âIâve never caught so many 3-pound bass in a single day as I did this week,â he said. Most of those, in very un-VanDam form, were caught on soft plastics. He wasnât alone.
The other top finishers caught bass sight fishing and luring bass from grassy shoals. Reports of catching 50 or more keeper-sized largemouth or smallmouth a day were common. Thatâs epic by anyoneâs standards. Hereâs a look at the lures of the Top 12.
All captions: Craig Lamb
Matt Herren fished a Reaction Lures Pocket Rocket and 3/8-ounce Santone Lures M Series Jig. He fished the Pocket Rocket on a weightless Texas rig with a 2/0 Gamakatsu EWG Light Wire hook. âI fished along the shoreline and focused on shallow docks and any rock along the way,â he said.
Mike Iaconelli relied on a selection of self-designed Berkley Havoc soft plastics. He alternated between a Texas-rigged Devil Spear and Back Slide, depending on the wind-driven bite conditions.
âI fished the bulkier Devil Spear in the wind but they wouldnât touch it in calm conditions,â he said. The changeup from a reaction to finesse bite influenced the weight and profile of the lure. Casting targets were sandy spots and openings in the grass with evidence of spawning activity.
Gerald Swindle fished an offshore style of junk fishing to leverage his skills with the technique. To do that he used a Zoom Baits Ultra Vibe Speed Worm. âI fished just about anything out there I came up on,â he said. âGrass edges, flats, wood and rock.â
Morizo Shimizu caught his fair share of âBig Mommaâ bass, as he calls them, on a topwater lure. He used an Evergreen Shower Blows that features a spitting, bubbling chug from its pencil-popper design. When the topwater bite slowed he switched to a Chatterbait.
Drew Benton alternated between a bluegill color Bagley Knocker B and a 6-inch UVenko soft plastic stick bait. He fished the green pumpkin lure weightless and rigged Texas style with an Owner 6/0 EWG Hook.
âI used the topwater as a locator lure for finding bedding bass,â he said. âWhen I found the fish I slowed down and pitched the UVenko into openings in the grass where the bass were bedding.â
Dean Rojas fished his strengths to score with a soft plastic frog and drop shot rigged finesse worm. His choices were a 5-inch Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog and a hand poured worm. He rigged the frog with a 1/2-ounce tungsten weight and 4/0 Gamakatsu Super Lightweight Hook. A 3/16-ounce weight and 2/0 Gamakatsu hook completed the drop shot rig. He fished those lures around mixed vegetation near flats.
Keith Combs alternated between a Strike King Pure Poison bladed swimbait, a Strike King Ocho and this Strike King 10-inch worm. Fishing grassy flats provided most effective for the Texas pro.
For his fifth-place finish Koby Kreiger packed a one-two punch of lure choices. Those were a Heddon Zara Spook and 5-inch V&M Baits Chopstick. The topwater was an attention-getter that stirred the predator instinct of the bass. Once lured out of the dock he picked up the wacky-rigged soft plastic bait to catch the bass. âI just repeated that same tactic on every dock,â he said.
Jacob Powroznik caught up to 100 bass and northern pike every day on a selection of soft plastics. His choices covered the water column from top to bottom and for a variety of tactics. Those included flipping, pitching and sight fishing for bedding bass. He used a 6 1/2-inch V&M Trickster, V&M Swamp Hog and a hand poured worm.
When the bladed jig bite is hot you can expect success from Brett Hite. For another strong Top 12 finish he matched up a pair of self-designed lures. Those were an Evergreen Jack Hammer bladed jig with a 4-inch Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Zako. Depending on depth of the grass he alternated between ounce sizes of 1/2, 3/8 and 3/4.
Hite alternated between the bladed jig and a 6 1/2-inch Yamamoto Kut Tail watermelon candy worm. He fished the wacky rigged worm on a 1/0 drop shot circle hook with a rubber o-ring for securing the rig. He added a 3/32-ounce Reins Fishing TG Nail Sinker for getting the lure into the strike zone.
Jordan Lee kept things simple all week. In doing so his mind stayed keenly focused on dialing in to the bass on a drop shot and wacky rig. That allowed him to discover subtle changes in the bite instead of shifting gears mentally and mechanically with a variety of lures.
VanDam chose the slim profile of soft plastics to mimic small perch and bluegill hiding in grassbeds spread over shallow flats. Productive lure targets were open spaces in the grass. That is where bass hid to ambush perch and bluegill (and his lures).
Playing a starring role was a Strike King KVD Perfect Plastics Ocho. He chose a 5-inch model in a variety of natural hued colors. âThe Ocho is good for spawners because it resembles a perch or baitfish invading a bed.â
VanDam Texas-rigged the lure most of the week. Alternatively, he fished it wacky style under calm conditions. For bedding bass he switched to a drop shot rig. Playing a supporting role in VanDamâs soft plastic arsenal was a duo of Strike King baits. Those were a KVD Dream Shot and Strike King Rage Tail Shellcracker.
