|
Redcrest was great, more on that late rin the week but for now here's all the bait and pattern info. Hope all's well with you, let's roll!
|
|
|
If your email program cuts off the bottom of the email click "View this email in your browser" up top to see the whole thing. Sorry bout that – email programs keep changing stuff.
|
|
|
How Dustin Connell turned his back on Gville's big bass to win Redcrest
|
|
|
Is Dustin crazy? I mean, what person in their right mind would say adios to a giant lake full of giant bass and run 70 dang miles away from it to fish below a dam? I mean, this is Lake Guntersville, one of the best largemouth lakes in the country!
He said, "I literally ran past every bass on the whole lake." Right past all those Gville giants so he could fish for spotted bass at the dam. That is – without a doubt – crazy.
Because at Redcrest, everyone was looking forward to seeing Gville's massive bass population show out. And it did...sorta. But then that weather showed up.
I can pretty much guarantee you that not a single one of the guys fishing Redcrest, maybe including Dustin, thought that tournament was gonna be won way upriver. (Actually Wes Strader did – more on that later in the week.) Just too many big fish in the lake and all of 'em were in some phase of the spawn.
But that rainy and windy weather the last day – it played right into DC's hands. Or was it his plan all along?? Here's how it went down for him – his 2nd Redcrest win in a row and 3rd overall.
Going in and practice
> "When they had this on the schedule...a year ago and knew it was going to be early April, my first mindset was – I want to fish pre-spawn fish. Because keep in mind, late March there are bass spawning but...the middle of April is the prime time when the majority are up.
> "I knew [pre-spawners] were probably going to be in 2 places. Typically on any body of water early in the year...the clearest, deepest water is probably going to be colder water [with] remnants of pre-spawners. And way up the river, at the dam – because current pushes them back and holds them back for spawning.
> "I really wanted to go up that river. I know I can't sight-fish better than Bobby Lane, I can't drag better than Mark Davis, I can't pitch wacky worms better than David Dudley. I knew that. Dude for me to win this tournament, I gotta win it up the river.
> "I got up there the 2nd day of practice. The 1st day of practice I caught a few big ones [in the main lake]...random, I never found a group, just fishing.
> "I go up the river day 2 and caught 4-5 big smallmouth. I didn't catch that many spotted bass. I didn't fish at the dam a lot. Boats were everywhere – it was beautiful weather – catfishermen and stuff.
> "I wanted to find some groups of fish. I gave it an honest try and didn't have a lot of hope for it."
Tournament
> "[Day 1] I opted to stop about halfway up there. Let me just Scope around, use my FFS period and see if I can catch a couple big ones, and then go up there. I dipped all the way up and salvaged the day. That 1st period killed me. If I just went up there and committed....
> "Then the 2nd day, 3rd day and [day 4], I stayed up the river every single day. I had 50+ lbs every day.
> "That was a very bold decision to make that long of a run – because you're losing fishing time and you're so far away from a giant population of largemouth....
> "Every day I just expanded and found [a few more] new areas and figured out new baits.
> "I didn't fully sell out at the dam until the Knockout Round. The 2nd day I stopped about 15 miles short...hit a place here, hit a place there, and just catch a few [on the way up to the dam]. But once I got to the dam every day I would stack weight.
> "I said in the Knockout Round I'm going straight there. And I pulled up and smashed them early. That was the day I figured out the Mooch Minnow bite, just tight-lining it. And I just utilized that in the Championship Round and that's what won it for me.
> "That dam, the way it lays out it's pretty deep for the most part. It has a shallow flat on the right-hand side, in the current, but the bait is not on the bank. The water is clear, the bait is not there shallow, the fish are not up there....
