Patience has never been Aaron Hastings' strong suit, whether he's fishing or doing anything else. His metabolism runs like a high-mountain river in May, and he often encounters difficulty with tasks that require a methodical approach.
As an angler, he's always preferred a run-and-gun style, and it worked out for him just fine all the way through the triple-A ranks. But when he got to the FLW Tour last year, he discovered – the hard way – that the rapid-fire method isn't always the best way to go.
He finished 165th in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race, did no better than 79th in any event and never cashed a single check. But he learned a lot, and he put that knowledge to great use at the 2007 opener at Texas' Lake Travis.
He had two opportunities to get antsy and make a spur-of-the-moment move when he encountered
circumstances he hadn't anticipated. Had he done so on either occasion, he likely would have blown his chance to win. But he kept his composure both times, and it paid off.
The 35-year-old from Maryland caught 19-09 over the final 2 days to claim his first tour-level win by 1-10 over North Carolina's Bryan Thrift. He was easily the most consistent angler at the event – there was less than 1 1/2 pounds difference between his best bag and his worst.
Here's how he did it.
Practice
Like the vast majority of the field, Hastings had never been to Travis before. He arrived in Austin at about noon on the Friday before the tournament and spent the rest of that day cruising around the lake. He burned up more boat gas that day than he did for the rest of the week combined.
On that afternoon tour, he discovered that the water – what there was of it – was extremely clear. The level was about 35 feet below full pool, so the lake would fish extremely small.
"That gave me a couple of ideas about how to fish," he said. "I figured my primary tactic had to be to focus on marinas because they could withstand all the pressure probably better than any other type of cover."
The next day was warm and sunny, and he decided to try the Cypress Creek Marina just because it was closest to the launch.
"It worked great, and I caught 14 pounds in about 3 hours. So I left and went looking for other docks that had that same type of thing."
He awoke the next morning with the flu and didn't make it to the water that day or the one after. When he finally got back out on Tuesday, a strong cold front had moved in.
"I went back to where I'd caught them on that first day and didn't catch any. Then I figured they must have pulled back onto some kind of break."
Right he was. As soon as he found the place where the water dropped off from 10 to 14 feet, he was back in business. That was right about at the midpoint of the marina, and he had no trouble enticing those fish with a jig or a tube skipped under the docks.
Days 1 and 2
> Day 1: 5, 11-01
> Day 2: 5, 10-00 (10, 21-01)
Hastings' first opportunity to make an ill-advised, panic-driven decision occurred early on day 1. He'd drawn boat No. 134, and there were at least 20 boats pounding Cypress Creek Marina when he pulled up.
"I didn't go in there," he said. "I knew if I went in and started catching them, then other people would stay and word would get out. So I picked up a dropshot rig and just fished the breaks on the outside, and I was there for 2 1/2 hours.
"Eventually guys started to get frustrated and leave. I went in there and caught my fish in an hour, then I left."
He started day 2 in 9th place and went through the same routine. Cypress Creek didn't draw as big of a crowd on the second day, so he didn't have to wait as long to make his move.
Again, he sacked up a quick limit of 2-pound largemouths and got out. He remained in 9th place as the 200-angler field was cut to 10 for the weekend.
Hastings had all the weight he needed by 9:00 on the final day.
Days 3 and 4
> Day 3: 5, 9-15
> Day 4: 5, 9-10 (10, 19-09)
Most of the Top-10 field faltered badly on day 3. Hometown favorite Clark Wendlandt, who'd caught more than 17 pounds on day 1, came in with just 7-12, and cut-leader Dave Lefebre, who'd been averaging more than 13 pounds a day, caught just 6-08.
Wind was a big factor. It blew at a steady 25 mph out of the north/northwest, and anglers working offshore structure couldn't get at their fish.
Hastings' marina was protected, but the day didn't start well for him either. By 11:00, he'd caught just a single keeper.
There was chance No. 2 to do something he might regret later.
"I didn't panic," he said. "I picked up the dropshot and started looking for the fish, and I eventually found them."
They'd moved back to the next major break, where the depth went from 18 to 24 feet. And they were suckers for a Roboworm in the appropriate Aaron's magic color.
His 9-15 bag on day 3 put him into the lead by more than 2 pounds. He went back on the final day and caught a similar limit by 9:00, then broke off a giant on 6-pound line.
He didn't need that fish, but it would have made the weigh-in even more exciting for him. "If it was an ounce, it was pushing 9 pounds."
Winning Gear Notes
> Tube gear: 6'6" medium-heavy G.Loomis spinning rod, Shimano Stradic 2500 spinning reel, 8-pound Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon line, 1/8-ounce homemade jighead, 3 1/2" Cabin Creek tube (smoke).
> Jig gear: 7'1" G.Loomis Senko Rod, Shimano Sustain 4000 spinning reel, 8-pound Vanish, 3/16-ounce Big Mouth Lures jig (black/brown/purple), Kinami double-tail grub trailer (cinnamon/purple).
> He fished the jig at an excruciatingly slow pace. "I was just crawling it along the bottom. Sometimes it would take 2 minutes to finish out a cast."
> Dropshot gear: 6'10" G.Loomis dropshot rod, Shimano Sustain 4000 spinning reel, 6-pound Vanish, 3/8-ounce generic lead dropshot weight, No. 1 Owner rigging hook, 5" Roboworm (Aaron's magic).
> He Texas-rigged the worm because an exposed hook would have hung up frequently in the cable systems of the docks.
The Bottom Line
Main factor in his success – "Those two decisions where I didn't panic."
Performance edge – "My Lowrance electronics and the Berkley Vanish line. I'm not sponsored by either of those companies and I don't get a dollar or even free product from them. But those fish couldn't hide from me, and that light line made a huge difference after the first day or so – after they'd seen a thousand baits."
