Remitz Chose Option 3, Targeted Early Fish

Texas' lake Amistad can pretty much be considered a Western-style lake. It doesn't have much in common with other Texas fisheries like Rayburn, Toledo Bend or Fork, save standing timber.

Instead, this Rio Grande impoundment along the U.S.-Mexico border is more like a downsized version of Nevada's Lake Mead – gin-clear water, craggy canyons, sunken islands, and sheer underwater bluffs.

Perhaps that's why so many in the field hung around shallow water in anticipation of the spawn. In a more typical impoundment – one that's shallower and more fertile – the spawn would almost certainly have happened at some point during the week.

But the fish in deep, clear and relatively cool Lake Amistad never turned that corner. Sure, a few bed-fish were found here and there, but nearly everyone in the final Top 12 targeted staging fish inside or immediately adjacent to spawning coves.

Winner Derek Remitz, a rookie, took a little different tack. Of the three options available – spawning fish, staging fish, and early pre-spawn fish – he chose the latter. His fish were just coming out of their winter pattern and beginning to stage out deep in the main lake.

It was the right choice. Across 4 days, when others in the field struggled to stay consistent, he continued to improve. On day 4, he whacked 31-06 – his biggest sack of the tournament – and spanked 2nd-place Mike Iaconelli by nearly 8 pounds.

And he beat 12th-place finisher John Murray by a massive 33 1/2-pound margin.

He threw a jig deep all 4 days, and never traveled more than 5 miles from the launch.

What follows are the full details of his winning pattern.

Practice And Competition

> Day 1: 5, 20-03
> Day 2: 5, 29-07
> Day 3: 5, 30-07
> Day 4: 5, 31-06
> Total = 20, 111-07

Remitz, an Elite Series rookie who hails from Minnesota but now lives in Alabama, had fished Amistad only once before, in an event the season before.

At that previous event, he ran a pattern that involved ledges. It was a good one, but he decided to start shallow on the first day of practice last week. He didn't find much, which convinced him he needed to concentrate on deep water instead.

So he went out on the second practice day and did exactly what he did the year before.

"It turns out this year it held up," he said of the pattern. "What I was doing was sitting on ledges in creeks, or the main river channel. (The ledges would) be in either the mouth of a spawning cove, or the little pockets they spawn in, or (next to) main-lake flats. But you had to find the underwater bluffs."

He tried to find as many bluffs as he could, and on pretty much each one, there'd be a 10- to 15-yard stretch where he could catch one or two fish every day. He wasn't looking for many bites – just seven or eight a day – because nearly every bluff-fish he caught was 5 to 6 pounds.

"I never did make it to any spots I fished last year – I fished really close," he noted.

"I caught right at 30 pounds on Tuesday (day 2 of practice). Then I went out Wednesday and found about six or seven more deep spots, on top of what I already had. I figured I'd go shallow if I had to, but I'd live or die by the deep fish. And I didn't have a whole lot of pressure to deal with out there."

Competition was straight-up, and pretty much a repeat of practice. He fished close – within 5 miles of the launch – and bounced around from bluff spot to bluff spot.

He made a huge stride on day 3 when he caught an 8-pounder and moved into the lead. He caught a 9-pounder on day 4 to close it.

Winning Pattern Notes

A few key things stand out about Remitz' pattern.

He fished the tops of straight bluff walls. The top (where it became a flat) was usually 25 to 35 feet deep, and the bluff plummeted to anywhere from 50 to 80 or 90 feet.

Photo: ESPN Outdoors

Remitz said it was crucial that he position himself on top of the bluff, and parallel it with his jig.