TW_Staff
10-28-2008, 01:10 PM
*David Fritts: Targeted bass with Rapala DT crankbaits (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RDT) including the DT-10, DT-14, DT-16 and the new DT-20. For trees that were too deep to hit with a diving plug, Fritts relied on Rapala’s Clackin’ Rap (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RCRAP), a big lipless knocker reminiscent of the old Cordell 1-ounce Spot. Fritts used his namesake equipment to get the job done, including his own signature series cranking rods from American Rodsmiths and unknown cranking reels that features an extra low 4.7:1 gear ratio.
“My best spot was the top of a tree that was actually too deep to hit with the DT-20, so I used that Clackin’ Rap (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RCRAP) as a drop bait – casting it out there, letting it fall some 30 feet to the bottom and hopping it up off the bottom on that one tree.” The tops of the trees ranged from right at the surface down to 20 feet under the surface.
*Thanh Le: He fished close to the takeoff at Wildwood Park, concentrating on four different main-lake points with grass that were holding fish. The steeper points seem to be the common denominator for Le. He used three different baits to catch his fish: a Lucky Craft RC (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=LCRCBDS) 1.5 crankbait (white with a purple back); a drop-shot Roboworm in “margarita mutilator 3” color; and a ¾-ounce Pepper football jig with a Zoom Speed Craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ZSSDC) for a trailer.
*Scott Martin: Martin’s main gig was to use a Spro Little John (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SLJCB) and Aruku Shad (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SPAS) crankbaits on Berkley 100% fluorocarbon in the upper portion of the river where current was a factor. “Most of it was basic current fishing,” Martin said. “I was targeting anything that made an eddy in the current.” Today the current did not run, and Martin was forced to go to a Carolina-rigged Berkley finesse worm and pitching a Berkley Chigger Craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BPCC) to pole timber.
*Greg Hackney: Hackney’s spooling thumb had been worn down to a bloody scab from casting and reeling a crankbait so hard for four days. “That’s all I did was burn a crankbait and a spinnerbait,” Hackney said. “I targeted steeper banks where the bands of grass were thinner so I could cover them with a long cast.” Hackney’s crankbait of choice was a Strike King Series One (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SKPC) in a color called “clearwater herring.”
*Terry Bolton: Bolton focused his efforts all week on long grass points in the Little River area with a Zoom Ultravibe Speedworm (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ZUSW), a finesse worm, a Speed Trap (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=LJST) and a Mann’s Minus One (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=MBOMRH).
“My best spot was the top of a tree that was actually too deep to hit with the DT-20, so I used that Clackin’ Rap (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RCRAP) as a drop bait – casting it out there, letting it fall some 30 feet to the bottom and hopping it up off the bottom on that one tree.” The tops of the trees ranged from right at the surface down to 20 feet under the surface.
*Thanh Le: He fished close to the takeoff at Wildwood Park, concentrating on four different main-lake points with grass that were holding fish. The steeper points seem to be the common denominator for Le. He used three different baits to catch his fish: a Lucky Craft RC (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=LCRCBDS) 1.5 crankbait (white with a purple back); a drop-shot Roboworm in “margarita mutilator 3” color; and a ¾-ounce Pepper football jig with a Zoom Speed Craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ZSSDC) for a trailer.
*Scott Martin: Martin’s main gig was to use a Spro Little John (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SLJCB) and Aruku Shad (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SPAS) crankbaits on Berkley 100% fluorocarbon in the upper portion of the river where current was a factor. “Most of it was basic current fishing,” Martin said. “I was targeting anything that made an eddy in the current.” Today the current did not run, and Martin was forced to go to a Carolina-rigged Berkley finesse worm and pitching a Berkley Chigger Craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BPCC) to pole timber.
*Greg Hackney: Hackney’s spooling thumb had been worn down to a bloody scab from casting and reeling a crankbait so hard for four days. “That’s all I did was burn a crankbait and a spinnerbait,” Hackney said. “I targeted steeper banks where the bands of grass were thinner so I could cover them with a long cast.” Hackney’s crankbait of choice was a Strike King Series One (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SKPC) in a color called “clearwater herring.”
*Terry Bolton: Bolton focused his efforts all week on long grass points in the Little River area with a Zoom Ultravibe Speedworm (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ZUSW), a finesse worm, a Speed Trap (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=LJST) and a Mann’s Minus One (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=MBOMRH).