Before the Chevy Open (Murray FLW) began, all the talk was about cranks – shallow cranks, deep cranks and cranks in-between. There was some jig talk too, but cranks were the go-to choice.
In the end, cranks played the pivotal role, but jigs were almost as important. The fish were in-between winter and pre-spawn patterns, and relating primarily to rocks, with some stumps and brush mixed in too. But when the weather turned nasty, the shallow bite evaporated and the deep bite dominated.
Anthony Gagliardi won the event with a deep-cranking pattern. Here's how the rest of the top finishers caught their fish.
2nd: Brennan Bosley
> Day 1: 4, 11-05
> Day 2: 5, 26-05 (9, 37-10)
> Day 3: 5, 20-15
> Day 4: 5, 24-13 (10, 45-12)
Brennan Bosley went straight from Okeechobee to Murray, where he had a "pretty easy" practice and didn't work himself "too hard." A week before the tournament, the weather was unseasonably warm, so he started his focus on springtime stuff.
"I went for the clearest water I could find," he said. "I mainly fished channel swings and small, secondary points." That worked pretty well, and 3 days before the tournament began he was able to dial in "a pattern within a pattern." Rocks were the key.
"This lake has huge, round rocks – the size of a car," he said. "I just kind of hunt-and-pecked my way around to find banks with those rocks. I was fishing a Bomber (crank) and trying to bang it off those rocks, or a stump."
He kept his boat over 12 feet of water most of the time. He fished 10-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon and his crank ran to 7 feet. He estimates he primarily fished 9 feet of water, with his crank a few feet off bottom. So he didn't bump bottom, but bumping the cover was key.
"If there was a fish on a rock, normally it would bite right away," noted. "And I did catch a few fish just running the banks. I caught a key fish every day doing that." His big fish on day 4 (8-05) bit in less than 2 feet of water.
> Crankbait gear: 7' medium-action Bass Pro Shops (BPS) cranking rod, Shimano Chronarch 100 casting reel, 10-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, Bomber Flat A (deep-runner, brown/crystal-crawdad).
> Main factor in his success – "Persistence. I caught a lot of fish and had some huge weights, but every day was a tough day. I'd go for hours without getting a bite. It tears at you. My co-angler won with a finesse worm. He had five fish, I had one, but I kept chucking it."
Tim Carroll switched to a worm on day 4 and waxed 'em.
3rd: Tim Carroll
> Day 1: 5, 28-01
> Day 2: 3, 16-08 (8, 44-09)
> Day 3: 3, 14-11
> Day 4: 5, 30-15 (8, 45-10)
Carroll's main pattern was jig-fishing on "big, chunk-rock points." One key though: "It had to have deep water next to it – 50 to 80 feet."
On each point, he concentrated on the breaklines. "These points would come out to 17 to 20 feet, then just drop right into the river channel. I was fishing the tips of the points. Where I caught my fish was anywhere from 17 to 35 feet deep."
He worked a PJ's football-head jig, "just dragging it along the rocks." The best areas were the "stickiest" – meaning, where he'd hang up the most. "That's the area of the point where the most rocks were."
He added that specific points didn't seem to matter – he fished all over the lake. "I think it was the depth, and that I used my Lowrance electronics to find the fish. I'd graph a whole point, but if I didn't see the big hook-echoes (fish), I didn't even fish it. And you'd see a whole school of fish down there – not necessarily one fish."
He did make a key change on day 4, when he set a new 1-day FLW Tour weight record. "I made a bait change about mid-morning of the last day," he said. "I kept getting my jigs hung up – there was some kind of cover on this one particular point. I still haven't figured out what it was.
"I thought maybe a worm would come through better, so I put on a 3/8-ounce Texas-rigged Yamamoto 8-inch grub. On the first cast, one just pounded it. I cleaned their clock with that worm. I weighed two fish on the jig, and three on the worm."
> Jig Gear: 7' heavy-action BassMedics 2iG UltraStrike rod, Shimano Curado casting reel, 14- and 17-pound BPS XPS fluorocarbon, 3/4-ounce PJ's football-head jig (brown), Zoom Fat Albert Twin Tail grub trailer (green-pumpkin).
> He downsized to 14-pound line on day 4. "I thought I could get an extra bite or two, but it made me real nervous to catch almost 31 pounds on 14-pound line."
> He fished the Yamamoto Grub (watermelon) on the same gear.
> Main factor in his success – "I'd have to give it to Lowrance. I figured the pattern out with my electronics. If I hadn't seen them out there, I wouldn't have ever fished for them."
Dave Wolak adjusted as the temperatures turned colder.
4th: Dave Wolak
> Day 1: 5, 18-09
> Day 2: 5, 16-00 (10, 34-09)
> Day 3: 5, 12-12
> Day 4: 5, 12-05 (10, 25-01)
Dave Wolak fished deep too. During the warmer period of practice, he fished jigs and cranks on rock outcrops in the backs of cuts. That's what he started on, "but that pattern totally fizzled out as the tournament got colder and colder."
He eventually pulled the plug and headed for the dam. "I went to one stretch of rock by the dam that was a little deeper than the rest, and the fish migrated to it in the colder weather.
"It was a good little spot. I fished a Title Shot jig up to 35 feet deep. If the sun came out, they moved up to 12 or 18 feet, but on the last day, I caught my fish up to 35 feet."
> Cranking gear: 7' medium-heavy G.Loomis MBR 843 rod, Team Daiwa–S casting reel, 20-pound Power Pro braided line, Luhr-Jensen Speed Trap (brown/chartreuse) and Rapala SR08 Shad Rap (black/silver).
Jig Gear: Same rod (but spinning version), Team Daiwa Advantage 3500 spinning reel, 12-pound P-Line Fluoroclear, 1/4- and 1/2-ounce Title Shot jigs, Poor Boys Little Craw trailer.
> In muddy water he threw black-on-black – by the dam he threw a brown jig with a green-pumpkin trailer.
> Main factor in his success – "Having a short practice and being versatile as the week progressed. The guys who were here for 2 weeks were catching the tar out of them shallow, but when I got here the cold front was already coming in. I said, 'I should find something the fish would pull to,' and deeper stuff took over as the week went on."
Notable
> Jeremiah Kindy, who finished 5th, could not be reached for pattern info.
