The Bassmaster Memorial Major started out with 51 anglers on New York's Lake Oneida, and every one of them caught a limit over the first 2 days. It was the same story for the cut survivors once the venue shifted to Onondaga in metropolitan Syracuse – if you fished that day, you came back with a full bag. No ifs, ands or buts.
Weights were tight up and down the board throughout the event. Those who got onto a strong largemouth bite filtered to the top at Oneida, but some smallmouth-chasers also made the Top 12.
As with most tournaments in this region, the smallmouths bit just about everything – it was just a matter of finding the right schools and getting the right bites. As for the largemouths, they bit a lot of the same things they do across the country at this time of year. With them, it was all about locating enough fish to make a solid pattern pay dividends.
Largemouths dominated at Onondaga, but a few big bronzebacks played supporting roles. Just a little over 3 1/2 pounds separated the Top 6 going into the final day.
Those who finished closest to winner Peter Thliveros used a variety of techniques and baits to get there.
2nd: Steve Kennedy
> Day 1: 5, 17-12
> Day 2: 5, 14-11 (10, 32-07)
> Day 3: 5, 20-03
> Day 4, 5, 18-11 (10, 38-14)
On day 1, Alabama's Steve Kennedy caught the biggest of the 102 sacks that would come from Oneida over the first 2 days. He would have won had he not been assessed a 4-ounce penalty for a dead fish on day 4, which allowed Thliveros to slip past him.
He'd flown back to his home state to help bury his 94-year-old grandmother the Monday before day 1, and his practice consisted of only 8 hours. In hindsight, he said his limited time on the water was probably a benefit.
He skipped a Kinami Flash under docks to catch most of his fish at Oneida, and also caught a few frog fish. He flipped a jig and a swimbait at Onondaga, and lost key bites on both during a frustrating day 4.
> Soft stickbait gear: 6'6" medium-heavy Kistler Helium LTA rod, Shimano Stradic 4000 spinning reel, 10-pound P-Line Fluoroclear, 5/0 Gamakatsu round-bend, offset-shank hook, Kinami Flash (watermelon seed).
> Frog gear: 7' heavy-action Kistler Helium 2 LTX rod, Shimano Curado casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), 65-pound unnamed braided line, Spro Bronzeye Frog (doctored to black and blue).
> Swimbait gear: 7' medium-heavy Kistler Helium LTA rod, Shimano Curado casting reel (7:1 ratio), 15-pound P-Line fluorocarbon, 6" Basstrix Paddle Tail swimbait (hitch or ayu).
> Jig gear: 7' heavy-action Kistler Helium LTA rod, 25-pound P-Line Fluoroclear, 5/8-ounce D&L jig (green-pumpkin), unnamed trailer (green-pumpkin).
> He also caught one fish from Oneida in about a foot of water on a Kinami Norie's Bug (green-pumpkin/watermelon laminate).
Main factor in his success – "Lack of practice. I really think it forced me to just go fishing and it seemed like the fish changed every day, so it was hard to go back and repeat anything. I fished by the seat of my pants, and it was a fun way to fish."
Performance edge – "The P-Line Fluoroclear. I was making long casts with a weightless bait (the Flash), and that was the key."
The 5- to 8-foot range was the magic depth for John Murray.
3rd: John Murray
> Day 1: 5, 14-07
> Day 2: 5, 15-09 (10, 30-00)
> Day 3: 5, 18-10
> Day 4, 5, 19-00 (10, 37-10)
Arizona's John Murray had a lackluster practice, but caught a 4 1/2-pounder on day 1 and stayed near the top of the leaderboard the whole way.
He secured his spot in the Top 12 by pitching to holes in grass clumps to catch his key fish at Oneida. He worked the outside edges of the clumps in 5 to 8 feet of water.
He focused on the same depth range at Onondaga, but targeted different structure.
"There were a lot of piers and old posts and stuff like that. If you found some of those, they'd definitely be holding fish."
He caught weigh-in fish on both a jig and a dropshot rig over the final 2 days.
