Well, a jig. Yep, that’s the reason. 😁 Hahaha okay that is one of the reasons he won, but yep ain’t the only reason.
Just as a reminder, Wes’ first Elite win was in 2021 at Neely Henry, AL – another tourney with rising water and where he had a jig in his hand. Ko-inky-dink? I think not. Here’s how this one went down.
Going in and practice
He’d never fished Tenkiller before:
> “My first impression was that I didn’t like the way it looked. It wasn’t low, but there wasn’t a lot of cover in the water. It was 2′ above full pool…a few flooded bushes and trees and stuff.
> “I just didn’t have a good feeling about it…it’s setting up like it’s gonna be a weird tournament…catch them out of brush, catch them off docks, Scoping….
> “The 1st day of practice I caught a few on a little shad deal. It wasn’t a shad spawn. It was just a marina situation – resident fish living there. I never caught any big ones, just some good keepers.
> “As practice progressed, it started raining incredible amounts of water and the lake started coming up. I feel like I thrive in changing conditions…being able to change up on the fly, not getting locked into one thing. The areas stayed the same, but the way you had to catch them changed.
> “That’s how practice went – I got a few bites but it wasn’t great. Not near as good as some of my practices.
> “…the way the fish set up kind of reminded me of how they do on the Coosa River a little bit. They weren’t really current-oriented…just how…during practice I’d get a few bites down a stretch…and just know some fish are there.
> “I was noticing as the tournament progressed I was getting bit off the same pieces of cover at different times…almost the exact same flip.
> “For some reason fish on that lake like to be on certain pieces of cover. It’s just where they go. I’ve seen them do that on the Coosa. They like to be on that tree, that patch of grass…something about it….
> “It was gonna be a 2-prong approach…start in a marina or some kind of boat dock, which the majority of the field did…fish until they quit biting. About 7:30-8:00 it was pretty much done for me.
> “[Then] pick the flipping stick up and go flip 2 areas…anything in the water. One of them was in a major creek mid-lake [same creek as the marina he fished]. Everything set up good – really good cover, a lot of bait, it had a marina in it….
> “I had a few bites in that marina and…was able to get a few flip bites in there in practice…I thought it would be mediocre at best if nothing changed.
> “The other [flip area] ended up being a section of the [main] lake…for some reason that 2-3 mile section had a little bit better quality of fish.”
Tournament
> “The 1st day I started in that big marina. I didn’t catch near as many as thought I would, but I ended up leaving that marina with right at 10 lbs.
> “I started flipping in that creek – the flipping bite was pretty much going on. I caught so many bass…30-40 bass. Most of them were keepers, a lot of 1.75-2 lbers. The only reason I kept catching them was other competitors were in the creek doing the same thing, so there was no chance of saving anything. I didn’t necessarily burn it down, but I didn’t try to save anything.
> “I left that area with 12.5 lbs. I had a couple hours so I ran uplake to my other area. I ended up culling 3 times….
> “I did the exact same thing the 2nd day. [The marina and then] flipping the same creek, obviously it was slower…. I had an overwhelming feeling to go up the lake where all my better-quality bites had been. So I made a move up there earlier in the day.
> “I actually caught a better limit in the marina the 2nd day. I left there with 13 lbs, which allowed me to slow down…pick all my stuff apart….
> “Day 3 I went back to the marina one more time. I think I left there with 10.5 lbs, but I knew I would have to have 13-14 lbs to make the top 10.
> “I ran back up to [flip his better-quality area] – it was a lot more crowded. I was still able to get in there, slow down and pick stuff apart behind people. I had a few more quality bites including a 4.5-lber [that] was a 2-lb cull…a big deal that late in the day.
> “When I caught that one I had a funny feeling. I knew Andrew was catching them good, but I thought that bite would give me a legit shot.”
Day 4 he started at a different marina where he hadn’t gotten as many bites in practice but the quality was better:
> “…a 3-lb smallmouth, and I had a limit in 45 minutes…11-13 or 11-10. That was a pretty good start and I was actually closer to the second flipping area. So I was able to get there a lot earlier and slow down…2-3 little sections I caught ’em in and really slow down. The bite was considerably tougher, but when I got a bite it was really good quality.
> “[Those sections] didn’t really look that different [from anything else]. It just had a laydown [or something] that for some reason would reload every couple hours. I have no idea what was special about it…[other] trees and bushes in the area and never got a bite off any of that stuff.
> “I feel like they just wanted to be on something – this particular 10-yard or 20-yard stretch. That allowed me to fish a lot faster. …on the main lake, don’t know if the current hit it different.
> “The depth was consistently the same all the way through there, 2-4′. Most of the fish I caught were in 2′.”
Baits
He weighed the most fish on a jig:
> 1/2-oz Ark Randall Tharp Flipping Jig (gp) with a Zoom Super Chunk (gp), 22-lb Sunline Shooter fluoro, Ark G7 Reel, 7′ 6″ H Ark Wes Logan FAFO Rod.
> “I was just pitching to the [cover]…pitch in there, let it sit for a little while. Every day they wanted it a little different. You had to figure out what kind of mood they were in.”
> Picking it apart: “It wouldn’t be anything for me to make 8-10 flips to a piece of cover. I’d start on one side and work all the way around it. If the sun was out, they might have pulled tighter to the cover…slow down, pitch this crack, pitch this crevice, the heart of the bush, the outside of the bush, drag it a little bit, work through it. Leave no stone unturned.”
> Marina bait: 1/2-oz Z-Man Evergreen JackHammer (spot remover) with a Zoom Shimmer Shad (ghost shad), 20-lb Sunline Shooter, Ark G7 Reel (7.1), 7′ 2″ M Ark Wes Logan Leatherman Rod.
> “I felt like it got the better bites. I tried some different [colors]. That trailer skips really well, has a good profile and was about the size of the shad.
> “…slips in those marinas, you had to skip it as far back as you could. They’d hit it within 2-3 turns of the handle or as soon as it hit the water. That told me they were sitting real high, like right on the floats. If they were there they would eat it…allowed me to cover a lot of water with it.
> “I saw a lot of guys Scoping and jacking a spoon…I just don’t think they were that deep.”
> Day 4 big fish (5lbs) punch rig: Zoom Z-Hog Jr (gp), 3/0 Gamakatsu Heavy Cover Worm Hook, gp skirt, 1/2-oz Ark Tungsten Weight, same rod/reel/line as jig.
> “I was flipping it into trash mats, sawdust mats and stuff.”
Electronics
> “Mapping was really key and it always is for me. Lakemaster mapping for Humminbird has the best detail. Shading…when I get a bite it allows me to break the lake down if I’ve never been there. It just makes the breakdown process so much faster. Anything you can do to get a little advantage you need to take full advantage of.
> “The [Minn Kota] Ultrex QUEST trolling motor – it’s so quiet, stealthy. I was fishing so shallow around all those pressured fish. I would turn all my sonar off – I didn’t want any kind of extra noise.
> “I was fishing isolated little stretches so I was able to put it on 10 and cook up the bank. It would push my fully loaded Falcon boat 3.5-4 mph, which means I could make maybe 1 extra cast. …only winning by an ounce, that’s huge.”
Shoutouts
> “You can’t replace the support you get from all your friends and family. I do want to give a shout out to the whole Lowen family in particular. They’ve been taking care of me on the road…with my wife having to work back home. A special shoutout to her – she deserves it way more than I do.
> “I don’t try to fish for me. I do it for everyone who supports me and backs me.”
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