Here's a look at the patterns of the anglers who finished 2nd-6th at last week's Smith Lake Bassmaster.
2nd: Mark Tucker
Day 1: 2, 5-06
Day 2: 3, 11-12
Day 3: 2, 6-03
Day 4: 2, 5-02 (Total: 9, 28-07)
"I was fishing channel-swing bluff ends close to spawning pockets on the main river," Mark Tucker said, "anywhere from 15-40 feet – the point closest to the deep water.
"I caught the 6-11 (the day 2 big fish and the biggest fish caught in the tournament) probably 30-35 feet deep. It was on a ledge in 25 feet that dropped to about 35." The only structure on the ledge was boulder-sized rocks.
"I was fishing a jig – casting it, and just shaking it. I'd shake it to the ledge, then let it parachute off. The fish would strike as soon as it fell off the ledge."
> Gear: 7' heavy G. Loomis rod, 10-pound Seaguar Fluorocarbon, Team Supreme 1/4-ounce Rascal jig in Texas craw (brown color with chartreuse and black – because "the water was getting dirty"), Zoom Critter Craw in green-pumpkin.
> Main factor in his success – "Being real efficient, and paying attention to every flip because the bites came on the ledge. I never felt the bite. I'd just get that funny feeling when you know one's got it."
Lee Bailey had a good first day, then scrambled as the conditions changed.
3rd: Lee Bailey Jr.
Day 1: 5, 14-02
Day 2: 1, 4-06
Day 3: 1, 4-06
Day 4: 2, 4-01 (Total: 9, 26-15)
"There really wasn't one main pattern for me," Lee Bailey Jr. said. "I thought the crankbait pattern I had going first day was going to be my main pattern, but the high water came in and just destroyed it.
"After the first day I just scrambled. That's all I did. I caught one fish the second day, one fish the third day and two little fish the last day. To make a 3rd-place finish with that little, I'm just tickled to death.
"The thing that probably did the best for me was a 1/8-ounce ball-head jig with the new thin Senko," he said. "That caught my 4-12 on the first day, the 4-06 on the second day and put a largemouth (on day 4) in the boat. The one thing I think that really made it work was that I put MegaStrike on it all day long. When those fish bite that, they never let go. And that was especially key with the windy and nasty weather."
> Gear: 6' Lee Bailey Custom medium-heavy spinning rod, Daiwa reel, 8-pound Gamakatsu co-polymer line, 1/8-ounce jig, thin Senko (green-pumpkin), MegaStrike attractant (you can buy MegaStrike on the BassFan Store on eBay).
> Main factor in his success – "It was actually two things, but they go together: keeping an open mind and being relaxed. I didn't panic. I didn't let panic set in. I was real calm and relaxed through the whole tournament. I was fishing, not scrambling. I don't know how to explain it the right way. Things are back in order for me. I've been scrambling for a couple of years now, with the Foxwood Tour and getting everything in place. That's done, I've gotten my sponsorship base where it belongs, so I'm fishing again, And God played a real key role here because it was such a tough tournament."
4th: Edwin Evers
Day 1: 4, 10-08
Day 2: 2, 4-13
Day 3: 4, 8-05
Day 4: 1, 2-07 (Total: 11, 26-01)
"I was fishing secondary points and channel swings, looking for that black ledge rock," Edwin Evers said. "Some of it you couldn't see because the water came up so much, but I saw it earlier in the week. I think that black ledge rock holds heat better.
"I was just paralleling the banks, which were pretty steep, trying to keep my bait in 8-12 feet of water. I was fishing an old Wiggle Wart, mainly in firetiger. My line was real important. I was fishing Bass Pro Shops XPS fluorocarbon in 10-pound test, and since fluorocarbon sinks, I was able to get my bait a lot deeper.
"I also fished slow gear-ratio reel, a 5.2:1 Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier reel. A lot of people like to use 6.3:1 and just adjust the speed, but many times I've seen where guys are trying to slow it down with a 6.3, and there's a guy using a 5.2 who's catching fish and the other guy's not." His rod was a 7' medium-action Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier rod.
"I used a real slow retrieve," he said, "pause and reel. Usually when you'd start to reel it again they'd hit it." What was the strike like? "Like a leaf (laughs). With the water coming up, I caught a lot of leaves this week."
> Main factor in his success – "Probably that line and that slow reel. I was able to get the bait deeper, and that was real important."
5th: Gerald Swindle
Day 1: 1, 2-06
Day 2: 4, 12-01
Day 3: 3, 7-15
Day 4: 0, 0-00 (Total: 8, 22-06)
"I really didn't have one main pattern," said Gerald Swindle. "I junked my fish into 15 grand.
"I caught one the first day on a brown/green Arkie jig, the second day I had three on a Lucky Craft Big Daddy Strike 3 crankbait and another on the Arkie jig, and the third day I had one on a finesse worm in 45 feet of water and two on a crawfish (brown) Shad Rap in a run-in. On the last day I didn't have to do anything (because he zeroed)."
He had his best success with the BDS 3 (firetiger), which he said is a "big square-billed bait, like an old Bagley's bait." He fished that on a 7' American Rodsmiths Gerald Swindle Signature Series dropshot rod. "It's a baitcast rod with a real light tip," he said. "It's perfect for a shallow crankbait." He fished the bait on 15-pound P-line.
> Main factor in his success – "Maybe just hard work. I wasn't on any magnificent pattern. I just worked myself into the Top 6. I made 50-60 stops a day – it didn't come easy. There may have been an advantage in being a local in that you might go out and catch three big ones on a crankbait and then never catch another fish that way again. (He knew) that's just the way that lake is. When the fish didn't bite my bait the next day, I didn't sweat it. I just grabbed something else."
6th: Rick Morris
Day 1: 3, 8-00
Day 2: 3, 9-00
Day 3: 1, 2-08
Day 4: 1, 1-14 (Total: 8, 21-06)
"I think I'm starting to mature," Rick Morris said. "I'm seasoned. After 12 years, I'm starting to settle down. I know that some things you can control and some you can't, and I feel more comfortable making a change. I believe it's the right change, but if it's not, I'll change again."
On day 4 he "changed 6 times. I caught one keeper (on day 3) on a crankbait, but (the morning of day 4) I went back to shakey-heading little worms deep. With the bright sky and it being 24 degrees, it was totally different weather. I did that for 2 1/2 hours and it didn't work, and then I switched to a crankbait at mid-day and that didn't work. I went to the backs of pockets and threw spinnerbaits (for largemouths) where the water was coming in and that didn't work. I fished a couple more points with the worm and that didn't work, then I went back to the crankbait, and at the end of the day I went back to the pockets and finally caught a largemouth on a spinnerbait."
During the tournament, he caught four largemouths on a spinnerbait, three spots on a crankbait and one on a worm.
> Crankbait – Red Wiggle Wart (running about 7 feet) cranked down secondary chunk-rock points, prototype 7' RPM Series crankbait rod (medium with extra-fast tip), 10-pound line.
> Spinnerbait – 3/4-ounce double-willow (No. 5 back blade) all-chartreuse spinnerbait with a trailer hook fished by run-outs in the backs of bluff pockets where clear lake water was mixing with muddy water. "The stained water triggered the bite," he said. On the all-chartreuse bait: "Nobody throws that there. Smallmouths like it, spots like it and what I found out there was that largemouths like it." He fished it on a prototype 7' RPM medium-heavy spinnerbait rod and 20-pound line.
> Main factor in his success – "Adaptability, by far. Adaptability, being confident in the changes I was making throughout the day and changing with the weather conditions."
