Grand's Flooded Cover Was Main Attraction

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

The deep-water duel many anticipated to unfold at the Grand Lake FLW Tour never materialized. Instead, it was a throwback-style flipping extravaganza with fish being wrestled out of flooded bushes and over limbs and logs.

At least that's how it went for tournament winner Jason Christie and many others.

Runner-up Bryan Thrift, who loathes flipping, caught more than 72 pounds over 4 days predominantly running a square-bill crankbait over rocky points. The rest of the Top 5 also mined shallow water, be it with a flipping jig or a buzzbait, as the post-spawn fish that most thought would be transitioning to their summer haunts did an about-face and holed up in the shoreline cover that became prime habitat when the water rose feverishly during practice.

While no mega-sacks came in, many were amazed at how the lake held up under the intense pressure and unique conditions for this time of year. It was the first full-field tour-level event at Grand since 2007 when the Elite Series staged a June derby there and all indications are pointing to the venue becoming a more frequent stop, especially with the upgraded launch facilities in Grove, Okla.

Overall, five 20-pound stringers came to the stage and another 28 bags eclipsed the 18-pound mark as Grand showed off its impressive population of 3- to 5-pound specimens.

Yesterday, we delved into how Christie captured his third tour-level win of the year. Here's how those who trailed him at the end did their damage:

2nd: Bryan Thrift

> Day 1: 5, 17-00
> Day 2: 5, 18-08
> Day 3: 5, 17-09
> Day 4: 5, 19-11
> Total = 20, 72-13

Flipping has never been Thrift's cup of tea – he lacks the patience for it – and that's why he looked high and low to get an alternative pattern going.

He cranked a silent square-bill crankbait in 3 to 5 feet of water and had modest success doing it in practice when the lake was on the rise.

"I caught some in practice doing it and I had one place where I caught three or four," he said. "I didn't pay much attention to it because they were smaller fish. I just expanded on it. I started there on day 1 and caught everything I weighed on day 1 right there."

He then searched around for areas with similar features – rocky points with 3 to 5 feet of water on them.

"There was nothing special to it," he said. "I hate flipping so I do everything I can to stay away from it. I can't make myself fish slow enough to do it. I didn't pay attention to the water coming up and I kept looking for areas where I could catch them doing something I felt like I could do better."

He triggered reaction strikes by burning the bait back to the boat, making sure to crash the bait along the bottom. He said he caught 30 to 40 fish per day doing that.

> Square-bill gear: 7' medium-action Damiki Dark Angel casting rod, unnamed casting reel, 12-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon line, unnamed square-bill crankbait (chartreuse).

> He replaced the stock hooks on the plug with No. 2 Gamakatsu Round Bend trebles.

> Main factor in his success – "Patience. A lot of the places I'd be fishing, there'd be a patch of rock, but there'd be one rock they'd sit on every time. I'd make cast after cast until they bit. You had to hit the rock. On the first day after I sat down on my first spot, I didn't crank the motor for 5 hours."

> Performance edge – "That Damiki Dark Angel Rod has the perfect action for cranking a square-bill. Hands down, it's the greatest rod out of there. It has a soft tip with a parabolic bend. I've never had a rod with that action, but it's perfect for a crankbait."

3rd: Robbie Dodson

> Day 1: 5, 19-09
> Day 2: 5, 18-05
> Day 3: 5, 15-04
> Day 4: 5, 19-04
> Total = 20, 72-06

Robbie Dodson averaged 18 pounds a day by swimming a jig around flooded cover.

"In practice, I spent the first 2 days out deep and caught hardly any fish and had no pattern going," he said. "On the last day, I went to the back of a creek down by the dam and got six or seven bites flipping willows."

He started the event in the same creek, working his jig around newly-flooded buck brush and logs to catch 19-09 that had him in 8th place. He worked his way up to 2nd on day 2 with an 18-05 sack, but slipped backward on day 3 following a 15-04 effort. Another 19-pound stringer on the final day allowed him to match his career-best finish in a Tour event.

"I caught some fish on the front edge (of the cover) and some of the sides," he said. "The last 2 days, they'd come out and get it. The lake fished a little different from the normal Grand because it was so dirty."

> Flipping gear: 7'6" medium-heavy Duckett Fishing Micro Magic casting rod, Lew's and Shimano casting reels, 30-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon line, 3/8-ounce Luck-E-Strike jig (black/blue), various creature bait trailers (junebug).

> Main factor in his success – "Making the switch to dirtier water on day 2 and getting out of that creek."

