By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
There were numerous ways to catch 3-pound fish at last week's Mississippi River Bassmaster Elite Series in Wisconsin. The problem was that no matter what an angler did, he wasn't going to catch very many of them.
Such fish simply aren't as prevalent in the Upper Midwest as they are in other regions of the country, due primarily to the abbeviated growing season. And on top of that, the river's water conditions were in flux last week due to recent rains to the north and powerful winds from the south.
Winner Todd Faircloth averaged a little over 15 1/2 pounds a day, and a mean of a pound less than that was good for a Top-5. Here's how Faircloth's primary challengers did their business.
Cliff Pace
> Day 1: 5, 14-12
> Day 2: 5, 16-03
> Day 3, 5, 14-00
> Day 4: 5, 16-01
> Total = 20, 61-00
Cliff Pace logged his second runner-up finish in as many events. He spent a lot more time along the main-river channel than the other top finishers, and the result was a lot more smallmouths – he weighed at least two bronzebacks each day and four on the final day when his 16-01 stringer was the best in the field.
He didn't attempt to work through big numbers of fish, as most of the field did. He was interested only in the ones that would make a difference in his sacks.
"I did a lot of cranking out in the current and I caught some in the grass on a frog," he said. "I also had a little outside pattern in deeper water, and I used a Carolina rig for that.
"Different baits produced different numbers (of fish) on different days. (On day 4) I caught most of them on the crankbait, but the biggest ones came on the Carolina rig.
He spent the first 3 days in Pool 8 (the launch pool) before taking a gamble and locking upstream to Pool 7 to begin day 4 on a place he'd found during practice. When that didn't produce, he locked back down and caught his day-best bag.
"I fished about 25 spots each day – places that were just a little inside of the main-river current. The water was rising about 4 inches a day and the current was getting stronger and stronger, and it was concentrating the fish on the edge. It took all the fish that were on a 100-yard bank and put them on a 20-yard stretch where there was still current, but not as much.
"I fished grass, wood and rock, but it was more about finding the little bit of slower current next to the fast current. Then whatever (cover) was in that area, they would use. They had to be on whatever was there."
> Cranking gear: 7' medium-heavy Castaway Skeleton Series rod, unnamed casting reel (6.4:1 ratio), 15-pound Hi-Seas 100% fluorocarbon line, Jackall Aska 60 SR (crawfish).
> Frog gear: 7'3" heavy-action Castaway Grass Master Braid rod, unnamed casting reel (6.4:1), 65-pound Hi-Seas Grand Slam braided line, Jackall Iobee Frog (black).
> Carolina-rig gear: 7'6" heavy-action Castaway Skeleton Series flipping stick, 15-pound Hi-Seas 100% fluorcarbon (main line and 3-foot leader), unnamed 3/4-ounce weight, plastic bead, 4/0 Gamakatsu round-bend hook, V&M Super Finesse worm (black grape).
Main factor in his success – "Having a lot of small, isolated places to fish instead of just one area. A lot of guys just found one place, and then after 2 or 3 days of them and other guys beating it up, it got a lot harder to get a quality bite."
Peformance edge – "I'd say the Hi-Seas line. I caught some big smallmouths out of horrendous cover in that current and I never broke a fish off all week."
Terry Butcher was the only member of the Top 12 who locked up to Pool 7 each day.
3rd: Terry Butcher
> Day 1: 5, 15-05
> Day 2: 5, 16-13
> Day 3: 5, 14-10
> Day 4: 5, 13-15
> Total = 20, 60-11
Terry Butcher was the only Top-12 finisher who locked each day. He focused on a single stretch in Pool 7 that was laden with various types of grass.
"Some of it was milfoil, or duckweed matted over milfoil, and one area was just slime," he said. "The slime area was nasty and there was nothing under it – just a few pads mixed in that held it up. That was the best patch I had as far as quality."
He said there were about 20 anglers out of the original field of 98 who locked up on the first 2 days, but he had no competition on the quarter-mile stretch where he spent the whole tournament. He averaged more than 2 dozen keepers a day and boated 35 on the final day.
