How did Patrick Walters catch a record-setting 105 lbs of smallmouths at a place he didn't do so well at til last year? He said, "I feel like got lucky the first day and it just worked out." Sorta! 😁 Here's some of the deets, couldn't fit 'em all, rest are on the BB site.
Going in and practice
> "We had a short practice, only 2 days [because this one was right after Champlain]. I mainly just ran around a bunch of water looking at areas I wanted to fish, just to kinda put a finger on 'em. ...I think went 138 miles the first day of practice just looking around.
> "When you looked at the weather, we had bad wind on the 1st day of the tournament. ...fishing stuff in the lake, closer to the mouth of the river. ...I went and fished the river a little bit the next day of practice and caught a 5-lber and thought, Okay there's good ones in the river – I'll just fish here day 1 and try to catch 20 lbs.
> "...20 lbs will put me in contention, and I'll go to the lake day 2 and catch 24...."
Tournament
> "The 1st day I just made the right decisions at the right time. At 10:00 I had 17 lbs and was struggling. I was like, I'm just gonna keep moving.... I pulled up on 1 shoal...fished there for an hour, the wind was getting really bad. I just panned behind the boat and there was 1 old blob chasing me. I just dropped down on her and caught her, a 6-01. That was all the momentum I needed.
> "The weights were way better than I expected. So day 2 it was better weather...run to the lake. I pulled up on it and it was pretty lights out. I had 27 lbs by 10:30...spot was a lot better than I expected it to be. I went practicing the rest of the day....
> "Day 3 started a little bit slower but it was still pretty dang good. I had 28 and was done by 11:00. I pre-fished some more areas and found some good stuff.
> "Day 4 we had little bit of a northeast wind, and an east wind they do not like at that place whatsoever. It shut them down, moved the fish around, the bite was tough. I lost 2 big ones that day.
> "I just kept moving around, and I had right at 22 lbs at 1:00. I had 2 3-lbers in the livewell.
> "...going back to some of my old stuff, toward Canada.... I was running to a point but was thinking to myself, Not that point, it's not going to happen – so I went to another one I hadn't checked in a year.
> "I get there and have 45 minutes to go. I set the boat down and catch a 3-lber that doesn't cull. I troll down the point a little further, and down there I see 2. I catch one and it's a 4-10...over a 1-lb cull. That was big.
> "As soon as I caught that one, I look over and [Kyoya] Fujita set the boat down like 300 yards from me on the point. And then here's Chris Johnston...and then Cory Johnston...it was just crazy.
> "...I catch another big 4-lber – I culled out both 3-lbers...with like 25 minutes to go. Then Chris hooks one was that was a [5+]. I thought, He's got 27 lbs. I knew I was l right at 23.5 or so – I didn't think I had it won.
> "I left there to get back to weigh-in. I stopped early...pulled up close to the boat landing, trying to catch one. Chris rides in early...I was like, Oh my gosh he's got 'em. ...my camera guy looks at me and was like, 'It's gonna be close.'"
His spots
Day 1 he spent the whole day right at the river mouth:
> "...mainly like 25' and less...mainly just large points and shoals that had groups of fish. I had 1-2 main spots, but 15-20 spots [overall]. If you'd find an active group of smallmouths [you would] catch 'em. If you weren't catching them, either they weren't there or they just weren't going to ever bite.
> "...lake spots were all points and shoals as well...obvious stuff...some had a little bit grass, some didn't.
> "Schools of bait I think it did play in the river. The 1st day I caught 'em on schools of bait. In the lake it didn't matter because they were eating gobies."
Baits
> "I was throwing a dropshot with a variety of different baits. No bait in particular was better than another really. [B.A.S.S. reported that he fished a Megabass Hazedong Shad and a Berkley MaxScent Flatnose Minnow.]
> "Color did matter a little bit. When it was sunny I fished more black and green pumpkin, and when it was cloudy more natural shad and white colors."
> Dropshot gear – #2 VMC RedLine Finesse Neko Hook, 3/8-oz VMC Tungsten Teardrop Dropshot Weight, 6-lb Sufix 832 Braid to 8-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro, Daiwa Tatula MQ Spin Reel (4000), 7' MLF Daiwa Tatula Cody Meyer Dropshot Rod.
|