Right Ledges Key For Pack

Photo: FLWOutdoors.com Mark Pack's ledges were full of spawning smallmouths.

He caught just 3 keepers the first day, but as the water warmed through the week and he learned his area better, he banged out limits the last three days. His 8 fish from days 1 and 2 got him into the Top 20 cut in 1st with 26-05. Then after weights were zeroed to start day 3, he again topped the field with 5 for 16-14 and a 4-pound lead over Morehead. On the fourth day Pack clinched the victory with another limit (15-15), expanding his margin to 9-04 (32-13 2-day total) and running away with the win.

Here's how he did it.

Guide Experience Helped

Pack practiced for 3 days, but didn't find his winning area until late on the last day. "I spent 2 days on Pickwick but didn't catch them real good, although I caught short fish," he said. "The water was so low that there wasn't much in the creeks. Guys that really know Pickwick could find the ridges to do well, but I had trouble sorting them out."

He relied on his years as a guide to tell him that he needed to fish those main-lake ridges this time of year, and that's what he went looking for on Wilson. He located a main lake hump near the Wheeler Dam on his map, and it looked even better in person. "It had about 3-4 feet of water on top, with mussel shell beds and some stumps. The sides dropped off into 10-15 feet. It had everything you need to catch fish this time of year."

Getting the Bites

Recognizing the potential was the first key, but then he still had to get the bites. His weapon of choice was a specialized Carolina rig.

"Real long casts were important," he said. "They were trying to bed in 4-5 feet and got real spooky if you got too close." To get the casting distance he needed, he turned to spinning tackle. "I used a 7-foot Falcon LowRider spinning rod and a Shimano 4000 Stella reel spooled with 30-pound PowerPro braid," he said. "Then I had a long 6-foot leader of 12-pound Bass Pro Shops XPS fluorocarbon line with a Gamakatsu round-bend nickel 2/0 offset hook. I tried heavier line for the leader but I couldn't get bit." The light leader caused him to lose several fish each day that broke him off in the rocks, and he had to retie around 30 times a day.

"One of the other keys was using a heavy 1-ounce Lake Fork Tackle Mega-Weight tungsten sinker," he noted. "I put a ticker on there too for extra noise. I think that helped draw them to the bait, and the tungsten helped me feel the shells better.

"The bites were real light and I could barely feel them. They definitely weren't in a feeding mode. Feeding smallmouth will take a bait and run with it." Even though he couldn't see the bottom due to the stain in the water, he thinks they were bedding fish, especially since the females he caught were "just dripping eggs."

He also noted: "Sometimes when the sinker got hung up, I would point the rod straight up and pop it real hard. When I took up the slack there'd be a fish on it."

Photo: Lake Fork Tackle His winning lure was the Lake Fork Tackle Baby Fork Creature (winning color not pictured).

His fish generally started biting around 8:30 and really got busy around 10:30-11:00. He had his limit before noon on the last 3 days.

"It really feels great to finally win one," he said of his first FLW Outdoors win. When he made the Top 20 cut on Thursday, he was a little concerned that he would miss a day or two of practice for the next week's FLW Tour event on Beaver Lake. "I feel pretty good about it now. Hopefully I'll have momentum working for me at Beaver."

Notable

> He fished the same main-lake hump on Wilson Lake every day, burning 2 hours of each day in the locks. The lock in Wilson Dam is huge. Completed in 1924, it is 110 feet wide, 600 feet long, and has a maximum lift of 100 feet.

> Main factor in his success – Guide experience so he'd know where to look, long casts, light leader, heavy tungsten weight for feel, and being patient (only 15-20 bites per day).