He caught 16 of his 20 weigh-in fish on a frog (four of his five each day) and the others on a spinnerbait.
> Frog gear: 6'10" heavy-action Wohali rod, Ardent XS1000 casting reel (6:1 ratio), 50-pound PowerPro braided line, Booyah Pad Crasher (black or bullfrog).
> Spinnerbait gear: 6'10" medium-heavy Wohali rod, Ardent Edge casting reel (6:1 ratio), same line, 1/2-ounce Booyah spinnerbait (white with silver willow-leaf main blade and smaller orange Colorado blade).
Main factor in his success – "Having that little stretch to myself."
Performance edge – "The Power-Poles came in real handy. I could put them down and sit there and catch 10 or 15 fish off one place."
Jamie Horton's day-2 bag was the best of the tournament.
4th: Jamie Horton
> Day 1: 5, 13-06
> Day 2: 5, 18-04
> Day 3: 5, 13-12
> Day 4: 5, 14-05
> Total = 20, 59-11
Jamie Horton notched the best finish of his rookie campaign primarily on the strength of his day-2 bag, which was the biggest of the tournament. It came together when he spotted a couple of mayflies in the air and then pinned down the site of a huge hatch – about a dozen nearby rock jetties.
His grass action was centered on the back side of milfoil stands where the duckweed and scum on the top had survived the constant pounding from the wind. The fish were holding within a foot or 2 of the edge of the milfoil.
"On the last day I noticed some mats that hadn't been there all week, and when I went over there to look it was all (spent) mayflies," he said. "The fish would come right through them and bust that frog.
He caught all of his weigh-in fish from Pool 8 and 19 were enticed by the frog. The other, a 3 1/2-pounder, bit a Dirty Jig Tackle swim-jig.
"I usually couldn't get bit for the first hour until the sun came up. The rain (on day 3) really hurt me."
> Frog gear: 7' extra-heavy Carrot Stix Wild casting rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier casting reel (7:1 ratio), 60-pound Berkley Trilene Big Game line, Booyah Pad Crasher (black/red or pearl belly/green back).
Main factor in his success – "Seeing the flies."
Performance edge – "The Trilene Big Game line. You really put your line to the test up here with all the northern pike."
Aaron Martens fished much deeper than the vast majority of the field.
5th: Aaron Martens
> Day 1: 5, 16-05
> Day 2: 5, 14-13
> Day 3: 5, 16-02
> Day 4: 5, 10-13
> Total = 20, 58-01
While just about everyone else was pounding the shallows, Aaron Martens was off by himself catching shad-oriented fish in 10 to 15 feet of water from the Black River tributary in the launch pool. There wasn't a patch of grass in the vicinity.
His primary locale was a narrow channel that ran for about 150 yards before culminating in a pond at the back end. "It was a really good spot," he said. "There was a lot of bait in there and a lot of fish and it had a sandy bottom."
He might've been the only angler to throw a dropshot all week. His other main bait was a flutter spoon – another offering that certainly didn't see a lot of action from his fellow competitors.
He appeared to be a major threat to win after sacking more than 16 pounds on day 3, but he thinks the giant mayfly hatch that occurred that night caused his fish to become suspended and difficult to catch on day 4 as bugs constantly fell from the trees.
> Dropshot gear: 6'10" Megabass Orochi X4 Aaron Martens Limited rod, Shimano Stella spinning reel, 7- or 8-pound Sunline FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, 1/8 or 3/16-ounce dropshot weight, 4/0 Roboworm Rebarb hook, 6" Roboworm Fat Worm (Aaron's magic or MMIII).
> He also fished the worms wacky-style on a 1/0 Gamakatsu dropshot hook.
> Spoon gear: 7'11" medium-heavy Megabass Orochi X4 Seven Eleven rod, Shimano Metanium DC casting reel, 16-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon line, unnamed 5" flutter spoon (chrome).
Main factor in his success – "The spot in general and the gizzard shad that were coming through."
Performance edge – "I pushed my Phoenix 921 boat and my Mercury 250 motor long and hard and they were very good to me."
Much of the tackle referenced above is available at the BassFan Store. To browse the selection, click here..
