TW_Staff
03-10-2009, 12:44 PM
Roy Hawk is flying high after picking up his second FLW Outdoors win Saturday on Clear Lake. But it took catching the biggest limit of the Stren Series Western season opener on the final day – not to mention the biggest bass he’s ever caught in his life – to overcome a considerable weight deficit and pull it off. Going into the final day Roy was 10 pounds, 9 ounces behind the current leader.
“Man, I’m about to throw up – I tell ya,” he said, overcome with joy. “It’s been an odd week for me. I only got about five hours of practice (due to equipment problems). I had to go more with my gut feelings.”
Clearly his instincts were razor-sharp this week. On Thursday he caught an early limit at Rattlesnake Island, allowing him to scout out some backup locations that clued him in to the big bite there. On day two he “moved around a lot, everywhere from Rattlesnake Island to Soda Bay.
Winning Baits:
Over the first two days, with consistent limits of 20-2 and 20-5, Hawk boated his fish on ½ and ¾ ounce Pepper jigs as well as Lucky Craft crankbaits, including a LV500 in “ghost minnow" color and a deep-diving CB D20 in “chartreuse shad.” He fished the crankbaits “fairly slow, trying to get it to bounce off rock structure in 5 to 15 feet.”
“I caught the big ones today on the CB D-20,” he said, adding that he had no idea he could put 33 pounds on the stage today, but that “anything is possible here on Clear Lake.”
The Pepper Jig will be arriving soon at Tackle Warehouse.
Winning Gear:
Lipless crank gear: 7'3" medium-heavy Powell (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PCR) 734 rod, Quantum PT Tour Edition (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=QTPVCR) casting reel (7:1 gear ratio), 16-pound Sugoi fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YSFFL) line, Lucky Craft LV 500 (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=LCLV500) (American shad or chartreuse shad).
He slow-rolled the bait along the bottom and used the rod to give it action. The purpose of the high-speed reel was to achieve fast line pick-up.
Crankbait gear: 7'6" medium-action unnamed rod, Quantum Energy (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=QEPVCR)casting reel (5.1:1 ratio), 14-pound Sugoi fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YSFFL), Lucky Craft CB D-20 (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=LCFCBD2) (ghost minnow or chartreuse shad).
Jig gear: 7'3" heavy-action Powell (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PCR) 735 rod, same reel and line as lipless crankbait, 1/2- or 3/4-ounce Pepper jig (green-pumpkin), Yamamoto Double Tail grub (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YA4DTG) trailer (green-pumpkin).
The Field:
Steve Ericksen:
After fishing deep on the south end of the lake in practice, Ericksen changed things up when the tournament started, targeting mostly tules but also docks and standing wood up north. He adjusted the speed of his presentation daily, but exclusively fished big baits: mostly creature and imitation baits, but also some jigs and swimbaits, in natural and dark colors.
Randy McAbee Jr:
Tackle Warehouse Pro Staffer Randy McAbee cranked his way through a good practice and first couple of days – weights of 20-15 and 23-2.
“I knew I was probably done with this clear and warm weather,” he said Saturday. “The wind sets them up on these points and boulders that I’m fishing.” McAbee fished all over the lake, mentioning his big bites came on swimbaits, including an Optimum in “Clear Lake Special” color as well as a new variation of the Inline Osprey Tournament Talon that will soon hit the market. Tackle Warehouse will be the first to receive these baits!
“I’m chucking it out and letting it drop to about 40 feet, then just bouncing it back real, real slow,” he said of his swimbait technique.
Matthew Saavedra:
“I come from around Lake Shasta, where the worse the weather is, the better the bite,” he said, adding that’s why his weights deteriorated over the course of the tourney. “I had a great practice, but the warmer it got, the more I struggled.”
Saavedra’s primary bait was a ½-ounce brown-and-purple Pepper jig that he fished on the north end of the lake.
Rob Riehl:
Riehl said the changing weather nearly destroyed his pattern: “Being a (California) Delta rat, I really struggled. I went out flipping in shallow, shallow water. The warmer it got, the spookier they got.”