> "All the bait was near these lock walls and all the fish that were pre-spawners – and a few post-spawners – they were all around the bait. They're bait-oriented and that bait would get washed around on those walls.
|
|
|
> "There was probably 4 or 5 places up there – little jut-outs where the current hit hard along the wall, the tip of the wall, the back corner of the wall, the front corner of the wall. Every day they would cut on different turbines [start with 1, then 2, etc.] Then I would have feeding periods every time they cut those [turbine warning] sirens on.
> "It would push the bait around, mix the bait up, and those fish would run down that wall and start feeding every time that happened. So I knew once that current shifted a whole new group of fish would reload on these places.
> "I just alternated between 5 places up there. I fished really good, slow." [He mentioned places with current changes or slower current "where the baits' at."]
How he figured out the dam wall was key:
> "I pulled up down the wall and saw some fish blowing up down the edge of that wall. I thought they were stripers, and then I saw a 3-lb spotted bass jump out of the water. I went, 'Oh God they're on these walls.'
> "I didn't think there were that many [bass]. But when I changed to that Mooch Minnow, I said, 'Holy crap there's a ton of fish up here.'"
He said his bite typically got worse as the day went on, but the bad weather the last day was "the perfect storm" in a good way for him. The bait stayed high, the fish stayed active and the weather kept the locals off the water.
Baits
|
|
|
> "The 1st part of the tournament I was catching them on a 2.5-inch Rapala CrushCity Mayor (gizzard shad). I was throwing a smaller bait because the water was clear and it was sunny so I was trying to downsize and just get some bites. They were slack-lining that little swimbait – it was so fun.
> "I noticed when it got sunny they laid off on that swimbait. So I changed on the 2nd afternoon late in the day. I started shaking a [CrushCity] Mooch Minnow [also gizzard shad], and on my 3rd cast I caught a 3-lber, then a 2.5, a 5-lber and another 2.5.
> "That's when the lightbulb went off: They don't see that up there much. They always see paddletail swimbaits but they don't see that."
He fished both those baits with a 3/16-oz VMC Tungsten Swimbait Jighead and 18-lb Seaguar JDM PEX8 Braid to 12-lb Seaguar InvizX fluoro.
His other main bait was a 1/2-oz Scrounger-type head with Rapala CrushCity Freeloader (gizzard shad) on 17-lb Seaguar InvizX:
> "I would throw it out there and keep it kinda high. The fish were suspended in 6-7' so I kept it 5-6' under the surface.
> "The Scrounger I was throwing was not hitting real hard. It was kind of subtle. I would slow-reel it down those walls. The key was keeping it as close to the wall as you could.
> "I'd see 4- and 5-inch gizzard shad up there – that's why I switched to that [bigger] Freeloader – and every shad I saw was swimming close to that wall."
He also caught a few smallmouth early in the week on a Rapala Mavrik Jerkbait (pro blue) with the stock VMC RedLine Trebles and 12-lb Seaguar InvizX.
Electronics
He did have his Lowrance ActiveTarget 2 on when he was allowed to have it on but pretty much never used it other than sniping 1-2 fish lower down day 1 before he committed to the dam:
> "I don't think I caught a single bass with it...the rest of the tournament. I cut it on in the main river [for his allowed 1 period] just in case I wanted to run down on the flats and see the structure. But there's so many trash fish and current – you can't even see.... I didn't have to cut any of that on all week.
> "I grew up fishing that way, and it's pretty useless up there – for me.
> "I am very good at using FF technology. And I feel like I can gain an advantage if I can utilize it. But it can be a gift and it can be a curse [if you] get caught up wanting to do one of your strengths when it's time to cut that off and be done with it....
> "I am running 2D on my boat as well [on a Lowrance HDS 12 Pro] and just had 2D going to always notice where the bait was at. I started seeing that bait get low – when the sun got up, I noticed the bait was laying real deep. The bite got really really tough, so I started shaking that Mooch Minnow deeper.
> "I would let it sink down that wall...working it deeper and getting more bites. Seeing the bait get lower in the water column [on 2D] helped."
