By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Keith Combs turned in a lackluster 30th-place finish in the 2016 Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Mille Lacs Lake. His final placement in the lower half of the field was primarily due to a sluggish first day – he caught solid sacks of smallmouths on days 2 and 3 after figuring out a pattern that could be utilized in many places on the massive body of water.
The knowledge that he gained a year ago was a critical component in this year's AOY Championship, which was staged last week. His average stringer over the three-day derby exceeded 24 pounds and he led from start to finish.
The victory earned him $25,000, which was in addition to the $27,000 he pocketed for ending up in the No. 9 position on the final points list. It was his second win on the circuit (he also prevailed in the full-field event at Falcon Lake in 2013) and the most significant triumph of his career that's occurred outside his home state of Texas.
Following are some of the details.
Practice
Combs arrived at Mille Lacs hoping that the program he'd used on the final 2 days of the prior year's derby would be productive again. He quickly discovered that it would be.
The pattern was centered around the tips of points and reefs in the 18- to 23-foot depth range. He learned a year ago that fish in those locals were keyed in on crawdads, so he disdained dropshot rigs in favor of a hefty jig-and-craw offering.
"I felt like if I threw smaller baits, I'd catch smaller fish," he said. "The ones that hig that jig were generally 4- to 6-pounders."
It also seemed as if those fish bit better if he stayed as far away from them as possible and made long casts to them rather than dropping a vertical presentation from directly overhead.
"Monday (the first practice day kind of hurt me) because I found out the pattern would work, but none of those areas produced in the tournament," he said. "It was a wonderful practice day – sunny and flat-calm, but for whatever reason, those fish left.
"The places I found on Tuesday and Wednesday held up throughout the week. I got bit really quick and it never went away, so I never even looked at anything shallow."
Competition
> Day 1: 5, 24-15
> Day 2: 5, 24-15
> Day 3: 5, 22-07
> Total = 15, 72-05
It didn't take long for Combs to establish command of the event. He caught three fish in the 5-pound class at his first stop on day 1, then moved to a locale where he'd caught a 6-pounder in practice and added two more. He had all of his weight by 8:30 a.m. and it gave him a 13-ounce edge over Jonathon VanDam.
He caught an identical bag on day 2, but it wasn't quite as fast in the early going. The bulk of his haul had been compiled by 9 o'clock and he caught more fish from mid-day on than he had on the previous day, but upgrades were minimal.
He had a 2-10 advantage over James Elam going into the final day, which ended up being the most difficult of the tournament from a weather perspective as a southwesterly wind blew in excess of 20 mph and ravaged the southeastern portion of the lake where he and several other top finishers were fishing. His bag that day wasn't the best in the field (or tied for it, as was the case on day 2 when Clifford Pirch also boxed 24-15), but it was enough to hold off Elam and the hard-charging Skeet Reese, who ended up 3rd.
He made no upgrades after 11 o'clock.
"I wanted to idle around and look at some other places, but it was so rough that I just ended up having to fish my waypoints," he said. "I would've felt better if I'd know that I had what I did – I thought I had 21 1/2 (pounds) and I felt that was going to be too close for comfort and I needed one big fish.
"It's hard to call the weights on those fish because they're just so heavy. I tried to weigh them, but I was bouncing around in those waves so bad that I couldn't do it."
Winning Gear Notes
> Jig gear: 7'5" medium-fast G. Loomis NRX Jig & Worm Casting rod, Shimano Curado K casting reel (7.4:1 ratio), 16-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon line, 1-ounce Strike King Tour Grade football jig (summer craw), Strike King Rage Bug trailer ('Bama craw).
The Bottom Line
> Main factor in his success – "Understanding that the biggest fish I was going to be able to catch consistently were going to come from that depth range, and understanding that they were very much targeting crawfish."
> Performance edge – "The Minn Kota Ultrex earned its keep. If I didn't have the Spot-Lock (on the final day) I would've ended up having to fish on the calm side of the lake. I had waves coming over the bow so hard that they were hitting me in the knees and that trolling motor held up all day long."
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