TW_Staff
02-01-2012, 11:31 AM
K.C. Harris didn't have much experience with umbrella-style rigs prior to the Shasta Western EverStart in Northern California. And the few times he had thrown one hadn't resulted in a great deal of success.
As has been proven in a lot of places since October, however, those contraptions are extremely difficult to beat when used in the right places and at the right times. The 33-year-old equipment operator for the California Department of Transportation was able to pull those elements together last week en route to notching the biggest victory of his career.
Buoyed by a tournament-best 18-01 sack on day 2 that included a monstrous 7 1/2-pound spotted bass, he compiled a 3-day total of 42-02 to edge former tour pro Zack Thompson by 13 ounces. The majority of his weigh-in fish came via the umbrella rig, but he also caught a few on conventional swimbait setups.
Harris has lived within an hour's drive of the lake his entire life and fishes it frequently. He and four buddies were sharing information leading up to the EverStart and had pinned down quality fish in several areas of the lake.
He had two starting areas in which he had supreme confidence, and ended up opting for a big flat up the McCloud River arm after one of his friends had expressed a preference for the other locale. The flat ended up being the more fertile hunting ground by a longshot.
"It's about a 10-minute run (from the launch) and it really doesn't look like much of anything," he said. "There was a bunch of trout up there, though, and the bass were keying on them.
"Nobody else was fishing there, so it really didn't get much pressure. I didn't know that it was as good as it really was."
To top it off, the little bit of success he'd had with the umbrella rig up to that point had occurred in that area.
"Coming in, I think that was the only spot where I'd gotten a bite on that thing. My buddies were catching them all over, but I couldn't hardly do it. But at least there, I had the confidence that I could get bit."
Competition:
Harris weighed a 13-pound bag on day 1 that left him in 5th place in the 119-angler field. He made his big move the following day, thanks to one gargantuan bite.
He caught a limit that weighed about 12 pounds from the flat, and then started running various points in an attempt to cull up. He wasn't having much luck in that quest until the 7 1/2-pounder bit at a little after 3 o'clock. It replaced a fish that might have weighed a pound and a half.
"You catch a lot of the bigger spots toward the end of the day ñ it seems like they come up in the afternoon," he said. "That was a huge upgrade."
He had a lead of about 4 pounds going into the final day and his primary goal was just to catch five keepers. He had a limit by 9 o'clock, but it was puny.
"I couldn't get it done first thing and I had to grind it out. It took me all day to catch the 11 pounds.
"I was a little bit nervous heading back in. I was just hoping that everybody else had struggled."
Winning Pattern:
Harris said all of his fish came from water between 5 and 15 feet deep. The bass would be cruising the flat during the early-morning hours, so he made long casts in all directions with the umbrella rig. When he fished points, he'd begin by paralleling them and then move out deeper and cast to the shallower water. He frequently varied his rate of retrieve, but said it was never extremely slow.
Winning Gear:
Umbrella-rig gear: 8' heavy-action Dobyns 807 rod, Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCUG) casting reel (7:1 ratio), 15-pound Maxima monofilament (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=MUG) line, Sworming Hornet Swarm (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SWORMUM), 1/8- and 1/4-ounce Buckeye swimbait heads (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BJWSH), Mother's Finest paddle-tail (ghost rainbow) or All-American Trash Fish (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=LCAATF) (ghost trout) swimbaits. He caught a few weigh-in fish on Top Shelf (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TSSWB) and Osprey (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=OTTH) swimbaits fished conventionally on the same gear.
Main factor: "The (flat) was a huge factor for sure, and then being able to get a couple of better bites out on the main body."
Performance edge: "I'd have to say it was the (umbrella) rig. Without that, I don't know if I could've caught those fish."
TW Staff
As has been proven in a lot of places since October, however, those contraptions are extremely difficult to beat when used in the right places and at the right times. The 33-year-old equipment operator for the California Department of Transportation was able to pull those elements together last week en route to notching the biggest victory of his career.
Buoyed by a tournament-best 18-01 sack on day 2 that included a monstrous 7 1/2-pound spotted bass, he compiled a 3-day total of 42-02 to edge former tour pro Zack Thompson by 13 ounces. The majority of his weigh-in fish came via the umbrella rig, but he also caught a few on conventional swimbait setups.
Harris has lived within an hour's drive of the lake his entire life and fishes it frequently. He and four buddies were sharing information leading up to the EverStart and had pinned down quality fish in several areas of the lake.
He had two starting areas in which he had supreme confidence, and ended up opting for a big flat up the McCloud River arm after one of his friends had expressed a preference for the other locale. The flat ended up being the more fertile hunting ground by a longshot.
"It's about a 10-minute run (from the launch) and it really doesn't look like much of anything," he said. "There was a bunch of trout up there, though, and the bass were keying on them.
"Nobody else was fishing there, so it really didn't get much pressure. I didn't know that it was as good as it really was."
To top it off, the little bit of success he'd had with the umbrella rig up to that point had occurred in that area.
"Coming in, I think that was the only spot where I'd gotten a bite on that thing. My buddies were catching them all over, but I couldn't hardly do it. But at least there, I had the confidence that I could get bit."
Competition:
Harris weighed a 13-pound bag on day 1 that left him in 5th place in the 119-angler field. He made his big move the following day, thanks to one gargantuan bite.
He caught a limit that weighed about 12 pounds from the flat, and then started running various points in an attempt to cull up. He wasn't having much luck in that quest until the 7 1/2-pounder bit at a little after 3 o'clock. It replaced a fish that might have weighed a pound and a half.
"You catch a lot of the bigger spots toward the end of the day ñ it seems like they come up in the afternoon," he said. "That was a huge upgrade."
He had a lead of about 4 pounds going into the final day and his primary goal was just to catch five keepers. He had a limit by 9 o'clock, but it was puny.
"I couldn't get it done first thing and I had to grind it out. It took me all day to catch the 11 pounds.
"I was a little bit nervous heading back in. I was just hoping that everybody else had struggled."
Winning Pattern:
Harris said all of his fish came from water between 5 and 15 feet deep. The bass would be cruising the flat during the early-morning hours, so he made long casts in all directions with the umbrella rig. When he fished points, he'd begin by paralleling them and then move out deeper and cast to the shallower water. He frequently varied his rate of retrieve, but said it was never extremely slow.
Winning Gear:
Umbrella-rig gear: 8' heavy-action Dobyns 807 rod, Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCUG) casting reel (7:1 ratio), 15-pound Maxima monofilament (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=MUG) line, Sworming Hornet Swarm (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SWORMUM), 1/8- and 1/4-ounce Buckeye swimbait heads (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BJWSH), Mother's Finest paddle-tail (ghost rainbow) or All-American Trash Fish (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=LCAATF) (ghost trout) swimbaits. He caught a few weigh-in fish on Top Shelf (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TSSWB) and Osprey (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=OTTH) swimbaits fished conventionally on the same gear.
Main factor: "The (flat) was a huge factor for sure, and then being able to get a couple of better bites out on the main body."
Performance edge: "I'd have to say it was the (umbrella) rig. Without that, I don't know if I could've caught those fish."
TW Staff