Shoutouts
> "Miller Tech Batteries. I was in that heavy current all week and ran those batteries all week on 10. I never had one issue. That's a huge, huge deal...."
|
|
5 Qs with Mr Sweet Home Alabama
|
|
|
3 AL Redcrests, 3 DC wins. Amazing. Let's go:
1. Was your strategy just to survive to the Knockout Round and not reveal your master plan until you absolutely had to, thus sandbagging the entire field? 😁
> "That is a very good strategy to do and if you can do that, it's a very good thing. Because if these guys see a pattern that you're doing [real well], they will try to duplicate it. So if you're able to do that, that's how you win tournaments nowadays. Sandbag – you literally just play a bluff on 'em.
> "I try to do that at times – it can get you in trouble....
> "I kinda went under the radar the first couple days so it was kind of a blessing. If I'd have went to the dam the 1st day and smashed 'em, there ain't no telling how many boats would've shown up [locals too]. So it was a blessing that I kinda hid in the shadows for a couple days."
[I thought I was kidding but he was serious!]
2. When did you realize that the final day weather change was gonna play into your hands?
> "I knew the night before the Championship Round. I woke up at 2 in the morning and it was hailing, thundering and lightning, and raining so hard I said, 'Man them guys are toast.
> "I knew the water was gonna dinge up.... A lot of areas would either get blowed out or those fish would be very, very finicky. Hailing, thundering and lightning – those shallow fish would literally leave...."
Follow-up: Are dam fish less affected by weather changes?
> "The nastier the weather around the dam, the better they bite. I've gone up there in a hurricane before and just stomped 'em."
3. Did you know there was better-quality fish there or was that just where you were getting the most bites?
> "Every day it changed up there...the 2nd day the majority were largemouth. The Knockout Round day the majority were all spotted bass. And I never caught a smallmouth on that wall, not one time.
> "Then Championship Day I caught 4 really big smallmouths in that nasty weather. So every single day new groups of fish were moving up there.
> "But the quality was there man. I saw that the first afternoon I pulled up. I caught a 5-11, a 5-14, a 5-05, a 41-14 – there were some big ones up there."
Follow-up: For guys who don't fish dams much, why go all the way up to it?
> "That's where the most current is, it's typically where all the bait's at, and that's as far as the fish can go.
> "If you're a dam fisherman, if you like fishing current, the TN River is the Mecca for that. Below every dam, all of them's got 'em really good."
4. How far a run would be too far?
> "It was taking me an hour and 15 minutes to get up there in the morning, so I'd burn about 40 minutes of fishing time getting up there [about 70 miles]. If it was 100 miles I still would've went."
5. When there's a Redcrest in AL and you're in it, is it game over? 😁
> "I don't know but it seems like it's that way. I've won 3 of them [Redcrests] in AL and I've won 5 major tournaments in AL: 3 Redcrests, Smith Lake and an AL River Open that got me my career start.
> "AL's been good to me. I hope we come back every year."
|
|
|
Reminder for all the pics and deets that I ask the guys for only the MAIN BAITS they used. Not all of 'em they tried, had on deck, whatever.
2nd: Wesley Strader
> Smallmouth: Zoom Winged Fluke (TN shad) on a 1/8-oz tunsgten Big Daddy's Spotlighter Head, 10-lb Sunline Xplasma Asegai Braid to 12-lb Sunline Sniper fluoro, Lew's Custom Pro Spin Reel, Powell Endurance 732 Spin Rod. Rocky spawning banks out to 10'.
> Spawning and fry-guarding largemouth: Zoom Zlinky stick worm (gp) on a Trokar TK137 Weedless Hook, same line and reel, Powell 703 Endurance Rod.
> Grass for largemouth: 3/8-oz Epic Swim Jig (b/b) with a Zoom Magnum Speed Craw (b/b sapphire), 60-lb Sunline FX2 Braid, Lew's Custom Lite Reel, Powell 765SBR Rod.
