Anglers snooping around tour pro Craig Powers' boat may pick up a few clues to the reason behind his recent success in EverStart tournaments, but they won't be able to duplicate the real deal at their local fishing tackle stores. The Tennessean says his winning catches of late are more a result of casting effectively than any secret lure or special modification.
It's all about the presentation, he said. While that's not exactly a new concept for tournament anglers, the degree to which he executes his presentations has delivered a clear-cut advantage.
How much of an advantage? He recently won back-to-back EverStarts – first the West Point Southern, then the Kerr Northeastern.
Hitting The Bull's-Eye
Powers credited his win in May's Kerr Lake Everstart to the pinpoint accuracy of his casts with a Pop-R. Close may be cool in a game of horseshoes, but it's not good enough for him.
"With that Pop-R, it wasn't like working a crankbait or spinnerbait where the retrieve is what gets the fish to strike," he said. "At Kerr, the fish I was fishing for had a strike zone of 18 to 24 inches."
He pitched the lure into tiny openings in the flooded bushes and worked it enticingly in the tight confines.
"Then I'd reel it in and cast to the next hole. The fish were not in a chasing mood. They were reacting out of defense."
He noted his ability to cast with such precise accuracy was the decisive factor at Kerr. "It wasn't important to make 50- or 60-foot casts. I was casting 15 or 20 feet mostly, and hitting the holes in the bushes where people usually pitch jigs or worms. The fish don't often see a Pop-R in those places."
He said casting accuracy is one of the areas where BassFans can concentrate to improve their tournament performance.
"It's not the bait as much as what you do with it," he said. "If there's one tip on topwater fishing, it's that casting accuracy can make a big difference. If you can put a topwater in tight places or under a dock, you can catch fish that others will miss."
Learned By Necessity
For many anglers, it's not easy to knuckle down and work on such an elemental skill as casting. And Powers had to learn the hard way himself.
"Growing up the way my dad fished, I either had to learn how to cast or watch him catch every one of the fish. I grew up on a lake in eastern Tennessee with tremendous fishing pressure and casting accuracy was very important in getting lure-shy fish to bite."
He said casting is a "feel" thing, based on his 25 to 30 years of experience and concentration on accuracy.
"It's like when you first start flipping in the morning. It might take 15 minutes to get in the groove. It's the same thing with casting a topwater to holes. It's more a feel thing than anything else."
Don't Think, Just Cast
Powers counsels anglers to relax and let their hands, eyes and rods get in sync.
"The more you don't think, the better your casting will be. Really, if you don't think too much about it, it comes natural. The harder you try, the harder it is sometimes to hit the little targets."
He compared the instincts and eye-hand coordination on which he relies for casting accuracy to what is required to be a good shooter.
"It's a lot like shooting a shotgun. Once you get good at shooting, the shotgun is an extension of your body. For a fisherman, the rod should become an extension of his body."
Notable
> Powers was a big fan of the old-style pistol-grip rods, though today he uses straight-handle sticks. He still favors short rods, even though most professional anglers go with longer outfits. "Check out 200 FLW boats and fewer than 10 will have a 6-foot rod in the locker," he said.
> His accuracy rig is a 6' medium Castaway rod paired with a Bass Pro Shops Rick Clunn Signature Series casting reel. He spools up with McCoy's Mean Green mono, usually 17-pound-test for topwaters in heavy cover.
> While a Pop-R was productive in the late-spring tournaments, he said his success in pinpoint topwater fishing is not relegated to that single lure. "When they're done on the Pop-R, I go to the Spook. It's not the lure. It's where you put it, and if you can get a Spook back into the places where they live, you'll catch them good."
