Ellis, Reneau Attacked Hydrilla Differently

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

One glance through the final results indicates the fish at the Lake Seminole Southeast Rayovac were a bit “off” during the event – just three 20-pound bags came to stage and just two finalists caught limits on day 3. Maybe it was the post-spawn funk many anglers talk about or the rising water that competitors faced during the tournament. Either way, Seminole didn’t quite measure up to its reputation as a big-fish factory.

While winner Clint Brown rolled the dice on sight-fishing in the Flint River over the first 2 days, one of the common themes for the other top finishers throughout the event was targeting Seminole’s prolific hydrilla. Some resorted to finesse tactics while others went with the old-fashioned big-line, big-weight flipping and punching approach.

Here’s a rundown of how runner-up Ken Ellis and 3rd-place finisher Tim Reneau put fish in the boat:

2nd: Ken Ellis

> Day 1: 5, 16-00
> Day 2: 5, 17-01
> Day 3: 5, 16-04
> Total = 15, 49-05

Ellis is a former Tour pro (1996-99) and two-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier with three Rayovac Series wins at Santee Cooper. He’d fished a tournament at Lake Eufaula the week before the FLW Tour went there so he was pretty in tune with what going on along the Chattahoochee River chain.

“Seminole has more hydrilla and standing timber than Eufaula, but it does fish very similar,” he said. “The lake had come down and up a good bit and the shad spawn was pretty much over.

“If fishes really small compared to Eufaula, but fortunately with all of the hydrilla, you can still have a lot of boats in a general area.”

Ellis got on a finesse pattern in practice and decided by the middle of the first day of the tournament that he was better off narrowing his focus to the wacky-rigged worm fished in pockets of hydrilla near the main lake.

“When you get older, you have to do what you can do best,” he said of his decision. “One of the biggest things I’ve learned in 30 years of fishing is most people think being the most versatile fisherman is what you want to be, but the most versatile guys never win. You have to figure out what you do best and you have to find fish where you can use your strength.”

He’d fished five previous Rayovac Series events at Seminole and not logged a Top-10 finish so he was thrilled with his runner-up placement.

“I just wasn’t on big enough fish,” he said. “I didn’t catch one bigger than 4 (pounds) all week so I couldn’t make up the difference.

“I was targeting post-spawners in 6 to 8 feet of water. There were some fish around bream beds, but most of the fish I caught were recovering in pockets of hydrilla near the main lake.”

He said the wacky worm pattern was a two-phase bite depending on the time of day.

“They bit real good early, but I couldn’t see the holes or edges to target them well,” he said. “It was hard to get the bait where the fish were. If I got it on them, they’d bite good.

“From 9 to 11, it was almost impossible to get a bite, but then the sun would get high and I could target those edges well. I’d get more bites from midday on.”

Fishing with lighter line in thick vegetation led to some lost fish, but he knew that was part of the equation going in.

“I didn’t get them all out,” he said. “When I did get one, I tried to get their head up as quickly as possible.”

He caught most of his day-1 stringer (16-00) early on when the wind was a non-factor. He had to adjust on the final 2 days based on the wind.

“We had a little wind Friday and it blew steady all day Saturday so the wind was a real factor,” he said. “On day 3, the place I thought was my best place I wasn’t able to fish it at all. The wind was coming out of the wrong direction.”

He was 13th after day 1 and progressed up the leaderboard from there.

“I told myself, ‘If you can keep catching the same weight, you’re going to move up,’” he said. “I felt like I could’ve caught 17 more Sunday.”

> Wacky worm gear: 7’ medium-action Castaway Pro Sport saltwater spinning rod, Shimano Symetre RJ spinning reel, 15-pound unnamed braided line (main), 8- and 10-pound unnamed fluorocarbon line (leader), #2 Gamakatsu Stinger hook, Zoom Trick Worm (watermelon red).

> He added a nail weight to the Trick Worm on a few occasions, but preferred to throw it weightless when possible.

> Ellis likes the saltwater spinning rod because it has a more parabolic action and finds saltwater models to be a little more forgiving.

> He likes the Symetre for its rear drag, which makes it a cinch to swap line spools without having to mess with the drag.

> He downsized his leader line after the sun got high, but stuck with 10-pound all day on the final day.

> Main factor in his success – "I had a good practice and had places to fish in all wind scenarios. I just persevered and hung in there and knew if I stayed patient, even when I lost a fish, that I could catch 14- to 16-pound bags each day.”

> Performance edge – "My Ranger boat and Yamaha motor and Power-Poles. In my opinion, they’re all top of the line and I can’t complain about any of it or how it worked for me during the tournament.”

3rd: Tim Reneau

> Day 1: 5, 15-01
> Day 2: 5, 20-07
> Day 3: 3, 7-05
> Total = 13, 42-13

Reneau was the outlier among the finalists – he hails from Texas – and he nearly pulled off the win on a lake he’d never previously fished. He said it bears a strong resemblance to Toledo Bend Reservoir and his performance last week will give him a fair bit of confidence when he comes back in October for the final B.A.S.S. Southern Open.

“I wanted to get familiar with it ahead of time,” he said. “I had 5 days to idle around and find the hydrilla and the creek channels so I have some confidence when I come back in October.”

He spent a day of practice graphing around the river ledges, but found very few fish had moved out that far.

“There were still more around the mouths of the creeks,” he said. “The water was 76 degrees and I figured there’d still be some fry guarders and fish on beds and there were. I found some bream beds, but I couldn’t get enough bites in a day doing that. They were definitely a little off in that post-spawn funk they were in.”

Over the final 3 days of practice, he started to narrow his focus on the hydrilla that had started to grow in the 5-foot range.

“There was grass out to 10 feet, but the shallower grass was better,” he said. “I’d have the boat in 10 and throw to clumps in 5 feet. When the wind got on the shallow grass it moves it around. If it were deeper, I could still catch them on a big jig. I tried to adjust and crank the outside edges or cast a worm.”

He came in with 15-01 on day 1 and took over the lead with 20-07 on day 2, filling his livewell with a 1-ounce jig with a creature bait trailer. He struggled on day 3, managing just three keepers for 7-05.

“I actually ran into (Ellis) on the third day on the same stretch of grass,” he said. “He made the right adjustment to change to a wacky worm on a spinning rod. I didn’t fish clean enough to win. I missed a few bites, but it was one of those deals.”

> Jig gear: 7’6” medium-heavy Power Tackle No Ratz casting rod, Shimano Curado casting reel (6.3:1 gear ratio), 60-pound Gamma Torque braided line, 1- and 1 1/4-oz. Strike King Hack Attack jig (blue craw), Strike King Rage Tail DB Structure Bug (blue craw).

> Main factor in his success – "I went over there to fish grass. I tried to practice other ways, but stayed focused on one thing.”

> Performance edge – "Definitely my Lowrance unit. Since DownScan came along, it’s a cool deal with the grass. You get a lot more detail than with traditional sonar.”

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