> "A lot of people don't realize and I didn't realize until I was out there that crinkly leaf pondweed has taken over in the river backwaters. So it was all about finding a hole where you could work your bait because it was all choked out. With it raining hard, it was hard to find them with your eyes...."
|
|
|
4th: Paul Marks Jr
> Neko rigged Zoom Trick Worm (gp), 2/0 Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap Hook, 1/8-oz nail weight, 10-lb Seaguar Smackdown Braid to 15-lb Seaguar Tatsu fluoro, Shimano Stella C3000XG Spin Reel, 7' 1" M XF G-Loomis NRX+ Spin Rod.
> Zoom Z Craw Jr (white pearl), 5/0 Gamakatsu Offset Shank Worm Hook (round bend), 1/4-3/8 oz weight, 20-lb Seaguar Tatsu fluoro, Shimano Metanium XG Reel, 7' 1" XHF G-Loomis NRX+ Rod.
> Fished white spots and Scoped deep spawners.
5th: Jake Lawrence
> 3/8-oz Z-Man JackHammer (gp shad) with a 5.5 Yamamoto Swim Senko (gp) that was cut down ("important because I wanted the largest tail I could get to create lift to keep the Chatter high above the shallow vegetation, only inches under the surface"), 20-lb Seaguar Red Label fluoro, Bates Hundo Reel, Dobyns Champion XP 733 Rod.
> Prototype 6" Yamamoto minnow bait (upcoming Icast release that he ran out of in the tournament) on a 3/16-oz Buckeye G-Stroll Head, 18-lb Seaguar JDM PEX8 Braid to 15-lb Seaguar Red Label fluoro, new Dobyns Kaden Series 610-1SH Rod.
> Fished for deep spawners and roaming post-spawners.
|
|
|
6th: Chris Lane
> BPS Log Father creature bait (gp), 5/0 Bass Pro Shops Magna SuperLock Hook, 3/26-oz BPS XPS Tungsten Weight, 20-lb BPS XPS fluoro, BPS Johnny Morris Reel, 7' 4" MH Bass Pro Shops Rod.
> Lilypads and milfoil in 1-4'.
|
|
|
Did not get Anthony Gagliardi (11th).
12th: Jeff Sprague
> 4" Lake Fork Pro Craw (honey craw), 3/8-oz Lake Fork Tungsten Flipping Weight, 20-lb fluoro, 7' 1" HF Lake Fork Gold Series Rod.
> Wacky-rigged 6.25" Lake Fork Flat Finesse Worm (gp magic – bait will be released at ICAST), 10-lb fluoro, 6' 10" Lake Fork Gold Series Finesse Spin Rod. (This rig is what the Redcrest record 9-lber came on.)
> Targeted boat docks in less than 5'. Flipped milfoil, fished the wacky on spawning fish flats and drains.
|
|
|
14th: Jacob Wall
> Weightless TX rigged 5" Yamamoto Senko (b/blue flake), 4/0 Owner Wide Gap Plus Hook. "I opted for this old-school rigging method due to the immense amount of slime that was growing on the vegetation and on the bottom."
> 3/8-oz Z-Man JackHammer with a 4.5" Duckett Sway Minnow (dirty shad). "I relied heavily on this for catching my fish on the 2nd day. I was primarily targeting spawning flats and lead-in areas that had milfoil. I caught fish from Roseberry Creek all the way down to Browns Creek, fishing primarily 5' or less."
He fished 16-lb Cortland fluoro for both, and used his signature 7' 3" MH Duckett Pro Series Rods for both.
He also added Thump Gel Trailer Gel on both soft-plastics. It has a green base with gold, black and green flakes.
|
|
|
15th: Justin Cooper
> "I used a Neko rig to catch the majority of my bass. I was targeting cover in 4-8', mainly stumps but some short grass clumps as well. Fish were spawning on them."