4th: Jimmy Houston

> Day 1: 5, 21-07
> Day 2: 5, 14-01
> Day 3: 5, 18-00
> Day 4: 5, 18-03
> Total = 20, 71-11

Jimmy Houston wouldn't change a whole lot if he had to fish the same tournament under the same conditions again.

He caught his biggest fish out away from the buck brush and willows that others focused on. He alternated between a buzzbait, bladed jig, and spinnerbait, and also caught some cranking.

"I used a real slow retrieve on the buzzbait," he said. "I did have a nice fish hit on a fast retrieve and I thought that might be the deal, but I stayed with the slow retrieve on everything."

He concentrated his efforts between the Sailboat Bridge and Shrangri-La.

"I fished grass flats mainly," the Cookson, Okla., pro said. "I don't know if I had an advantage or not. I knew of some places where historically you can catch bigger fish and I felt like they'd come in better during the tournament."

He was in 2nd after day 1 following a 21-07 stringer that trailed only Christie's 21-12 sack. He stumbled with 14-01 on day 2, but rebounded with 18-pound bags on days 3 and 4 to score his best finish in FLW competition.

"The place I was fishing had so much shad in it," he said. "Wait another 2 or 3 weeks and those fish will look like Butterball (turkeys). They didn't look like typical Grand Lake bass. If the water had not come up, I still think the weights would've been about the same."

The key for him was getting an early limit in the boat. On the final 3 days, his livewell was full by 9 a.m. at the latest. His cranking area, though, was susceptible to changes in wind direction, especially on days 2 and 4. He lost three good fish there on Saturday, but couldn't relocate them on the final day.

"The wind would put shad in certain places where you would know they'd be and the bass would follow them in," he said. "That didn't happen on day 2 or 4."

> Buzzbait/Bladed jig gear: 6'6" medium-heavy HT Enterprises Jimmy Houston Enticer casting rod, U.S. Reels SuperCaster reel (6.6:1 ratio), 15-pound Hi-Seas Grand Slam Select co-polymer line (moss green), 1/2-oz. BOOYAH Buzz buzzbait (black), 1/2-oz. BOOYAH Boogee Bait (black blue shadow).

> He replaced the buzzbait skirt with a skirt from the BOOYAH Moon Talker spinnerbait (black silver flake).

> He also threw a white spinnerbait and caught a few Boogee Bait fish on a rod/reel combo that Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris gave him recently at a promotional outing.

> Main factor in his success – "I was fishing water where the bass would replenish well."

> Performance edge – "My Ranger boat performed flawlessly all week long."

5th: Jay Yelas

> Day 1: 5, 18-10
> Day 2: 5, 15-15
> Day 3: 5, 17-02
> Day 4: 5, 18-12
> Total = 20, 70-07

Jay Yelas was surprised that there weren't more fish were caught out deep despite the flooded conditions at Grand. He referred to the Elite Series events in 2006 and '07 being won offshore and said a lot of guys had planned to fish in similar fashions. Some had success in deeper haunts in practice, but as the water continued to come up, it drew more and more fish closer to the bank.

"It was more like a May tournament than a normal year here," he said. "It was a total flip-fest. There were cranking fish to be had, but it was an old-school flipping bite for sure. I'm glad the water came up. It went down hard for 2 days, then leveled off and that kept them up there shallow."

He focused his efforts in the mid-lake area, never venturing as far north as the Elk River. He pitched and flipped to flooded wood and bushes.

"When the lake rose and got muddy, they wouldn't really bite well, but then they got used to it," he said. "I kept the boat in 3 feet of water and the fish were up in 12 to 24 inches. They were real shallow."

> Flipping gear: 7'6" extra-heavy Kistler Z Bone flipping rod, Lew's Tournament Pro casting reel (7.1:1 ratio), unnamed 25-pound fluorocarbon line, unnamed 1/2-oz. tungsten flipping weight, 5/0 Mustad EWG offset-shank shook, Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Flappin' Hog (black/blue).

> He also flipped a 1/2-oz. Punisher Lures Jay Yelas J-Jig (black/blue) with the same trailer.

> He weighed in a couple fish on a crankbait from areas he'd stop at on the way back to the ramp.

> Main factor in his success – "The water coming up really played into my hands. A lot of people coming into this one had their minds fixed on the way Kevin VanDam and Mike McClelland won in 2006 and 2007 and they were looking for that bite in practice. Being able to find that flipping bite and believing in it was the difference."

> Performance edge – "All of my equipment was key, but those MinnKota Talons were huge in the shallow water with the win blowing. Those are valuable when you're fishing shallow water."

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