Faircloth Alternated Between Swimbait And Senko

Todd Faircloth never thought he could win the Amistad Bassmaster Elite Series until he actually won it. He had an uninspiring practice that preceded two productive competition days, but even then, he went into the final day of the weather-shortened event in 9th place, more than 8 1/2 pounds back.

He sacked a massive 29-06 on the last day, though, and then sat back and watched as one angler after another who'd started the day ahead of him failed to eclipse his 76-15, 3-day total. He won by 12-ounces over rookie Clark Reehm.

The 32-year-old Texan has been on fire since the middle of last season, with eight finishes of 23rd or higher in the last nine Elite tournaments. And even that other outing was pretty good – a 41st at Falcon the previous week.

The victory was his second on the Elite Series (he also won at Table Rock to conclude the 2006 campaign) and moved him into 2nd place in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race.

Practice

Nothing that Faircloth did in practice indicated he had any chance of winning this tournament.

"There wasn't anything special, by any means," he said. "I caught a lot of small fish. I was getting two or three quality bites a day, but the biggest fish I caught was about 4 1/2 pounds."

He caught a few swimbait fish during practice and located quite a few with either a Yamamoto or a Sebile Magic Swimmer – a jointed wakebait that he could burn across the flats.

"The fish in clear-water lakes like this are like smallmouths – you don't have to catch them to find out where they are because they'll show themselves. I found a few groups doing that."

When practice was over, he had three areas that he had confidence in. All were flats that featured isolated trees – just three or four together were better than a big cluster – and were places that the fish were using in their transition from the spawn. The tops of the trees were submerged under 4 or 5 feet of water.

"I thought I could get a fairly decent limit early in the day if I threw the big baits enough and stayed in the areas where there was potential for big fish. I was really just hoping to come out with a check – I had no expectations of winning the tournament."

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 23-14
> Day 2: 5, 23-03
> Day 3: 5, 29-14
> Total = 76-15

The first scheduled day of practice was canceled due to strong winds, and Faircloth spent the day relaxing with his family. Having the tournament shortened to 3 days didn't alter his gameplan when competition began on Friday.

"I had an area I wanted to start on, and I caught one big one right off the bat," he said. "I fished around there for quite awhile and finally got a limit that weighed 16 or 17 pounds, and all but one of those came on the Senko.

"After that I went through my other areas, and I caught a 5-pounder on a Senko and a 6 1/2-pounder late in the day on the swimbait."

He was in 15th place to start day 2, less than 2 pounds out of the Top 12 cut. He had to decide whether to start in the place where he began day 1, or the area where he ended it.

"When you have a good day it's hard to change, so I stayed with the first-day gameplan. The wind was blowing in on my primary stuff, and I never had a bite in an hour. It was just getting hammered."

He went to the other flat and lost a huge one on his first cast with a swimbait, but caught a 6-pounder and a 7 1/2 almost immediately thereafter. The swimbait bite died after that and he filled out his limit with a Senko.

His bag was 11 ounces lighter than the previous day, but he moved up six spots and earned an invitation to fish the weekend.

"I was thinking that I'd had a good tournament and still had an opportunity to crack a Top 5, and that was my goal going into the last day. There was no pressure on me whatsoever."

The biggest factor on day 3 was that the wind had subsided and the water's surface was window-pane smooth that morning. He started out throwing the swimbait, but quickly realized that would be unproductive.

"The conditions weren't right for it at all. But I saw a few fish on beds and caght a couple of those, and then filled out my limit on the Senko by about 10:00.

Shortly thereafter, the breeze kicked up a little for the first time that day. He picked up the swimbait and caught a 4-pounder before it subsided.

It was about 2:00 when the wind arose again, and he caught another good one on a swimbait. Then at the end of the day, he moved to a tree where he'd caught a 36-pound bag 1 day last year en route to a 4th-place finish.

On back-to-back casts, he caught the 8-13 that took big-bass honors and another that was over 6 1/2.

"All that happened right at the end of the day and I really didn't have time to absorb it. I kept thinking I'd had a good day and I had a real good shot of making the Top 5.

"After Kevin Short weighed in and I was still up there (in the leader's position), I realized that most everybody didn't catch them as good as they had been. Then (Reehm) was next, and he came real close."

But when it was over, he still had 3/4 of a pound to spare.

Winning Gear Notes

> Swimbait gear: 7'6" medium-heavy CastAway flipping rod, unnamed casting reel (6:1 gear ratio), unnamed 20-pound fluorocarbon line, unnamed size 1 treble hook, unnamed 8-inch plastic swimbait (chartreuse shad).

> Senko gear: 7' heavy-action CastAway Mag Series rod, same reel and line, unnamed 1/4 or 3/8-ounce tungsten weight, unnamed 5/0 offset-shank hook, 6-inch Yamamoto Senko (watermelon/black-green flake).

> About the Senko, he said: "I tried a couple of other colors, but that one was the best in the sunny conditions."

The Bottom Line

> Main factor in his success -– "The key for me was paying close attention to the conditions and picking up the Senko when it was the right time and the swimbait when conditions were right for it. We didn't have the overall conditions for the swimbait (on day 4) but there were little windows when the wind kicked up, and I was able to pick it up and catch a big one."

> Performance edge – "Everything came together and played a critical role, but on that 2nd day when it was real windy in the morning, having the confidence that my Skeeter and Yamaha would get me out there and back was a big boost."

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