The patterns that Dean Rojas and Rick Clunn employed at the recent Old Hickory Bassmaster Elite Series were predictable, given their respective histories. Rojas, the 4th-place finisher, threw a frog (as he does whenever the opportunity presents itself). Clunn, who tied for 5th, worked shallow ledges with a crankbait for fish that were a little deeper than those targeted by the other high finishers.
Alton Jones, who tied Clunn for 5th, started the tournament offshore, but was in his preferred mode (flipping and pitching in shallow water) full-time by day 3. When all was said and done, he'd caught fish on a wide variety of baits.
4th: Dean Rojas
> Day 1: 5, 12-06
> Day 2: 5, 10-05
> Day 3: 5, 14-03
> Day 4: 5, 11-14
> Total = 20, 48-12
Arizona's Dean Rojas was another angler whose expectations weren't real high going into day 1.
"My practice bites weren't real good," he said. "But this is Old Hickory, and I was managing to get six or seven keepers a day on the frog, with maybe a 15-incher every now and then.
"I didn't catch my quality until the tournament, when I got dialed in on where they were at."
He concentrated on shallow-water flats in the backs of creeks that had vegetation on the shoreline. He threw frogs that had lighter-colored backs so he could see them well.
"The places I was throwing it were pretty dark – mostly shady pockets – and I had to be able to see the bait. When they're eating it like that, the color doesn't matter (to the fish)."
> Frog gear: 7' medium-heavy Quantum PT Dean Rojas signature series frog rod, Quantum PT Burner casting reel (7:1 ratio), 65-pound Izorline braide line, Spro Bronzeye Frog (natural green, leopard or green and black).
> He also caught two weigh-in fish on a prototype square-billed crankbait (blue/chartreuse) that he's designing for Spro.
Main factor in his success – "Just fishing my strengths and doing what I'm good at."
Performance edge – "My Yamaha engine. I was making a 30-minute run and running around a lot once I got there, and I never had an issue."
Alton Jones caught fish all over Old Hickory and used all sorts of baits to do it.
5th: Alton Jones
> Day 1: 5, 10-03
> Day 2: 5, 10-09
> Day 3: 5, 15-11
> Day 4: 5, 12-03
> Total = 20, 48-10
Texan Alton Jones started the tournament out on the ledges and caught his entire day-1 bag out there. But by day 3, he was entirely focused on the skinny water.
"I found some decent ledges (in practice)," he said. "I didn't think I was on the winning fish out there, but I figured that somebody else was. The biggest thing was they didn't run any current all week.
"My one regret was not figuring out how strong the shallow bite was in practice. I think if I'd had another day of practice, I could've done better than I did. But there's a lot of other people who could say that, too."
He caught all of his ledge-fish on a jig, but threw just about everything in the book (and caught quality fish on them) once he moved in near the bank.
> Jig gear: 6'10" medium-heavy Kistler Alton Jones signature series rod, Ardent XS 1000 casting reel, 17-pound Silver Thread fluorocarbon line, 1/2- or 3/4-ounce Booyah Pigskin jig (Ozark craw), Yum Wooly Hawg Craw trailer (green-pumpkin).
> Worm gear: 6'6" medium-heavy Kistler Magnesium rod, same reel, 50-pound Power Pro braided line (main line), 25-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon (3 1/2-foot leader), 3/8-ounce XCalibur tungsten weight, 4/0 Reaction Innovations BMF hook, 10-inch Yum Ribbontail worm (watermelon-red flake).
> Buzzbait gear: 7' medium-action Kistler Helium LTA rod, same reel, 17-pound Silver Thread fluorocarbon, 3/8-ounce Booyah buzzbait (white).
> Cranking gear: 7' medium-action Kistler Magnesium TS composite crankbait rod, Ardent SX 600 casting reel, 14-pound Silver Thread, unnamed shallow-running crankbait (chartreuse).
Main factor in his success – "My previous knowledge of the lake and knowing its personality certainly helped me. Also, I don't mind it when the fish go so shallow that they get ticks on them."
Performance edge – "I'd have to say my Power-Pole – I could fish four or five different logs on a flat without having to run the trolling motor. It allows you to be so thorough when the wind is blowing."
The switch to a rattling crankbait paid dividends for Rick Clunn.
5th: Rick Clunn
> Day 1: 5, 14-06
> Day 2: 5, 15-01
> Day 3: 5, 12-03
> Day 4: 5, 7-00
> Total = 19, 48-10
Missouri's Rick Clunn fished deeper than anybody else who made the Top 12 field. He went about things similar to the way he had at Kentucky Lake 2 weeks earlier, but everything was downsized a bit.
"I fished what I call micro-ledges because they're miniature in scale," he said. "They were 2 to 3 feet on top and dropped down to 8 to 12 feet.
"Most of the fish were sitting in 2 to 6 feet, and that's why I used the square-billed crankbait instead of the deep-diver (that he employed at Kentucky Lake)."
Also, he used a rattling crankbait here – something he rarely does nowadays.
"I usually like a rattling bait only for muddy water or heavy vegetation, but it seemed like the bigger ones wanted the rattles," he said. "I usually go with a silent bait because almost every other one the fish see has rattles."
He also caught a couple of weigh-in fish on a jig during the first 2 days.
> Cranking gear: 7' heavy-action Bass Pro Shops XPS Rick Clunn signature series rod, BPS XPS Rick Clunn signature series casting reel, 14-pound BPS XPS monofilament line, Lucky Craft RC 3.5 (green copper shad).
> Jig gear: Same rod, reel and line, 1/2-ounce Luck "E" Strike football-head jig (brown), Luck "E" Strike craw trailer (brown-pumpkin).
Main factor in his success – "Having this tournament switched from the Mississippi River to Old Hickory. It put me on a body of water at a time of year that's still my strength. If I'd had to go fish lily pads against guys like Dean Rojas and Fred Roumbanis, I'd have had a tough time fine-tuning anything."
Performance edge – "The rattling bait."
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