TW_Staff
02-02-2009, 01:16 PM
Day 4 at the Okeechobee Eastern FLW Series was pretty brutal. Four of the final Top 10 blanked, and four more failed to weigh more than 10 pounds. But Jimmy McMillan caught 16-14 and extended his buffer even more to win the event by a 13-pound margin.
Winning Pattern:
“I normally fish the south end of the lake, but I went up to the east side and found a beautiful area, full of gin-clear water and a nice hard bottom that had mussel shells. I knew right then that area would be the hot spot for this tournament, and it was. There were a lot of people that found it and caught fish in there this week.”
Winning Gear:
McMillan’s one-two punch for the area centered on swimming a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISKD) (pearl/blue shad) through the grass and sight-fishing a Sweet Beaver (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISB) (white) on beds.
The Skinny Dippers were rigged with either a Reaction Innovations Screwed-up locking weight (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISUB) or a 1/32-ounce screw-in weight, punched into the nose of the soft-plastic swimbait with a 6/0 Gamakatsu (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GEMH) hook. He used a variety of colors and tied the Dipper to 65-pound-test Sufix braid (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SPBLG). The Sweet Beaver (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISB) was his sight-fishing weapon, topped with a ¼-ounce weight and tied to 25-pound-test Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
McMillan noted that when he fished the Skinny Dipper, he did not “buzz” the surface, but instead reeled it under the surface.
Swimbait gear: 7' heavy-action G. Loomis IMX (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GLMIXCR) rod, Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCER) casting reel (6:1 gear ratio).
The Field:
Koby Kreiger: For most of the week, Kreiger put his sight-fishing skills to work using a white Zoom Superhog to pluck fish off beds. In fact, during the week, McMillan gave credit to Kreiger for giving him some sight-fishing tips. Though Kreiger estimated that 80 percent of his fish came sight-fishing, he, too, used the Skinny Dipper (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISKD) to snare a couple of key fish.
Shinichi Fukae:Fukae spent most of the week swimming a 5-inch green-pumpkin Swimming Senko (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YSS) on the surface of Kissimmee grass in South Bay. With the gusty conditions today, he adapted by fishing a ChatterBait (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=CBGPB) around cattails. His ChatterBait, however, was rather unique. “I took a ChatterBait blade and put it on an All-Terrain swimming jig (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ATTSJ),” Fukae explained. “Then I put a 4-inch Swimming Senko on for a trailer.” Both the skirt and the Swimming Senko were green-pumpkin in color.
Mike Surman: Surman, too, did a lot of his damage on the east side of the lake in the area that McMillan and Kreiger were fishing. His primary baits were a 5-inch Gambler Paddletail (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GFW) worm, a Gambler 10-inch (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GRT) worm and a Cane Toad (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GCT). “I did catch a few fish on the surface with the Cane Toad, but a majority of my fish came on the Paddletail and big ribbontail worms,” Surman said. “I used a 5/16-ounce weight on both and pitched them into holes in the grass.”
Tom Mann Jr: Mann spent most of the week fishing between Turner’s Cove and Cochran’s Pass with Yamamoto Senkos (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YAS), Cut-tail worms and Horny Toads (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ZF).
TW Staff
Winning Pattern:
“I normally fish the south end of the lake, but I went up to the east side and found a beautiful area, full of gin-clear water and a nice hard bottom that had mussel shells. I knew right then that area would be the hot spot for this tournament, and it was. There were a lot of people that found it and caught fish in there this week.”
Winning Gear:
McMillan’s one-two punch for the area centered on swimming a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISKD) (pearl/blue shad) through the grass and sight-fishing a Sweet Beaver (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISB) (white) on beds.
The Skinny Dippers were rigged with either a Reaction Innovations Screwed-up locking weight (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISUB) or a 1/32-ounce screw-in weight, punched into the nose of the soft-plastic swimbait with a 6/0 Gamakatsu (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GEMH) hook. He used a variety of colors and tied the Dipper to 65-pound-test Sufix braid (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SPBLG). The Sweet Beaver (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISB) was his sight-fishing weapon, topped with a ¼-ounce weight and tied to 25-pound-test Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
McMillan noted that when he fished the Skinny Dipper, he did not “buzz” the surface, but instead reeled it under the surface.
Swimbait gear: 7' heavy-action G. Loomis IMX (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GLMIXCR) rod, Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCER) casting reel (6:1 gear ratio).
The Field:
Koby Kreiger: For most of the week, Kreiger put his sight-fishing skills to work using a white Zoom Superhog to pluck fish off beds. In fact, during the week, McMillan gave credit to Kreiger for giving him some sight-fishing tips. Though Kreiger estimated that 80 percent of his fish came sight-fishing, he, too, used the Skinny Dipper (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISKD) to snare a couple of key fish.
Shinichi Fukae:Fukae spent most of the week swimming a 5-inch green-pumpkin Swimming Senko (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YSS) on the surface of Kissimmee grass in South Bay. With the gusty conditions today, he adapted by fishing a ChatterBait (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=CBGPB) around cattails. His ChatterBait, however, was rather unique. “I took a ChatterBait blade and put it on an All-Terrain swimming jig (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ATTSJ),” Fukae explained. “Then I put a 4-inch Swimming Senko on for a trailer.” Both the skirt and the Swimming Senko were green-pumpkin in color.
Mike Surman: Surman, too, did a lot of his damage on the east side of the lake in the area that McMillan and Kreiger were fishing. His primary baits were a 5-inch Gambler Paddletail (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GFW) worm, a Gambler 10-inch (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GRT) worm and a Cane Toad (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GCT). “I did catch a few fish on the surface with the Cane Toad, but a majority of my fish came on the Paddletail and big ribbontail worms,” Surman said. “I used a 5/16-ounce weight on both and pitched them into holes in the grass.”
Tom Mann Jr: Mann spent most of the week fishing between Turner’s Cove and Cochran’s Pass with Yamamoto Senkos (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YAS), Cut-tail worms and Horny Toads (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ZF).
TW Staff