TW_Staff
03-05-2009, 12:19 PM
Ask FLW Series and former FLW Tour pro Kevin Long to name his biggest weakness, and he'll tell you it's a reluctance to follow his instincts.
Long decided to change his ways to better emulate his hero, and at the recent Okeechobee Southeastern Stren, he made a day-1 move that in years past would have never happened.
The result: A wire-to-wire victory for Long and the first significant win of his career.
"I noticed where the bigger bites were coming from – where clumps of needle grass met the Kissimmee grass, with a few little bulrushes nearby," he said. "They spawn in the Kissimmee grass, and they were biting in the lanes where the Kissimmee grass met the needle grass. But there had to be those couple bulrushes around."
"It seemed like I was missing as many as I was landing," Long noted. "When they bit my Skinny Dipper, I'd been counting to three then setting the hook - sort of like with a Carolina rig. When my co-angler caught that big one, He was hitting the button (to disengage) his spool, then counting to five. The hook would be so far back in the mouth it couldn't catch on the grass. I did that all day and only lost two.
Winning Pattern:
About his choice to throw topwater, he said, "I think there was a bit of everything going on – pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn. My water was super-shallow and clear – about 20 inches deep – and you could see beds everywhere. But I never really saw any fish on beds.
"When fish are actively spawning, I think your topwater bites are the bigger fish," he added. "When that first wave comes, I think the females are just cruising around and the males are doing all the work on the beds. That's when that Skinny Dipper's really the best. The females are high up in the water column. As the spawn goes on, then you get more lazy-type hits. I think we were on the end of a spawn."
He fished from a couple hundred yards to a quarter-mile off the bank. As noted earlier, he focused on areas where Kissimmee grass met needle grass, but there had to be a few bulrushes around.
Winning Gear:
Long threw a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper, which is a wide-body buzzworm. The most important part of his setup was his rod, he said.
"I've done a lot of experimenting – trying different rods and setups to get the most out of that bait. I finally found one rod that I think is the deal. It's the 7'11" Fenwick Elite Tech Flippin' Stik. It's a flipping stick, but it has a nice, soft tip. Dudley threw a big crank on it – that's how he won Ft. Loudoun, and he's right that it can cast a crank for miles.
"That was so key in this tournament. I was fishing shallow, clear water with not a lot of wind, and you'd spook everything within a normal cast away. But with that rod you can almost spool your reel on a cast. It seems like you can chuck that Skinny Dipper forever. My co-anglers were amazed. But it's still heavy enough that you can get a hook in them that far out."
He used an Abu Garcia Revo STX in a 7.1:1 gear ratio, because he had to turn it fewer times to get the bait to the surface after a long cast, and that helped with fatigue, he said.
He threw the Skinny Dipper on 65-pound Spiderwire Ultracast braided line. He likes the 65-pound because it's easier to pick out backlashes, which happen from time to time on ultra-long casts.
Skinny Dipper gear: 7'11" Fenwick Elite Tech Flippin' Stik (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=FETC), Abu Garcia Revo STX (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRSTX) casting reel (7.1:1), 65-pound Spiderwire Ultracast (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SWUC) braided line, 6/0 Gamakatsu Superline EWG (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GSOWG) hook, Reaction Innovations Screwed-Up Bullet (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISUB) (a plastic-keeper), Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISKD) (junebug, Houdini, pearl-blue, bad-shad green).
TW Staff
Long decided to change his ways to better emulate his hero, and at the recent Okeechobee Southeastern Stren, he made a day-1 move that in years past would have never happened.
The result: A wire-to-wire victory for Long and the first significant win of his career.
"I noticed where the bigger bites were coming from – where clumps of needle grass met the Kissimmee grass, with a few little bulrushes nearby," he said. "They spawn in the Kissimmee grass, and they were biting in the lanes where the Kissimmee grass met the needle grass. But there had to be those couple bulrushes around."
"It seemed like I was missing as many as I was landing," Long noted. "When they bit my Skinny Dipper, I'd been counting to three then setting the hook - sort of like with a Carolina rig. When my co-angler caught that big one, He was hitting the button (to disengage) his spool, then counting to five. The hook would be so far back in the mouth it couldn't catch on the grass. I did that all day and only lost two.
Winning Pattern:
About his choice to throw topwater, he said, "I think there was a bit of everything going on – pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn. My water was super-shallow and clear – about 20 inches deep – and you could see beds everywhere. But I never really saw any fish on beds.
"When fish are actively spawning, I think your topwater bites are the bigger fish," he added. "When that first wave comes, I think the females are just cruising around and the males are doing all the work on the beds. That's when that Skinny Dipper's really the best. The females are high up in the water column. As the spawn goes on, then you get more lazy-type hits. I think we were on the end of a spawn."
He fished from a couple hundred yards to a quarter-mile off the bank. As noted earlier, he focused on areas where Kissimmee grass met needle grass, but there had to be a few bulrushes around.
Winning Gear:
Long threw a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper, which is a wide-body buzzworm. The most important part of his setup was his rod, he said.
"I've done a lot of experimenting – trying different rods and setups to get the most out of that bait. I finally found one rod that I think is the deal. It's the 7'11" Fenwick Elite Tech Flippin' Stik. It's a flipping stick, but it has a nice, soft tip. Dudley threw a big crank on it – that's how he won Ft. Loudoun, and he's right that it can cast a crank for miles.
"That was so key in this tournament. I was fishing shallow, clear water with not a lot of wind, and you'd spook everything within a normal cast away. But with that rod you can almost spool your reel on a cast. It seems like you can chuck that Skinny Dipper forever. My co-anglers were amazed. But it's still heavy enough that you can get a hook in them that far out."
He used an Abu Garcia Revo STX in a 7.1:1 gear ratio, because he had to turn it fewer times to get the bait to the surface after a long cast, and that helped with fatigue, he said.
He threw the Skinny Dipper on 65-pound Spiderwire Ultracast braided line. He likes the 65-pound because it's easier to pick out backlashes, which happen from time to time on ultra-long casts.
Skinny Dipper gear: 7'11" Fenwick Elite Tech Flippin' Stik (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=FETC), Abu Garcia Revo STX (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRSTX) casting reel (7.1:1), 65-pound Spiderwire Ultracast (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SWUC) braided line, 6/0 Gamakatsu Superline EWG (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GSOWG) hook, Reaction Innovations Screwed-Up Bullet (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISUB) (a plastic-keeper), Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISKD) (junebug, Houdini, pearl-blue, bad-shad green).
TW Staff