BassFan previously published Michael Bennett's winning pattern from the recent Forrest Wood Cup, as well as Dave Lefebre's runner-up pattern.
Terry Bolton, who finished 3rd, somewhat resembled Bennett in his approach. At the same time, he was quite a bit different.
Here's an analysis of how Bolton caught his fish.
Pattern Notes
> Day 1: 5, 9-14
> Day 2: 5, 15-12 (10, 25-10)
> Day 3: 5, 10-15
> Day 4: 5, 8-10 (10, 19-09)
Terry Bolton had no real pattern to speak of. He described every day of competition as "practice," because he was figuring out everything as he went along.
His bait arsenal speaks to his haphazard, seat-of-the-pants strategy. He caught fish on a frog, a Pop-R, a small Rapala Shad Rap, Texas-rigs and shakey-heads.
"The only thing consistent about my pattern, or whatever you want to call it, was the types of places I was fishing," he said. "I was running small pockets off the Little Saluda River, and I was looking for a mixture of gator grass, boat docks and trees.
"The key was that they had to be short pockets that were close to the main river. I wasn't finding a whole lot of fish way back in deep pockets or in the backs of creeks.
"I don't think there's a pocket up the Little Saluda that I haven't visited," he added.
He targeted the shallower pockets because that's where he found the largest concentrations of baitfish. "Wherever I found bait in one of those pockets, I caught fish," he noted.
He could produce keeper fish on just about any bait he threw, but his two biggest bites came courtesy of a frog.
A shakey-head also played a key role for him. He scratched out three keeper bites in the final minutes of day 4 with the finesse rig. Those three crunch-time bites made the difference between him landing somewhere near the bottom of the heap and finishing 3rd where he ended up.
"I just pulled up to this one dock and it was like 'boom, boom, boom,'" he said. "I think I got all three of those bites within about 4 minutes of each other. So that shakey-head definitely bailed me out. I only had two fish in the livewell, and those three bites gave me my limit."
Bolton's biggest bites came on the Spro Bronzeye Frog65 (top). He kept a No. 5 Rapala Shad Rap tied on for schoolers (bottom).
Gear Notes
> Frog gear: 7'1" heavy-action G. Loomis MossyBack 854 rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier casting reel (6.4:1), 50-pound Spiderwire Ultracast braided line, Spro Bronzeye Frog65 (tropical white).
> He said he "opened up the hooks a little and trimmed up the skirts" on the frog.
> About how he was working the frog, he said: "I changed it up a lot. The second day they wanted it real fast, but on day 4 I just had to work it slow and try to keep it in one place."
> Flipping gear: 7'5" medium-heavy G. Loomis MossyBack 892 rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier casting reel (6.4:1), 20-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line, 1/4-ounce Tru-Tungsten Worm weight (green-pumpkin), 5/0 Owner Z-neck hook, Zoom Trick worm (green-pumpkin).
> Topwater gear: 6'8" medium-action G. Loomis 812 spinnerbait rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier casting reel (6.4:1), 14-pound Berkley Trilene Maxx mono, Rebel P70 Pop-R (custom-painted).
> He described the custom paintjob as a "sexy shad-type pattern," in reference to the Strike King sexy shad color developed by Kevin VanDam.
> He used a red treble hook on the front of the bait.
For plastics, Bolton opted for a Zoom Trick worm (top) and Zoom Finesse worm (bottom).
> Shakey-head gear: 6'10" medium-action G. Loomis 822 dropshot rod, 8-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line, 1/8-ounce Picasso jighead, Zoom Finesse worm (green-pumpkin).
> He also had a shad-pattern No. 5 Rapala Shad Rap tied on for when the occasional school would pop up.
The Bottom Line
> Performance edge - "Probably my rods, reels and line. I made a lot of casts and presentations to lots of different targets, and having the right combination of tackle for the task made that a lot easier."
Much of the tackle referenced above is available at the BassFan Store. To browse the selection, click here..
