Keith Combs went into the Tawakoni PAA Elite Series in Texas thinking that an average of 15 pounds a day would be a good goal to shoot for. He far exceeded that mark and went on to post the most significant victory of his career.

The FLW Tour pro from Del Rio, Texas (about a 5-hour drive from Tawakoni) didn't fish much differently than many in the field, but he got a huge bite on day 1 that gave him a big cushion, and that allowed him to fish more methodically the remainder of the way. Also, his secondary bait for working docks was one that nobody else was throwing.

His 24.40-pound bag on day 1 was the best of the tournament and the 22.43 he caught on the final day ranked right behind it. Sandwiched around a 13.64 haul on day 2, they gave him a 60.48 total and a margin of victory of more than 14 pounds.



Here's how he did it.

Practice

Combs practiced for 3 days, but learned little on the first 2 other than what not to do. He saw some lily pads from the road as he was driving to the lake and tried those, with no success. The second day he went deep only because everybody else was plying the shallows and he was looking for something off the beaten path, but found only one hole with fish on it.

On the third day he resigned himself to doing what everybody else was doing – pounding docks.

"I wanted to stay away from that, but I had no choice," he said. "I had a decent day and I figured if I could still get bit after everybody else had been practicing that way, then that should be good for at least the first (competition) day.

"I got five bites off the docks in one cove and I learned that the docks that had brush on them and 4 or 5 feet of water around them were the ones I got bit on. The ones that were real shallow and I had to churn up mud to get to, I couldn't get bit.

He got 12 keeper bites that day flipping a jig and figured he could've put together a bag that weighed at least 13 pounds. He also found a concrete wall that had some fish he could entice with a crankbait.

"I felt pretty good because that gave me two things to do to catch keepers."

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 24.40
> Day 2: 5, 13.64
> Day 3: 5, 22.43
> Total = 15, 60.48

Combs started his magical day 1 on the concrete wall and quickly caught a 5 1/2-pounder. It turned out to be the only fish he took to the scale during the tournament that did not come off a dock.

He caught three more cranking fish – all were 2-pounders – and then moved to the docks and flipped up another small keeper on a jig to give him a limit.

He'd used a Power Tackle bait called the Lateral Perch extensively during the FLW Tour season, but hadn't considered it during practice. It's a soft bluegill imitation with the hook protruding through the side.

"I didn't even have one tied on, but I figured, what's it going to hurt?" he said. "I was off to a good start anyway and there were so many boats in that creek that I thought I'd try something they hadn't seen."

He caught a 3 1/2-pounder right away, and then alternated that bait with the jig the rest of the day. His next fish was a 9 1/4-pound whopper that ate the jig, and then he culled two more times with the Lateral Perch.

He took a 6-pound lead into day 2 and went out with the idea of making sure he came back with a limit. His cranking area was fruitless and he began flipping at 9:00.

He caught a 3-pounder at 9:30. An hour later he pulled up on a dock that he was certain hadn't seen much action and worked it thoroughly with a jig, to no avail. Then he skipped the Lateral Perch underneath and a 3-pounder ate it before it stopped moving.

He finished off his limit by noon and culled once after that. His bag was more than 10 pounds lighter than the one he caught the previous day, but he lost only 2 pounds off his lead.

Day 3 was all about lead-protection – he was worried that 2nd-place Todd Auten would catch a 20-pound bag, which would force him to bring in close to 17. He did far better than that.

He opted to skip the wall and go straight to the docks. On the second one he fished, a 4 1/2-pounder destroyed his jig.

"That got me wired up for the whole day because he hit it so hard and took it so deep," he said. "I knew that's what they were going to want."

About an hour later he caught a similar-sized fish off the dock that had produced his giant on day 1, and put his third one in the well not long thereafter. Then he tried some other things to fill out his limit as quickly as possible, but all were unproductive.



Chris Dutton
Photo: Chris Dutton

A Power Tackle Lateral Perch in green-pumpkin produced some key fish for Combs.

He went back to the docks and caught a 14 1/2-incher (just a half-inch over the minimum-length requirement). At 11:30 he pulled up on a dock that he hadn't fished that day and boated a 5-pounder within just a few minutes.

"That gave me four good ones and one little keeper, and at that point I knew it was pretty much over."

But just for good measure, he went back to the dock that had given up his day-1 brute one more time and culled the little one with a 3 1/2.

Gear Notes

> Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Power Tackle PG 104.5 flipping stick, Shimano Curado 200 casting reel (7.3:1 ratio), 25-pound Seaguar AbrazX fluorocarbon line, 3/8-ounce Oldham's jig (black/blue) with Zoom Super Chunk Jr. trailer (black/blue), or Power Tackle Lateral Perch (green-pumpkin).

The Bottom Line

Main factor in his success – "The way I practiced, I had to find everything in 1 day and I only had a few key areas. I didn't have a lot of water, so I fished it real thoroughly, and getting off to a real good start let me fish slowly."

Performance edge – "The Lateral Perch. The jig was my main player, but having a bait the fish hadn't seen was important. It made me feel like I could fish the same water that other people had already been through and know for a fact that I was doing something different."

Notable

> Combs lost a couple of Lateral Perches on day 1 and got two from fellow Power Tackle pro-staffer Stephen Johnston for day 2. Johnston was also in contention, but was fishing a different pattern. The company overnighted him a box of six baits for day 3.

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