> Bass Pro Shops Cut Tail Worm (gp), #1 Owner Sniper Finesse Hook, 3/32-oz Epic Tungsten Nail Weight, 15lb BPS XPS Braid to 12-lb BPS XPS Fluoro, BPS Platinum Spin Reel, 7' 1" M BPS Johnny Morris Platinum Rod.
|
|
|
16th: Marshall Robinson
> 1/4-oz Buckeye Brush Panda Heavy Cover Swim Jig (bluegill) with a craw trailer (gp), 40-lb braid, 7' 2" MH Phenix M1 Rod "the absolute best swim-jig rod I've ever touched").
> "...around shallow grass and visible beds around 1-3'. Just feathering it through the grass and catching them when they came and got it. I would also use this bait as my primary bed-fishing bait to then catch them off their beds."
|
|
|
20th: Edwin Evers
> Berkley Dime Crankbaits (top is size 4, bottom is size 6, both are citrus shad), 12-lb Bass Pro Shops XPS Fluoro, BPS Platinum Reel (6.8), 7' 6" MH BPS Cranking Stick.
> "I was fishing 4-6' on the edges of the grass – milfoil and eelgrass."
|
|
|
Ryan Salzman: Don't leave the dam
You might remember that back in June 2022 Ryan won the MLF Bass Pro Tour fishing the Watts Bar dam. Here's one thing he said about it on the MLF site:
> "Half the field found (the dam pattern), but only one other person lasted past the 1st period. I was the only one with confidence to fish the dam. Guys found it and didn't know what to do with it. I knew the other anglers were going to leave.
> "There are periods where the fish turn on and off. You just need to be patient and know how to fish through it. My knowledge of reading current at the dam and confidence to keep fishing in water that was 60-100' deep was what really did it for me."
> To get fish to bite in an environment with an abundance of current-generated forage, Salzman matched the hatch for active fish and finessed the inactive bass. His lure choices were a 4.5" Roboworm in 'morning dawn' when he'd dropshot deep for inactive bass, and small swimbaits when the bass were up feeding (he would upsize his swimbait when there was increased surface disturbance).
|
|
|
"I am a dam fisherman."
- Dustin Connell talkin' on MLF's Live deal. I loved that statement because you couldn't tell if he was saying it with an N or not!
I asked him afterward if that was a declaration of who he is or just where he was fishing – he said:
> "[Laughs] That is who I am honestly. Ever since I was 10...fishing below dams, throwing Sassy Shads, catching spotted bass...I just love fishing [there].
> "I don't have a problem sitting there all day – it's just what I grew up fishing."
|
|
|
12-08 caught outta 4,200-acre Vernon Lake, LA – LA Sportsman with the deets:
> Pew was going down a bank...fishing a Chatterbait JackHammer on an Abu Garcia Jordan Lee series rod and reel spooled with 16-lb Sunline, working it through emerging lily pads in 2-3'...just inside of a patch of hydrilla.
> "I was just swimming it through the pads, crawling it along the bottom. The rain had the water a little dirtied up, and I needed something with some vibration. One cast, when it came out of the pads, I thought it was hung in a clump of grass. I tried to pull it out, and that's what set the hook. I immediately felt the headshake, and I knew it was a good fish...."
|
|
|
|
|
Jay Kumar's BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best (sometimes worst) and funniest stuff in bassin', hand-picked by me – Jay Kumar. I started BassFan.com, co-hosted Loudmouth Bass with Zona, was a B.A.S.S. senior writer and a bunch more in bassin'. The Blaster is the #2 daily read on any given day in the wide world o' bass so thanks for readin'!
|
|
|
|
Check out BassGold.com! It's FREE!
Sign up another bass-head!
If you're forwarding every Blaster to other bass crackheads, tx much – or you can email me the addys and we'll take care of it! We'll never send spam or whatever....
|
|
|
GITCHA HANDS ON THE BEST STUFF!
|
|
Gitcha BB social at these links
|
|
|
|
