As a rule, tough conditions generally force anglers into a narrower set of patterns. This was the case at the recent Wissota Bassmaster Elite 50 held near Chippewa Falls, Wisc. Beneath the brutally tough bite, junk-fishing ruled. Only a few anglers found what could be called a pattern, and those patterns either fizzled out after the day 1, or disappeared altogether on day 3 when competition moved to the six-hole course.
It was just tough fishing all around for everyone. But those who persevered were able to make the cuts. Kevin VanDam won the event – his second E50 victory in a row – and his winning pattern will be posted soon.
Here's how the rest of the Top 5 caught their fish.
2nd: Davy Hite
> Day 1: 3, 6-11
> Day 2: 1, 1-12 (4, 8-07)
> Day 3: 2, 3-04
> Day 4: 4, 8-12 (6, 12-00)
Davy Hite spent most of his practice time up the river in search of smallmouths. "I knew the docks on the main lake would get picked apart pretty hard," he said. "This was a small lake and I knew I had to go find some water that didn't have as much pressure.
"After prefish, I'd only had three bites total," he noted. "The bite wasn't good on the lake either, so I made the decision to stick with the river. There was a lot more water up there and not as many people."
On days 1 and 2 he concentrated on upriver current breaks. "The fish that were there were on current breaks formed by rocks," he said. "It was tough fishing, but it gave me enough to make the cut."
He focused on two baits. "I fished two lures those first 2 days. A gold/black-back Lucky Craft Pointer 78 and a 5/16-ounce jig made by Scott Rook.
"Once I got in the hole course, I had to switch gears," he said. "My fish in the preliminary round were all related to current. I talked with Kevin (VanDam) and he said there were good largemouths in the shallow water. I listened to him and ended up catching my fish the last 2 days using a Berkley Sinking Minnow and a floating worm.
"The fish were really shallow – in less than 18 inches of water on the inside weedbreak," he noted. "You had to fish real slow in order for the fish to eat the bait."
> Jerkbait gear: 6'6" medium-light All Star rod, Pflueger President casting reel, 12-pound Berkley Sensation line, Lucky Craft Pointer 78 (gold/black back).
>Jig gear: 6'6" medium-heavy All Star rod, same reel, 14-pound Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon line, 5/16-ounce homemade jig (watermelon), unnamed trailer (green-pumpkin).
> Plastics gear: 6'9" All Star wacky worm rod, same reel, 10-pound Berkley Vanish, 3/0 Owner Rig'N hook (Sinking Minnow) and 3/0 Owner offset hook (floating worm), Berkley Sinking Minnow (green-pumpkin), 6" unnamed floating worm (merthiolate).
> Main factor in his success – "Fishing the river the first 2 days and Kevin (VanDam) keying me in on the largemouth bite the next 2 days."
Zell Rowland overcame his day 1 zero to make both cuts and the next two Bassmaster Classics.
3rd: Zell Rowland
> Day 1: 0, 0-00
> Day 2: 4, 8-00 (4, 8-00)
> Day 3: 3, 4-10
> Day 4: 2, 4-01 (5, 8-11)
As with the rest of the field, Zell Rowland experienced a tough practice. "Practice wasn't much at all," he said. "This is a small lake, and when you put 50 of the best anglers in the world on water this small, they figure it out fast.
"I caught maybe three to four fish each day during practice," he said. "The fish were post-spawn and tough to catch. I'm sure this lake has a lot more to offer. We just didn't fish it at a good time."
Day 1 wasn't his day. "I blanked on day 1," he said. "Kevin (VanDam) asked me what I was doing and he told me I was fishing the right water – just not the right bait. He said I needed to fish a shallower jerkbait and not the one I was throwing."
With that knowledge, he made a major turnaround on day 2. "I went out on day 2 and managed to get four fish and make the cut. The key was to sit in about 4 to 5 feet of water and cast to the bank. You needed a bait that would only dive 1 to 1 1/2 feet deep. The bait couldn't hit the bottom or the weeds."
Once he entered the hole course, he had to change again. "Everyone was pretty excited about the hole course because it hadn't been fished at all," he noted.
"As soon as I got into the course, I noticed a riprap wall that had some overhanging bushes on it. People had been fishing the outside of the bushes, but not actually casting under them.
"I rigged up a 3-inch Yum tube and in one pass caught two keepers and lost two. The bite was really touchy. You'd feel a peck like a bluegill and you'd have to sit on it until the bait got heavy."
The next day he went back to his riprap shoreline. "The last day I went back to the riprap and got a quick keeper on the tube again. Then I skipped a 4-inch Yum Dinger under a dock and landed a keeper smallmouth. I thought I was onto something good, but it turned out those were the only two fish I'd catch the entire day."
> Jerkbait gear: 6'6" medium-light American Rodsmiths Zell Rowland Series rod, Quantum 600 casting reel, 10-pound Excalibur Silver Thread Fluorocarbon line, 1200 series Smithwick Rogue (gold/black back).
> Tube gear: 7'6" American Rodsmiths flipping rod, same reel, 14-pound Excalibur Silver Thread line, 2/0 Excalibur TX3 hook, 3/16-ounce Excalibur tungsten weight, 3-inch Yum Tube (green-pumpkin with the tail-tips died chartreuse).
