Yesterday, BassFans read about how Jeff Kriet caught his fish at the Grand Lake Bassmaster Elite Series in Oklahoma. He threw a Carolina-rig and a swimbait. And BassFans also know winner Kevin VanDam caught his fish on Strike King Series 5 and 6 crankbaits.
Here's how the rest of the Top 5 caught 'em. Note there are four pattern breakdowns below, because Kelly Jordon and Davy Hite tied for 5th, and BASS doesn't break ties unless it's for the win or a final cut position.
3rd: Edwin Evers
> Day 1: 5, 18-04
> Day 2: 5, 19-09
> Day 3: 5, 13-10
> Day 4: 5, 22-00
> Total = 20, 73-07
Edwin Evers fished a mix of baits atop rocky areas in 7 to 13 feet of water. Those baits included a crank and Carolina-rigged creature bait. He also caught some fish on a football jig.
What cost him the tournament was his 13-10 day 2. That's the day he lost four big fish on four consecutive casts.
His key deal was rocks – specifically, piles of rocks near key structural features like channels and points. His target depths were 7 to 13 feet.
> Cranking gear: 7' medium-heavy Bass Pro Shops (BPS) Rick Clunn signature series cranking rod, BPS Pro Qualifier casting reel (5.3:1), 10- and 12-pound BPS XPS fluorocarbon, Bomber Fat Free Shad Junior BD6 (chartreuse/blue-back and root-beer shad).
> He fished the 10-pound line in deeper water so the crank would dive a little more.
> Carolina-rig gear: 7'6" BPS Pro Qualifier rod, BPS Pro Qualifier reel (6.3:1), 20-pound BPS XPS fluorocarbon main line, 14-pound BPS XPS mono leader, 3/4-ounce BPS tungsten weight, 4/0 hook, Yum Wooly Hawgtail (green-pumpkin).
> Main factor in his success – "Just fishing a lot of different spots, and fishing them slow. I was just trying to get big bites.
> Performance edge – "My Lowrance GPS depthfinder, because I could keep track of all the fishing spots I had. I could also see the areas I was fishing. It helped me find the rocks I needed."
Kevin Short relied more on flipping than anyone else in the Top 5.
4th: Kevin Short
> Day 1: 5, 17-10
> Day 2: 5, 16-12
> Day 3: 5, 21-08
> Day 4: 5, 16-09
> Total = 20, 72-07
Kevin Short sort of hovered around on days 1 and 2, then rocked 21 1/2 pounds on day 3. He would have needed about 23 pounds to catch VanDam on day 4, but came up 5-11 short.
His pattern was quite a bit different from others in the Top 5. Basically, he flipped to get a limit, which was a common strategy all week. But he stuck with his flip-fish a lot longer than others, and even returned to them late.
"I had an area where I could catch 14 or 15 pounds pretty quick," he said. "The first day, I wound up catching most of the 17 pounds flipping. After that first day, I went and made sure I had a decent limit flipping, then went down the lake and started throwing a crank."
He was flipping the willows, and interesting is that at first, he didn't realize how many in the field were fishing his area. That's because he didn't go in there until late on day 1, after most had already left. That was fortuitous, though, because he had full run of the area and caught a 5, a 4, and a 3 1/2.
When he started there on day 2, it was buried with boats. He still managed a 13-pound limit, then went cranking. He did the same thing on days 3 and 4, but his flipping weight steadily declined as the fish wore out.
About his cranking spots, he said: "There had to be gravel and chunk-rock mixed. There was a brushpile here or there, but the fish weren't really in the brush. That's one reason I think (former Grand winner) Mike McClelland didn't catch them as good as last year. The fish were scattered."
He caught most of his crank-fish in 10 to 14 feet.
> Flipping gear: 7'11" heavy-action St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass rod, Shimano Castaic casting reel, 65-pound braided line, 1/2-ounce Lunker Lure jig (black/blue), Zoom Super Speed craw trailer (sapphire blue).
> About the jig, he said: "It's the old-school Lunker Lure, like the one Denny (Brauer) made a lot of money on. It's probably the best (jig) ever built."
> He noted the trailer was critical, "because of the color, and action it had. I didn't see anybody else using it. I had the same, identical jig with a black Speed craw, and caught nothing on it. I even tried black/brown. Nothing.
> Cranking gear: 7' medium-heavy St. Croix Premier Glass cranking rod, Shimano Chronarch casting reel, 12-pound Triple Fish fluorocarbon, WEC Z4 and Norman DD 22 (both spatterback).
> WEC is a division of Zoom, and the baits are basically custom balsa jobs done by Zoom founder Ed Chambers. Short sells them at his online store – click here to check 'em out.
> Main factor in his success – "The Super Speed craw. I know it got me in a position to win the tournament. I couldn't have won the tournament on the Speed craw, even if I flipped all day. But I was able to catch at least one 4-pounder every morning because of the trailer. That gave me the confidence to go on down the lake and try for those 5s and 6s. And I knew I could go right behind all those other guys who were flipping."
