California's Brent Ehrler won the recent FLW Tour Championship (FLWTC) at Alabama's Lake Logan Martin on a dock pattern.
Specifically, he worked two primary stretches that held quality fish, and threw two different worms on two different shakey-head jigs. He also did some cranking earlier in the week.
The rest of the Top 5 – Ray Scheide, Clark Wendlandt, Shinichi Fukae and Jay Yelas
– also focused largely on shallow water. What follows is a breakdown of their main patterns.
2nd: Ray Scheide
> Day 1: 5, 15-01
> Day 2: 5, 8-14 (10, 23-15)
> Day 3: 5, 10-15
> Day 4: 5, 14-06
Scheide nearly won the whole darn thing. He weighed a 5-pound-plus fish the final day, and lost one he couldn't turn, but ultimately fell 11 ounces short.
He worked two separate patterns. When the current wasn't running – which was more often than not – he ran to the backs of creeks and fished structure and cover just off the bank.
He noted concrete structures, rockpiles and a few brushpiles held his fish. His primary shallow bait was a Berkley Power Worm, but he also cranked a Lucky Craft RC 1.5.
When the current was moving, he went to the main river and primarily cranked the ledges and drops with a Norman Deep Little N. He also threw a Terminator Football jig and Reaction Innovations Screwed Up jighead out deep.
> Worm gear: 7' medium-action G. Loomis rod, Shimano Curado casting reel, 16-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, 4/0 Gamakatsu Superline hook, 1/4-ounce weight (unpegged), 8" Berkley Power Worm (curlytail, black).
> He cranked the Lucky Craft RC 1.5 on the same reel and line, but used a G. Loomis CBR cranking rod.
> Deep-cranking gear: 7' G. Loomis CBR cranking rod, same reel, 12-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon, Norman Deep Little N (lavender shad).
> Main factor in his success – "Putting myself in the right places at the right time, according to what the current was doing."
Clark Wendlandt focused on suspended fish under floating docks.
3rd: Clark Wendlandt
> Day 1: 5, 10-13
> Day 2: 5, 8-10 (10, 19-07)
> Day 3: 5, 10-05
> Day 4: 5, 13-09
Wendlandt focused on docks, but after a few days refined his pattern to favor floating docks.
He left his very best area for day 4 – he never even went near it the first 3 days – but when he pulled in the morning of day 4, he discovered it was also Ray Scheide's best spot. It still produced 13 1/2 pounds though.
"I really liked the floating docks the best," he said. "I don't think very many people were keying on those.
"The fish were suspended underneath them and were very difficult to catch. They wouldn't hit a moving bait, so you had to throw light line on spinning tackle."
He added: "I was skipping the worm up under the docks and getting my bites either on the initial fall or after they followed it to the bottom."
> Dock gear: 6'6" medium-action Falcon LowRider rod, Pflueger Supreme spinning reel, 10-pound Ande line, 1/8-ounce Giggy Head jighead, 5" Gambler Icicle worm (green-pumpkin).
> Main factor in his success – "The main factor in me finishing 3rd was saving a spot for the last day – gambling on that and still getting through the brackets."
The key to Shinichi Fukae's pattern was brush either next to or in front of docks.
4th: Shinichi Fukae
Fukae likewise fished docks, but his had to have a brushpile to the side or right in front.
His docks were both in creeks and in the main lake, and he targeted depths from 3 to 13 feet.
> Dock gear: 6'6" medium-action St. Croix Legend Elite rod, Shimano Stella 3000C spinning reel, 8-pound Yo-Zuri fluorocarbon, 3/32-ounce Marukyu Ecogear Skip in the Shade jighead, 5" Yamamoto Kut-Tail worm and Yamamoto Shad Shaped worm (both green-pumpkin).
> He noted the Skip in the Shade is a shakey-head designed by Norio Tanabe.
> Main factor in his success – "Timing. I spent 10 minutes in a place at the most. It was run-and-gun."
5th: Jay Yelas
> Day 1: 5, 13-01
> Day 2: 5, 13-14 (10, 26-15)
> Day 3: 5, 14-03
> Day 4: 5, 13-02
Yelas caught over 13 pounds each day and weighed more in total than any other competitor.
He caught 19 his 20 fish on a Berkley Power Shaky worm. The other came on a jig.
"I was fishing (the worm) a couple of different ways," he said. "I was fishing it with 10-pound Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon, but sometimes 15-pound, depending on how heavy the cover was.
Jay Yelas' docks stretched over flats with drops to deep water.
"I had three rods all rigged with the same worm, but on different (jigheads) – 1/8-, 3/16- and 1/4-ounce. The 1/8-ounce jighead, with a smaller hook, was from Provider tackle. The other two were homemade with a big, 5/0 hook."
He noted his primary targets were main-lake docks near main-lake points. "One of the keys also was that they were large docks," he added. "They'd extend out over a shallow flat that was maybe 3 feet deep, then out over the dropoff that broke to 15 to 17 feet on the outside edge."
The fish were both deep and shallow along the docks – he caught some up to 20 feet deep on the outside poles. But his biggest fish on day 4 came from where the dock met a retaining wall in about a foot of water.
> Heavy dock gear: 6'6" heavy-action Team Daiwa TV-S rod, Daiwa Viento casting reel (left-handed), 15-pound Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon, 3/16- and 1/4-ounce homemade jigheads, Berkley Power Shaky worm (green-pumpkin).
> Light dock gear: 6'3" Team Daiwa Light & Tough rod, Daiwa TD Sol spinning reel, 10-pound Vanish, 1/8-ounce Provider jighead, Berkley Power Shaky worm (green-pumpkin).
> Main factor in his success – "I think it was that worm. I fished a jig hard for 5 days in practice, but they just did not want the jig this week."
