Rookie Casey Ashley fulfilled a dream last week when he won the Smith Mt. Bassmaster Elite Series. He held back tears with the trophy in hand as he described low long he's desired to be a professional angler, and win a tour-level event.
The win almost wasn't though. He weighed four fish the final day, and left the door open for someone else to capitalize. Dean Rojas couldn't – his frog bite died and he plummeted to finish 7th. Terry Scroggins made it close when he came within 2 pounds of Ashley, but in the end, the rookie held on.
Here's how the South Carolina pro lived his dream and won the Smith Mt. Elite Series.
Practice
Ashley said that on the first day of practice, he just "started out on some
good-looking places." His main target was riprap – that's where the shad were spawning, and he quickly found a morning topwater bite.
"I caught a 4 1/2 right away on a (Rebel) Pop-R," he said. "I thought, 'There's nothing to this lake.' But it was 4:00 until I had another bite."
That second fish clued him in to a jig bite on points, and he caught three or four others on that pattern before dark.
The next day of practice, he started with topwater again, but couldn't get bit. A little later in the morning, he started throwing an 1/8-ounce shakey-head with a Zoom Finesse worm around docks, and connected.
The final day or practice was just a half-day, and he only got a few bites. So he entered the event with his dock-fish and his point-fish.
Days 1 & 2
> Day 1: 5, 11-01
> Day 2: 5, 22-00 (10, 33-01)
Ashley noted he "didn't really know what (he) was on." He started on a short run of docks and had a limit by 8:20.
Then he went to his point-fish and didn't get any bites, so he went back to another stretch of docks and culled a few fish to reach his 11-01. He ended the day in 49th.
Day 2 was the pivotal day of the event. He started on his docks, and it took an hour and a half longer to get his limit. That turned out to be the key, because when he went to his point-fish, he found they were on.
The problem the first day was he quit his point-fish too soon, but the later change on day 2 clued him in.
"Little did I know the sun had to be up high for those (point-fish) to bite," he said. "I had 22 pounds the second day, and after that, all I did was fish docks in the morning, then go out to the points."
Ashley saved a set of docks that were all the way back in a creek, but surrounded by deep water.
He eventually culled out all but one dock-fish on day 2 (a 4-pounder).
Days 3 & 4
> Day 3: 5, 14-08
> Day 4: 4, 09-10 (19, 57-03)
On day 3, he did start on his docks, but he left them quickly to get back on his points. The points weren't going as well though – it was Saturday, and he struggled against local boat traffic. It wasn't until 10:00 that he got his first bite on the points.
"I had another stretch of docks that I was trying to save for the last day," he noted. "I had to go in there and get two the third day, then I caught the rest on points."
On day 4, he started on the docks he'd been saving. He'd only caught four fish off them all week and went in for the kill, but only got one bite.
"I thought for sure there were more fish in there than that," he said. "So I had to go to another place that had been beat to death and I caught one more.
"Then around 2:15 I pulled up on a point I'd already fished four times that day and caught two on back-to-back casts," he added.
And that was it. His four fish were just enough to hold off Scroggins.
Pattern Notes
About his choice of docks, Ashley said: "I had one (stretch) that was in a main-lake pocket, and then the other stretch I was saving was in the back of a creek, but it had a real deep channel. I'd never seen anything like it. It was all the way back, but it was still 20 feet deep around the docks.
"It was full of bait. I happened to find that the second day of practice. A lot of fish (in practice) followed my jig but wouldn't bite."
He added that one type of dock didn't seem better than another, and that he caught some fish between docks. "The main thing was rocks. If it was a rocky bank, you could catch one, because the shad were spawning on the riprap."
He said his points were in the main lake, and they all had a rockpile somewhere in approximately 14 to 16 feet of water. He fished the jig slow – just dragging it.
"I hate fishing that slow, but they wouldn't hit it on the hop," he noted. "You had to fish it as slow as you could – you'd grind your teeth down to your gums."
And about the boat traffic, he added: "It was awful. You could hardly fish a point. There'd be boats between you and the bank running over your line."
Two baits were key for Ashley – a Zoom finesse worm (top) and Jewel Eakins' jig.
Winning Gear Notes
> Dock gear: 6'6" medium-heavy Fenwick Techna AV rod, Abu Garcia Cardinal 804 spinning reel, 8-pound Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon, 1/8-ounce unnamed jighead (given to him by fellow pro Jason Williamson), 4" Zoom Finesse worm (watermelon/candy).
> Point gear: 7' medium-heavy Fenwick Techna AV rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel (7:1), 15-pound Trilene fluorocarbon, 7/16-ounce Jewel Eakins' jig (PB&J), Zoom Fat Albert twintail grub trailer (green-pumpkin).
> He noted the 7:1 Revo was key, because the high gear ratio helped him catch up with fish. "You needed to make long casts, but when they hit it, they'd knock about 4 feet of slack in the line."
> He picked up the Eakins' jigs at Bass Pro Shops on the way down. "I figured I'd need a finesse jig if they'd bite a jig at all."
The Bottom Line
> Main factor in his success – "Casting the jig on points. I love to throw a jig – it doesn't matter where. As long as I have a jig in my hand, I feel like I can win."
> Performance edge – "My Lowrance depthfinder. I have the Navionics card, and I could just ride around the lake without having to stop and fish. I knew what each place looked like, and that helped a lot in practice."
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