> Dinger gear: 6' medium American Rodsmiths rod, same reel, 3/0 Excalibur hook, no weight, 10-pound Silver Thread Fluorocarbon, 4-inch Yum Dinger (green-pumpkin).
> Main factor in his success – "Kevin helped me make the first cut, and then I figured out my spot on the hole course."
Shaw Grigsby tried a frog on the hole course, but went back to the Strike King Zero.
4th: Shaw Grigsby
> Day 1: 1, 2-08
> Day 2: 2, 5-15 (3, 8-07)
> Day 3: 3, 5-09
> Day 4: 1, 1-04 (4, 6-13)
Unlike the others, Shaw Grigsby had a "good" practice. "The second day (of practice) I had a lot of fish," he said. "I felt good about the tournament.
"The fish were in a typical post-spawn pattern. Any piece of cover or structure adjacent to the spawning grounds had fish. It was text-book.
"On day 1 I went to a little bay that was my number-one spot," he said. "I ended up with nothing and then went to my second spot and caught a 2-pounder. After that, I bounced all over the lake trying to pick up quick fish, but it never panned out."
He changed tactics on day 2. "The first day I did a lot of running and didn't have much to show for it. So the second day I stayed put on the spot (where) I got my fish the day before. I ended up with two decent fish and made the cut."
He caught three fish the first 2 days on three different lures. "The fish didn't seem to want any one particular lure," he noted. "I caught my fish on a Strike King Series 1XS crankbait, a Strike King KVD Pro Model Tube and a Strike King 3X Zero.
"After weigh-in on day 2, I went out and scouted the hole course," he said. "I was excited about the way it looked. It had the best largemouth water in the whole lake and I figured the weights might just go up. It didn't take long for me to figure out it was just like the rest of the lake.
"On day 3, I went out and threw a frog all day," he said. "I missed two good fish and caught three that got me into the last day. I was throwing the frog in holes in the slop. I figured I'd do pretty well on the last day."
Turned out he was wrong. "I threw the frog all day without a bite," he said. "I ended up catching my only fish off of a bed on a wacky-rigged Zero."
> Crankbait gear: 7' medium Quantum PT TE rod, Quantum PT Accurist casting reel, 12-pound Stren line (green), Strike King Series 1XS crankbait (chartreuse splatterback).
> Zero gear: 6'10" medium Quantum Shaw Grigsby signature series rod, Quantum Energy spinning reel, 10-pound Stren Fluorocarbon line, 1/8-ounce Bite-Me jighead (day 1) and unnamed wacky hook (day 4), Strike King 3X Zero (green-pumpkin).
> Tube gear: 7'2" Quantum Shaw Grigsby prototype worm rod, Quantum Accurist casting reel, 17-pound Stren line (green), 1/4-ounce Penetrator tungsten weight, 2/0 unnamed hook, Strike King KVD Pro Model Tube (green-pumpkin).
> Frog gear: 7'2" Quantum Shaw Grigsby prototype worm rod, Quantum 860 XM casting reel, 65-pound Stren Super Braid line, Sumo frog (green).
> Main factor in his success – "I just fished hard. This was a tough tournament. I should have done better, but that's the way it goes."
Takahiro Omori fished to win on day 4, but blanked.
4th: Takahiro Omori
> Day 1: 3, 5-12
> Day 2: 4, 7-07 (7, 13-03)
> Day 3: 3, 6-13
> Day 4: 0, 0-00 (3, 6-13)
Takahiro Omori was one of the few anglers who carried a practice pattern into the tournament. "I found largemouths in practice and could catch them off of laydowns in 1 foot of water," he said. "I also found a smallmouth pattern on rock points.
"The largemouths were eating a 6-inch (Zoom) Brush Hog and the smallmouths were eating a 4-inch Yamamoto Senko."
"Prefish was tough, but after I (figured) out those patterns, I tried to expand on it during the tournament."
"I fished smallmouths the first half of day 1," he noted. "I didn't get any fish, so I had to go to my largemouths. I ended up with three fish, all on the Brush Hog.
"On day 2, I fished largemouth all day. I had four in the boat at 4 p.m. and then decided to go check out the hole course. I had a good feeling (I'd) make the cut, as tough as it was."
His first impression of the hole course was good. "The hole course looked better than the rest of the lake. It would fit my pattern very well. There were lots of docks and laydowns in shallow water."
His pattern paid off on day 3, but bit him on day 4. "I started out in hole 3 and didn't have a fish until I got to hole 1," he said. "I caught two largemouths off of beds in hole 1 and then caught my third keeper, a smallmouth, in hole 2 off of a dock.
"On the last day, I decided I'd fish to win. I went out to target largemouths all day. It didn't pay off. The course had been hit hard the day before and there were just no fish left."
> Brush Hog gear: 7' Team Daiwa Flip and Pitch rod (prototype), Team Daiwa TDZ U.S. Trail series reel (Japan-market only), 58-pound Sunline braid, 1/4-ounce lead worm weight, 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG Superline hook, Zoom Brush Hog (green-pumpkin).
> Senko gear: 6'8" medium-heavy Team Daiwa rod, Team Daiwa TDZ 3500 spinning reel, 8-pound Sunline fluorocarbon line, No. 2 Gamakatsu Octopus hook, Gary Yamamoto Senko (green-pumpkin, wacky-rigged).
