Sam Lashlee exploited ledge fish to win the Old Hickory FLW Series. But as he pointed out, there were still a lot of fish in shallower water, and good bags could be caught from places where it was no more than waist-deep.
Runner-up Luke Clausen drew on his vast Western experience and used finesse tactics to catch fish that other anglers had failed to entice. Jacob Powroznik, who finished 3rd, and Clark Wendlandt (5th)
targeted boat docks, which didn't seem to be as popular as other types of structure. Michael Brown (4th) found a strong bluff pattern.
2nd: Luke Clausen
> Day 1: 5, 13-11
> Day 2: 5, 11-11
> Day 3: 5, 9-12 (15, 35-02)
> Day 4: 5, 12-13
> Total = 20, 47-15
Clausen tried to find new areas each day, and he wasn't overly concerned if those locales had already been visited by other competitors.
His primary bait was a Zoom Trick Worm fished on 10-pound line with an 1/8-pounce bullet weight.
"The light line and the little worm made a huge difference," he said. "The whole time I was fishing around a tremendous amount of people, and I was never worried about fishing behind other guys."
A Lucky Craft RC 1.5 crankbait also put some fish in his well, particularly when the sun was hidden.
"It just depended on the day," he said. "One day (day 2) it was sunny and calm and I caught every fish on the crankbait, and then the next day I got them all on the worm.
"I just had to keep experimenting until I got bites. Once they got on one, they really weren't on the other."
> Worm gear: 6'10" medium-heavy G.Loomis SHR721 spinning rod, unnamed spinning reel, unnamed 10-pound line and unnamed 10-pound fluorocarbon leader, 1/8-ounce Tru-Tungsten bullet weight, unnamed 3/0 offset-shank hook, Zoom Trick Worm (green-pumpkin).
> Crankbait gear: 7' medium-heavy G.Loomis CBR845 rod, unnamed casting reel, 15-pound unnamed monofilament line, Lucky Craft RC 1.5 (chartreuse/white).
> Main factor in his success – "Fishing a lot of new water. Every day I just kept thinking that I was going to find something more consistent."
A strong dock pattern allowed Jacob Powroznik to make his second straight FLW Series Top 10 cut.
3rd: Jacob Powroznik
> Day 1: 5, 12-05
> Day 2: 5, 9-07
> Day 3: 5, 12-12 (15, 34-08)
> Day 4: 5, 13-05
> Total = 20, 47-13
Powroznik used a dock pattern to make the Top 10 cut, then fished bluff walls near the release area on the final day. He caught all of his fish on a Zoom Trick Worm rigged on small jigs, and Clausen beat him out for 2nd by just 2 ounces.
"For the first 3 days, the docks kept me in it," he said. "I started the first day near the ramp, then I went to the docks and caught 20 keepers.
"I only saw one other person fishing docks."
> Jig gear: 7' medium-heavy Shimano Clarus spinning rod, Shimano Stradic spinning reel, 10-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon, 1/8-ounce Rabbit Dog jig or 1/4-ounce All-Terrain Jim Moynagh Rock Jig, Zoom Trick Worm trailer (green-pumpkin).
> Main factor in his success – "Fishing boat docks that nobody else was fishing."
4th: Michael Brown
> Day 1: 5, 14-09
> Day 2: 5, 12-02
> Day 3: 5, 11-13 (15, 38-08)
> Day 4: 5, 8-10
> Total = 20, 47-02
Brown made the cut in 2nd place and was the only angler within 5 pounds of Lashlee going into day 4. He caught his lightest bag of the tournament on the final day though, and dropped two places.
He stayed shallow the entire tournament, focusing on bluff banks in the backs of creeks with a crankbait and a jig.
"I was paralleling the bluffs big-time," he said. "The boat was almost touching them. I caught most of my fish in 4 to 6 feet of water on structure I couldn't see. I only caught a couple of fish all week on visible cover."
> Crankbait gear: 6'8" medium-heavy American Rodsmiths spinnerbait rod, Pflueger Supreme casting reel (6.3:1 gear ratio), 15-pound Berkley Big Game line, Lucky Craft BDS 3 (shad).
> Jig gear: 6'10" heavy-action All Star SJ2 rod, same reel. 20-pound Big Game, 1/2-ounce War Eagle jig (blue/black/purple), Zoom Pro Chunk trailer (black/blue olive).
> Main factor in his success – "Having my area to myself. Even if there were other people fishing there, they weren't doing what I was doing."
5th: Clark Wendlandt
> Day 1: 5, 13-05
> Day 2: 5, 11-06
> Day 3: 5, 11-13 (15, 36-08)
> Day 4: 5, 9-15
> Total = 20, 46-07
Wendlandt, like Powroznik, concentrated on docks and had them to himself.
"There really wasn't very much pressure on the docks, and I don't know why," he said. "I could catch them two different ways – either behind them in the really shallow water on a jig, or else in front on a spinnerbait.
"I caught most of my bigger fish on the jig."
Docks that were stationed in shallow water were best. "I tried some deeper ones on the main lake, but I didn't do very well."
> Jig gear: 6'6" heavy-action Falcon Lowrider rod, Pflueger President casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), 15-pound Ande fluorocarbon line, 3/8-ounce Gambler Ninja Jig (black), Gambler BB Cricket trailer (black).
> Spinnerbait gear: 7' medium-heavy Falcon LowRider rod, same reel, 20-pound Ande fluorocarbon, 1/2-ounce Santone spinnerbait (shad).
> Main factor in his success – "Fishing docks."
