TW_Staff
04-13-2010, 09:55 AM
Craig Schuff isn't new to the game. The Watauga, Texas insurance salesman fished a bunch of Bassmaster Invitationals in the mid- to late-'90s. But he took himself out of the game for a little while. As he tells it, he switched jobs in order to have more time to fish. But it didn't work out – the new gig didn't leave him enough money to fish in his off-time.
He hung up his rods for a few years, but came back for a full Bassmaster Open season in 2004. Moderate success convinced him he needed more practice, so he took another year and a half off and did quite well in the 2007 Central Opens with a 52nd-place average finish.
He blew a motor in his first 2008 Central Open at the Red River and again took another year off.
But he started his 2010 Central Open campaign with a bang. He won at Amistad last weekend – his first win at this level – and pocketed nearly $52,000. "I've been wanting to win one of those for as long as I can remember," he said.
"I wanted to fish a staging area," he noted. "I don't like fishing for bed-fish, and I knew from my last time down there that they'd probably be on beds big-time. But they don't all spawn at the same time, and I thought there'd be some on staging areas somewhere – coming up and staging, or staging on their way out."
He found three such areas, but considered one to be his primary area. It was in Mexican waters and was a large flat inside a bay with some underwater points and a ditch.
Competition:
Schuff drew boat 91 the first day, which made him a little nervous, because his swimbait bite was an early deal. In retrospect though, he thinks the boat draw was a plus, because if he was out early on day 1, he would have missed the early swimbait bite on day 2. As it went, he arrived at his primary area on day 1 and there was a boat on one of the "three key spots" in the area.
That boat belonged to eventual runner-up Ray Hanselman, he said. Schuff chose the next best spot in the area and quickly caught three good fish. And he said that other boats never fished what he considered to be his third-best spot in the bay. In general, Schuff's strategy was to throw a swimbait early, and then switching to a Texas-rigged Senko as the swimbait bite died. It worked wonderfully, but the fish repositioned every day and he needed to relocate them.
On day 1, the fish were in the deeper ditch. On day 2, they moved up onto the sides of the underwater points. The third day, they moved up onto the flat in 12 feet of water or less – likely a signal they were close to bedding.
About the area, he noted: "It was a big flat in a bay. The ditch ran up into the flat. The points I fished didn't show on the bank. They were real broad and tapering. I was keeping the boat in 15 to 18 feet of water and fishing the sides of the points, not the ends. There were trees on the sides in 12 to 14 feet, and I'd make long casts."
Winning Gear:
Swimbait gear: 7'3" heavy-action Falcon Cara (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=FCCSG) "The Amistad" rod, Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCER) casting reel, 25-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SIF), Osprey Talon Heavy (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=OSIH) (light hitch).
He swapped out the stock hook on the Talon for a 2/0 Gamakatsu.
Senko gear: 6'10" heavy-action Falcon Cara (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=FCCSG) rod, same reel, same line, 8" Yum Dinger (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YD) (green-pumpkin/purple-flake) and 6" Yamamoto Senko (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YAS)(watermelon-red).
He kept three different Senko/Dinger rigs on the deck, each with a different weight (1/4-, 5/16- and 1/2-ounce). He fished the darker-colored dinger in lower-light conditions.
Main Factor: "Jesus Christ. God decided it was my time for some reason."
Performance Edge: "That swimbait, it got me the quality bites every morning so I was able to settle down. It wasn't easy to catch them, and every day it got tougher to catch another good fish. They were spreading out and the swimbait helped me find them."
TW Staff
He hung up his rods for a few years, but came back for a full Bassmaster Open season in 2004. Moderate success convinced him he needed more practice, so he took another year and a half off and did quite well in the 2007 Central Opens with a 52nd-place average finish.
He blew a motor in his first 2008 Central Open at the Red River and again took another year off.
But he started his 2010 Central Open campaign with a bang. He won at Amistad last weekend – his first win at this level – and pocketed nearly $52,000. "I've been wanting to win one of those for as long as I can remember," he said.
"I wanted to fish a staging area," he noted. "I don't like fishing for bed-fish, and I knew from my last time down there that they'd probably be on beds big-time. But they don't all spawn at the same time, and I thought there'd be some on staging areas somewhere – coming up and staging, or staging on their way out."
He found three such areas, but considered one to be his primary area. It was in Mexican waters and was a large flat inside a bay with some underwater points and a ditch.
Competition:
Schuff drew boat 91 the first day, which made him a little nervous, because his swimbait bite was an early deal. In retrospect though, he thinks the boat draw was a plus, because if he was out early on day 1, he would have missed the early swimbait bite on day 2. As it went, he arrived at his primary area on day 1 and there was a boat on one of the "three key spots" in the area.
That boat belonged to eventual runner-up Ray Hanselman, he said. Schuff chose the next best spot in the area and quickly caught three good fish. And he said that other boats never fished what he considered to be his third-best spot in the bay. In general, Schuff's strategy was to throw a swimbait early, and then switching to a Texas-rigged Senko as the swimbait bite died. It worked wonderfully, but the fish repositioned every day and he needed to relocate them.
On day 1, the fish were in the deeper ditch. On day 2, they moved up onto the sides of the underwater points. The third day, they moved up onto the flat in 12 feet of water or less – likely a signal they were close to bedding.
About the area, he noted: "It was a big flat in a bay. The ditch ran up into the flat. The points I fished didn't show on the bank. They were real broad and tapering. I was keeping the boat in 15 to 18 feet of water and fishing the sides of the points, not the ends. There were trees on the sides in 12 to 14 feet, and I'd make long casts."
Winning Gear:
Swimbait gear: 7'3" heavy-action Falcon Cara (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=FCCSG) "The Amistad" rod, Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCER) casting reel, 25-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SIF), Osprey Talon Heavy (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=OSIH) (light hitch).
He swapped out the stock hook on the Talon for a 2/0 Gamakatsu.
Senko gear: 6'10" heavy-action Falcon Cara (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=FCCSG) rod, same reel, same line, 8" Yum Dinger (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YD) (green-pumpkin/purple-flake) and 6" Yamamoto Senko (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YAS)(watermelon-red).
He kept three different Senko/Dinger rigs on the deck, each with a different weight (1/4-, 5/16- and 1/2-ounce). He fished the darker-colored dinger in lower-light conditions.
Main Factor: "Jesus Christ. God decided it was my time for some reason."
Performance Edge: "That swimbait, it got me the quality bites every morning so I was able to settle down. It wasn't easy to catch them, and every day it got tougher to catch another good fish. They were spreading out and the swimbait helped me find them."
TW Staff