A green-pumpkin Zoom Brush Hog (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ZBBH) and black-and-blue jig were his primary baits.
TW Staff
“Man, I’m about to throw up – I tell ya,” he said, overcome with joy. “It’s been an odd week for me. I only got about five hours of practice (due to equipment problems). I had to go more with my gut feelings.”
Clearly his instincts were razor-sharp this week. On Thursday he caught an early limit at Rattlesnake Island, allowing him to scout out some backup locations that clued him in to the big bite there. On day two he “moved around a lot, everywhere from Rattlesnake Island to Soda Bay.
Winning Baits:
Over the first two days, with consistent limits of 20-2 and 20-5, Hawk boated his fish on ½ and ¾ ounce Pepper jigs as well as Lucky Craft crankbaits, including a LV500 in “ghost minnow" color and a deep-diving CB D20 in “chartreuse shad.” He fished the crankbaits “fairly slow, trying to get it to bounce off rock structure in 5 to 15 feet.”
“I caught the big ones today on the CB D-20,” he said, adding that he had no idea he could put 33 pounds on the stage today, but that “anything is possible here on Clear Lake.”
The Pepper Jig will be arriving soon at Tackle Warehouse.
Winning Gear:
Lipless crank gear: 7'3" medium-heavy Powell (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PCR) 734 rod, Quantum PT Tour Edition (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=QTPVCR) casting reel (7:1 gear ratio), 16-pound Sugoi fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YSFFL) line, Lucky Craft LV 500 (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=LCLV500) (American shad or chartreuse shad).
He slow-rolled the bait along the bottom and used the rod to give it action. The purpose of the high-speed reel was to achieve fast line pick-up.
Crankbait gear: 7'6" medium-action unnamed rod, Quantum Energy (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=QEPVCR)casting reel (5.1:1 ratio), 14-pound Sugoi fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YSFFL), Lucky Craft CB D-20 (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=LCFCBD2) (ghost minnow or chartreuse shad).
Jig gear: 7'3" heavy-action Powell (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PCR) 735 rod, same reel and line as lipless crankbait, 1/2- or 3/4-ounce Pepper jig (green-pumpkin), Yamamoto Double Tail grub (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YA4DTG) trailer (green-pumpkin).
The Field:
Steve Ericksen:
After fishing deep on the south end of the lake in practice, Ericksen changed things up when the tournament started, targeting mostly tules but also docks and standing wood up north. He adjusted the speed of his presentation daily, but exclusively fished big baits: mostly creature and imitation baits, but also some jigs and swimbaits, in natural and dark colors.
Randy McAbee Jr:
Tackle Warehouse Pro Staffer Randy McAbee cranked his way through a good practice and first couple of days – weights of 20-15 and 23-2.
“I knew I was probably done with this clear and warm weather,” he said Saturday. “The wind sets them up on these points and boulders that I’m fishing.” McAbee fished all over the lake, mentioning his big bites came on swimbaits, including an Optimum in “Clear Lake Special” color as well as a new variation of the Inline Osprey Tournament Talon that will soon hit the market. Tackle Warehouse will be the first to receive these baits!
“I’m chucking it out and letting it drop to about 40 feet, then just bouncing it back real, real slow,” he said of his swimbait technique.
Matthew Saavedra:
“I come from around Lake Shasta, where the worse the weather is, the better the bite,” he said, adding that’s why his weights deteriorated over the course of the tourney. “I had a great practice, but the warmer it got, the more I struggled.”
Saavedra’s primary bait was a ½-ounce brown-and-purple Pepper jig that he fished on the north end of the lake.
Rob Riehl:
Riehl said the changing weather nearly destroyed his pattern: “Being a (California) Delta rat, I really struggled. I went out flipping in shallow, shallow water. The warmer it got, the spookier they got.”
A green-pumpkin Zoom Brush Hog (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ZBBH) and black-and-blue jig were his primary baits.
TW Staff