Peter Thliveros was one fish short of sacking a limit every day at the Harris Chain Bassmaster, but his 69-05 total weight was still enough to hold off a stout threat from veteran Jim Bitter, who had to settle for 2nd place. While Bitter wrestled with crowd control and wind much of the tournament, Thliveros won while fishing in relative solitude where the breeze didn't bother him.

All of the Top 5 fished plastics slowly around vegetation, but he was the only one who caught several

good fish on a spinnerbait too. At the end of the week, he ecstatically held up his fifth tour-level winner's trophy.

Here's how he did it.

Practice

"My practice was pretty slow," Thliveros said. "I didn't have much faith in it, really. Did I think I was on the fish to win? Absolutely not. In fact, I was wondering if I'd even catch a fish, especially after I'd just finished 132nd at Lake Toho.

"I just went looking, and got four or five bites in a place I'd never fished before. It turned out to be real good."

That good area contained several canals off Lake Eustis, and a stretch of the Dead River. They were close to bedding areas, and he thinks the fish were moving through the area – back and forth from the lake.

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 16-00
> Day 2: 5, 16-09
> Day 3: 5, 16-13
> Day 4: 4, 19-15
= Total: 19, 69-05

Thliveros said the areas he fished were residential canals "about 4 to 5 feet deep with lily-pad fields." He concentrated on the "first third" of the area in from the lake, and found he didn't need to fish all the way back.

In the mornings, he threw a Team Supreme spinnerbait on the banks of the canals, then switch to a Zoom Baby Brush Hog and paddletail worm later in the day. He did the same thing all four days, with no major adjustments to tackle or technique.

He focused his efforts on lily pads – in particular, the roots of the plants. He thought the fish were spawning or staging to spawn, although the water was too dingy to actually see them. The breezy conditions that prevailed on Days 2, 3, and 4 didn't bother him, and he thinks it may actually have energized his fish. He had the areas mostly to himself except for "a couple of guys" who showed up on Day 2.

The early spinnerbait bite was the fun part, he said. Compared to his pace later in the day, he was blazed down the banks with the blade and targeted any cover along the way. "I used 20-pound line to help keep the bait up out of the cover a little more," he noted.

The worm fishing wasn't as riveting. In fact, "It was like watching paint dry," he said. "It was just regular Texas-rig Florida worm fishing. Most of the bites came when I was working it back. Some would slam it, but others were real mushy bites." He would cast the worm or Brush Hog to the pad fields, lift and shake it, then let it fall back down.

"I think they were trying to spawn on the root systems of the pads," he said, and he had to fish the plastics with a "painfully slow" retrieve. Sometimes he waited half a minute before moving the lure again. That meant he had to commit to the area and have confidence that the bites would come.

The first 2 days, he caught fish both on the banks early, and in the pads later in the day. But on Day 3, "I never got bit in the pad field," he said. "Then on Day 4, I got all my bites out of there. I think they're just constantly on the move this time of year."

His weights the first three days were very consistent, although he had a chance to break to the upside on Day 3. "I lost a big one, and missed another," he said. That prompted him to add a trailer hook to his spinnerbait the next day. The adjustment turned out to be unnecessary, since the fish he caught both had the main hook.

The spinnerbait bite was especially exciting the last day. He caught a 7-03 on the blade, and just a few casts later caught one nearly 6 pounds. The last two keepers of the day ate the plastics. He had his four keepers before noon. If not for a lost 2-pounder – his first fish of the day - his limit would have been complete. He lost the fish when he tried to swing it aboard.

Gear Notes

> Spinnerbait gear: American Rodsmiths 7-foot heavy composite rod, Shimano Curado casting reel, 20-pound Stren Heavy Cover monofilament line, 1/2-ounce Team Supreme spinnerbait with a chartreuse/crystal shiner skirt, gold blades (No. 3 Colorado ahead of a No. 6 willow-leaf).

> Plastics gear: American Rodsmiths 7-foot medium Carolina Rig rod, Shimano Curado casting reel, 14-pound Stren Fluorocarbon line, 1/8-ounce Tru-Tungsten weight, 3/0 Eagle Claw offset worm hook, Zoom Baby Brush Hog and paddletail worm (both junebug).

Notable

> Main factor in his success – "Not having too many places to fish, and being patient with what I had – confidence and patience."

> Even after he won the Harris Chain tournament, Thliveros said his chances of winning BASS Angler of the Year are slim. "I'm shot in the foot already. Unless I win a couple more events, that 132nd at Toho did me in."

> He was never out of the Top 12 throughout the tournament.