> Jig gear: 7'6" medium-heavy Powell rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel, 15-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon line, 1/2-ounce hand-tied football-head jig, Yamamoto Double Tail Hula Grub trailer (watermelon candy).
> Dropshot gear: 7'3" medium-action Powell 733 rod, Daiwa Sol spinning reel, 8-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon, 3/8-ounce Kanji tungsten dropshot weight, 1/0 Owner dropshot hook, Berkley Gulp! Wacky Crawler (green-pumpkin).
Main factor in his success – "A lot of confidence in the football jig. I used to throw it a lot, and then I got away from it for awhile. It seems to be a bait that catches some bigger fish."
Performance edge – "My Kaenon sunglasses. I could see the holes and the edges and the wood underneath the water."
Dean Rojas had a poor practice, but a good decision on day 1 led to a Top-12 finish.
4th: Dean Rojas
> Day 1: 5, 15-08
> Day 2: 5, 17-09 (10, 33-01)
> Day 3: 5, 18-07
> Day 4, 5, 17-09 (10, 36-00)
Texan Dean Rojas was another high finisher who struggled in practice.
"It wasn't good at all," he said. "I was keying on some smallmouth and I figured I'd go do that the first morning, but then at the last minute I decided to start on some largemouth stuff.
"I caught a couple real quick, so I decided to roll with it, and I just kept going."
He flipped up about half of his fish, and caught the others on his trademark frog.
> Flipping gear: 7'4" heavy-action Quantum PT rod, Quantum PT Burner casting reel (7:1 ratio), 55-pound Izorline braided line, unnamed 1-ounce tungsten weight, 4/0 Gamakatsu Superline EWG hook, Northland Tackle Slurpies Jungle Beaver (black/blue or watermelon-red).
> Frog gear: 7' Quantum PT Dean Rojas Signature Series Frog rod, Quantum Burner casting reel (7:1), 65-pound Izorline braid, Spro Bronzeye Frog (brown, yellow, green).
Main factor in his success – "I just went fishing and covered a lot of new water. I'd look at a bank and go down it with no preconceived notions. I need to fish like that more often."
Performance edge – "My boat (a Skeeter 20 i-class) worked flawlessly all week, even after that demolition derby at Erie. I put the boat and the (Yamaha) motor through heck, and they didn't let me down, even after the beating they took."
Dave Wolak had one great day and one poor day on Onondaga.
5th: Dave Wolak
> Day 1: 5, 15-04
> Day 2: 5, 12-14 (10, 28-02)
> Day 3: 5, 22-00
> Day 4, 5, 13-15 (10, 35-15)
North Carolina's Dave Wolak grew up not far away in Pennsylvania and has lots of experience on Oneida. He started out pursuing largemouths, but conditions warranted a change of species.
"I started fishing particular areas of grass that I'd fished for years and felt comfortable with," he said. "But for some reason the grass wasn't as good this year, so I bailed out and started fishing for smallmouth.
"The largemouth I was catching were kind of skinny, and it didn't seem like they were in their full-blown summer pattern yet."
He had a great first day at Onondaga, but couldn't back it up on day 4.
"I caught a bunch of fish, but only two of them were (as big as) 3 1/2 pounds. I caught 2 1/2-pounders out the wazzoo."
A Fin-tech Titleshot jig with a Yum Craw Pappy was his primary bait at both lakes. He also caught a few at Oneida on a ripbait.
> Jig gear: 7' heavy-action G. Loomis IMX rod, Team Daiwa X casting reel, 50-pound Power Pro braided line, 1/2-ounce Fin-tech Titleshot jig, 3 3/4 inch Yum Craw Pappy trailer (green-pumpkin).
> Ripbait gear: 7' medium-heavy G. Loomis IMX rod, same reel, 20-pound Power Pro braid, Lucky Craft Pointer 100 (sunfish).
Main factor in his success – "Experience on the lake (Oneida). That's where I learned to fish bigger waters and my comfort level is high."
Performance edge – "The Titleshot jig. The fishing there is all about the grass, and if somebody comes up with something better than that for bringing a bait through grass with no hook or brushguard to get hung up, then please come see me."
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