going to do and I went and did it. There were a lot of boats fishing around me that didn't catch them. I really went looking for one big fish each day and keyed on big bites. When I got one, I stayed there and fished everything."

3rd: Rojas Rocked the Box

Unlike a lot of the field, Rojas only practiced 1 day. "I had them going on the Luhr-Jensen Fish Stick – a topwater bait," he said. "The practice day was overcast and cloudy with a light breeze. It was still pretty warm. They ate a spinnerbait really good, and I could flip for bites too.

"All I wanted to see in practice was the activity level of the fish. Once I caught a couple of good ones, I figured that's where I would fish. I went into the tournament with only three or four areas to fish."

All his spots were in Monkey Box, and that's where he went on day 1. "I went into Monkey box, put the trolling motor down and never cranked the big motor until it was time to go in. That's what I did all 4 days.

"The area I fished was only about 150 yards in diameter. Inside that area, certain mats were really good, and certain stretches were good. A lot of it was a timing deal too. I basically committed myself to the area because I felt I knew what was there."

He said his main spot was a staging area and the good stretches were obvious. "You couldn't really call your shots, but once you got in a good area, you knew it, and you knew your chances of a bite were really good.

"That's just the way they go before they spawn. They were sitting right outside a spawning area, and the cold weather pushed them into the mats. I knew going in that when it's like that, you'll have a brief window each day where those fish get active and feed.

"It's a matter of being right there at the right time. Being in that one area and concentrating on it was key for me."

He said he and Jordon fished close to each other. "(Jordon) and I were pretty much on the same deal. We were just flipping mats – flip, flip, flip on a mat, then move and flip again.

"Where he caught most of his fish on day 4 – it was just outside the area I was fishing. I could see him all day. He got onto a good mat that had some big ones underneath it."

Rojas noted things went pretty well with the crowded conditions, even during the finals. "The guys who were in the Top 10 – you knew who had what area. You don't get too upset when they catch fish – it's hard to say you can't fish this or you shouldn't fish that. They made it too, so you learn to work together and fish your game."

> Flipping gear: 7'4" heavy Quantum PT flipping stick, Quantum 650 PTi casting reel, 65-pound Izorline braid, 4/0 Gamakatsu Superline Series hook, 1-ounce tungsten weight (unpegged), Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver (main vein), Wave Worms Tiki Craw (used first 2 days, black/blue), Wave Worms Tiki Stick (used last 2 days, junebug).

> Topwater gear: 7' medium-heavy Quantum PT rod, Quantum 650 PT casting reel, 20-pound Izorline, Luhr-Jensen Fish Stick (custom bluegill pattern).

> He noted the Fish Stick is currently out of production, "but Luhr-Jensen may bring it back."

> Main factor in his success – "I fished slow. It was the first tournament of the year and everybody was amped up. One good thing in my back corner was my experience in dealing with Florida bass. You have to be patient – especially with the big ones."

3rd: Namiki's Trio

Toshinari Namiki, who speaks limited English, used three baits across the 4-day tournament. One was a TD Vibration, "A Rat-L-Trap-style by team Daiwa." He said he used it in the mornings to catch "two or three keepers."

He said he then flipped in the afternoon. "After that, I (went) to a Senko to catch keepers, and I used 1-ounce weight and Gambler BB Cricket – black and blue."

> Main factor in his success – "Cover was important for big fish."

5th: Bolton Used Blades

Bolton's had a tough run of tournaments in Florida, but he finally broke the Top 10 barrier at Okeechobee. "In practice, I was mostly throwing a 1/2-ounce (Luhr-Jensen) Sugar Shad in South Bay," he said. The Sugar Shad is a rattlebait.

"I was keying on hydrilla out on the edges of eel grass. And I had another area in South Bay where the north winds pushed clear water out toward the main lake. I caught some schooling fish there the first day of practice.

"The second day of my practice, I couldn't catch the schooling fish – the area had turned muddy. I caught some other fish on a rattling bait, then picked up a spinnerbait. I caught a limit on the spinnerbait, then kept throwing that through the next 2 1/2 days of practice.

"I spent some practice time in Monkey box, and caught some fish, but South Bay was the only area where I caught any fish of size. And Monkey Box had so many more boats, I decided to take a chance on South Bay."

He headed for South Bay on the morning of day 1. "I went straight there and picked up my Sugar Shad and caught a limit by probably 9:30. Then I moved out into open water and culled up several fish on the Sugar Shad."

Every fish he weighed on day 1 came on the Sugar Shad. On day 2, he started in the same area again.

"I caught a 2-pounder and a few keepers on the Sugar Shad, then picked up a spinnerbait. I caught a 1 1/2 and 2-pounder. I checked the open-water area and it was all mud, so I started fishing with the wind and went into the reeds. I culled up a few fish with the spinnerbait, and my partner caught a 9-09 on a spinnerbait.

"That keyed me into the bite and what the spinnerbait could do. I went back to my starting area with a spinnerbait and culled two more fish. After that, I knew I'd throw the spinnerbait on day 3."

Bolton threw the spinnerbait for the next two days. "On day 3, I went back to the same area where I ended day 2. I caught my first two bass on a white-bladed War Eagle spinnerbait before the sun got up. After that, I went to gold blades and caught two more – one was an 8-14.

"I fished the same area on day 4, but when I pulled in, the water was very stained. Water had drawn out of South Bay, and Kissimmee grass and eel grass had popped up close to the surface. That made it tough to fish a spinnerbait.

"I started with the white-blade spinnerbait but didn't get bit. When the fog broke, I caught my first fish on the gold blades. I could see fish swirling out in the grass, and I saw a bass with a shad in its mouth, so the bass were still there. But there was only 3 or 4 inches of visibility in the water.

"I put on Zoom Horny Toad and tried to fish out over the grass. I couldn't get them to come up in the dirty water. In the last 30 minutes I picked up the Sugar Shad and managed to catch 1 more keeper."

> Rattlebait gear: 7' medium BassMedics 2iG-Ultra Strike rod, Shimano Calais casting reel, 17-pound Trilene XT line, 1/2-ounce Luhr-Jensen Sugar Shad (gold back with chrome sides).

> Spinnerbait gear: 6'6" medium-heavy BassMedics 2iG-Ultra Strike rod, Shimano Calais reel, 17-pound Trilene XT line, 1/2-ounce War Eagle spinnerbait (white with #3 1/2 and #4 1/2 gold blades for sun, white/chartreuse with same-size white blades for morning).

> Main factor in his success – "The cold weather. I learned down here that when the water gets cold, you either flip mats or fish faster and get reaction bites. I fished for reaction bites because the only other good tournament I had here was when it was cold. I fished the same way then."