> Performance edge – "I think the combination of the jig and Speed craw really made a big difference this week."
Kelly Jordon initially thought the water was too muddy for deep-cranking – it's an assumption he regrets.
5th: Kelly Jordon
> Day 1: 5, 11-11
> Day 2: 5, 22-05
> Day 3: 5, 16-01
> Day 4: 5, 20-10
> Total = 20, 70-11
In the last 30 minutes of day 1 Kelly Jordon discovered the cranking bite, and he never looked back. But as he said in a previous story, it was already too late – his 11-11 on day 1 ultimately doomed him.
About his cranking pattern, he said: "The shallowest I caught them was probably 12 feet, and I was catching some out in 25 feet – suspended 15 feet down."
He added that those deep fish were suspending due to an odd type of thermocline. The muddy, colder flood water was nearer bottom. "You could see it – it was a super-hard line. The graph would just black out at 13 to 15 feet." That's why it took him so long to find the cranking bite – he thought it was too muddy.
About his spots, he said: "This is a run-and-gun lake. You can probably catch a couple of big ones on any point with deep water nearby, but I was able to find a couple of places that schools of big fish were using. I think there were a lot of fish on these spots – I caught them every time I'd go there. But I'd catch one or two and they'd wise up."
He spooned a few fish on day 4 after they stopped biting the crank. He was casting the spoon, not jigging it.
And one spot was so good he could call his shots. He had the perfect casting angle, and after he caught a fish on it, he'd leave to let the spot rest, then come back. He did that five times on the final day between noon and 2:30. "It was a special feature, a ledge, but it had one little sweet spot on it where I could get all lined up. But you had to let them rest. That was the key.
"Another key deal, the main deal actually, was finding the schools of big 6-inch gizzard shad. If you found them, you were on them."
> Cranking gear: 7' medium-action Fenwick Techna AV rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier casting reel, 10- and 12-pound Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon, Lucky Craft Flat CB D-20 (pearl ayu).
> He said the Revo Premier reel's not on the market yet. "It's awesome. It doesn't weigh anything – like 6 ounces. It doesn't even feel like there's a reel in your hand. I just have two of them. I think it'll be out in September."
> The chrome spoon he used to catch two weigh-fish on day 4 was a custom job. "It's not on the market. It's a spoon we throw at Lake Fork. It's about the size of your hand."
> Main factor in his success – "Just knowing how to fish structure and looking for the right stuff. I was able to find several of the key areas with schools of fish, and I stayed with them. As the water got clearer and clearer, the fish started setting up a lot better and feeding better on moving baits."
> Performance edge – "The Lucky Craft D-20. I threw a bunch of different cranks – (Norman) DD22s and everything – but that bait has a good action that I think really works in off-color water. It has a much wider wobble than other deep cranks on the market. It's almost like a (Storm) Wiggle Wart. It was critical. I caught every one of my big fish on it."
Davy Hite caught fish on his crank, but he also used it to locate fish in shallower water that would bite a worm.
5th: Davy Hite
> Day 1: 5, 17-07
> Day 2: 5, 19-01
> Day 3: 5, 16-11
> Day 4: 5, 17-08
> Total = 20, 70-11
Davy Hite never broached the 20-pound mark – he was more a high-teens player.
He spent the tournament fishing points in 5 to 12 feet of water, and threw the same crankbait VanDam used to win. He also tossed a worm.
He noted: "I know some guys were fishing a little deeper, but most were in that depth range. In practice I fished some shallow, and some deep, but I could only catch smaller fish shallow. I didn't get nearly as many bites out deeper, but they were quality fish.
"And after being here last year – seeing how many fish were in the lake, and how good the weights were – I knew I had to have some good weight to do well at all."
> Cranking gear: 7' light-action Pflueger rod, Pflueger President casting reel, 14-pound Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon, Strike King Series 5 (sexy shad).
> Texas-rig gear: 7' medium-heavy All Star rod, Pflueger Supreme casting reel, 10-pound Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon, 1/4-ounce screw-in lead weight, 5/0 Owner wide-gap hook, 10" Berkley Power worm (blue fleck and brown/gold-flake).
> Main factor in his success – "Just being able to target the bigger fish and stay focused on not trying to get 30 or 40 bites a day. Sometimes I do that and bomb, but it worked out. That's the way I fish tournaments, and it's why I've won seven tournaments in the same amount of time some other guys have been fishing but haven't won. So my key was the same thing that often bites me. I was able to really focus on bigger fish. I was only catching seven to 12 fish a day. I never found a place where I could catch three or four fish at a time."
> Performance edge –"I'd have to say that crank. It caught me a lot of fish, and it even located fish that I caught on the worm. I don't find many fish in 5 feet using the depthfinder. So not only did I catch fish on it, but it was my search bait too."
