TW_Staff
03-17-2009, 11:39 AM
Jason Williamson blew away his competition with a 96-06 during the Lake Amistad 4 day weather roller coaster. In the end it didn't come down to a battle of patterns or big-time decisions. Instead, it came down to a waiting game. Jason Williamson waited 2 days for his best area to clear up, and when it finally did on day 3, he mined it for almost 69 pounds coasted to an 8-pound win.
Winning Pattern:
Williamson caught his deep limit-fish the first 2 days on a big worm (which he worked in trees on long points in 20 to 25 feet), but his win was all about his primary area, which he attacked with a swimbait.
About that area, he said: "It was a drain with spawning flats on both sides, and trees on the flats as well as in the drain. It's where (the fish) stop on the way in and out (while spawning). There were pre- and post-spawn fish on those trees. Some of the fish I caught were pre-spawn, and some were post-spawn
"It was just a flat-looking area, but it had a very distinct drain that ran through it," he added. "It's one of those places that, when you look at it on the (navigation-chart) chips, it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot there."
In particular, there was one set of trees in the area that he targeted.
"Anglers would kind of blow through there, and a few local boats were kind of fishing around me, but nobody was fishing the exact same deal (that group of trees) that I was fishing," he said.
Note that drains are comparable to creek channels in other impoundments. They're called drains in desert impoundments because they're not active creeks, but are areas where water drained during downpours in the past.
Also, wind was a key part of his attack. "If it was windy, they'd come a long ways to eat the swimbait," he said.
Winning Gear:
Worm gear: 7'3" heavy-action Falcon Cara (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=FCC) rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRSTX) casting reel (6.4:1), 17-pound McCoy Fluoro100 line, 3/8-ounce tungsten weight, Zoom Ole Monster (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ZOM) worm (watermelon-red).
Swimbait gear: 7'6" heavy-action Falcon Cara (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=FCC) rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRSTX) casting reel (6.4:1), 20-pound McCoy Fluoro100, 8" Osprey Talon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=OSIH#) (hitch).
He used a No. 1 Gamakatsu treble (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GSLTH) as his swimbait hook.
The Field:
Alton Jones:
Alton Jones worked what could be described as the oddball pattern. Most competitors fished 15 feet and deeper, but Jones fished shallow and worked a 6" Yum Dinger soft stickbait.
"I caught all my weigh-in fish on that Yum Dinger," he said. "I was Texas-rigging it and there were two things that were really important.
Dinger gear: 7' heavy-action Kistler Helium LTA rod, Ardent XS1000 casting reel, 50-pound braided line, 5/0 Reaction Innovations BMF flipping hook (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RIH), 1/8-ounce XCalibur TG Tungsten (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=XTBW) weight, 6" Yum Dinger (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YD) (watermelon/candy and green-pumpkin/purple-metal-flake).
Jared Lintner:
Tackle Warehouse pro staffer Jared Lintner hit the button on the way-back machine at Amistad and used the old shakin' technique popularized in the west, except with a twist, he did it shallow.
"I caught 60% of my fish throwing a Tru-Tungsten weight with a glass bead – shaking a Senko in 10 to 15 feet of water around a grassline," he said. "It's kind of like the old-school brass and glass, but modified with tungsten and a big, old Senko.
"I wasn't getting many bites with a Texas-rig," he added. "But when I started shaking I think it started pulling them up out of that grass."
He also threw a swimbait quite a bit, which accounted for the other 40% of his fish. He threw the swimbait over the grass, as well as in other areas.
Swimbait gear: 8' heavy-action Powell flipping stick (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PFLR) ("It's pretty much a broomstick but has a quick tip and you can fling the bait a mile."), Abu Garcia Revo Toro (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRT) casting reel, 25-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC), homemade swimbait made by a friend ("It's pretty close to an Osprey, but it's softer and has a lot more action. I fished light hitch and bluegill.")
Senko gear: 7' medium-heavy Powell 705 rod (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PCR), Abu Garcia Revo Premier (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRP) casting reel, 3/16- and 3/8-ounce Tru-Tungsten worm weights (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TTCBW) (green-pumpkin), glass bead (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TBPGB) (red), 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GOSWG) hook, 5" and 6" Gary Yamamoto Senkos (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YAS) (green-pumpkin, green-pumpkin/amber laminate, green-pumpkin/red-flake, watermelon/red-flake).
Stephen Browning:
Stephen Browning spent his time doing different things, but by the end of the tournament his main pattern was dragging a football jig. He got on that technique during day 3 when he stuck 27 pounds, and stuck with it the final day.
About the jig bite, he said: "It was deep-structure. I was basically running down the lake, looking at my Lowrance electronics and finding the drains. I think one of the big keys was I didn't use my Navionics chip. That chip has great contour lines, but it didn't have the actual drains off the river. But the standard map on the Lowrance actually showed the drains off the main river.
He threw three different football-heads – a Strike King (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SKTFJ), Picasso (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PFFJ) and Black Angel (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BAFJ). He fished a 1/2-ounce model, but stepped up to 3/4 in heavy wind. Each jig was peanut-butter-and-jelly, and he tipped them with a green-pumpkin Berkley PowerBait Chigger craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BPCC).
Jig gear: 7'3" St. Croix Legend Tournament Series (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCLTC) Carolina-rig rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRP) casting reel, 20-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
Gary Klein:
Gary Klein fished a jig on deep breaks in about 35 feet of water.
"The bite was real slow – that's what was so hard," he noted. "You couldn't run through water real fast. You had to fish it. If you pulled on a spot, you'd need to commit 15 to 30 minutes to it."
One of his best spots, he noted, was "out in the middle of the lake," while another was "actually in a creek." His creek fish he felt were largely pre-spawn, while his main-lake fish were largely post-spawn.
Jig gear: 8' heavy-action Quantum Tour Edition Gary Klein flipping stick (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=QSSCR), Quantum Tour Edition PT (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=QTPVCR) "Burner" casting reel (7.0:1), 17-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC), 3/4-ounce homemade jig (custom unnamed color), unnamed trailer.
TW Staff
Winning Pattern:
Williamson caught his deep limit-fish the first 2 days on a big worm (which he worked in trees on long points in 20 to 25 feet), but his win was all about his primary area, which he attacked with a swimbait.
About that area, he said: "It was a drain with spawning flats on both sides, and trees on the flats as well as in the drain. It's where (the fish) stop on the way in and out (while spawning). There were pre- and post-spawn fish on those trees. Some of the fish I caught were pre-spawn, and some were post-spawn
"It was just a flat-looking area, but it had a very distinct drain that ran through it," he added. "It's one of those places that, when you look at it on the (navigation-chart) chips, it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot there."
In particular, there was one set of trees in the area that he targeted.
"Anglers would kind of blow through there, and a few local boats were kind of fishing around me, but nobody was fishing the exact same deal (that group of trees) that I was fishing," he said.
Note that drains are comparable to creek channels in other impoundments. They're called drains in desert impoundments because they're not active creeks, but are areas where water drained during downpours in the past.
Also, wind was a key part of his attack. "If it was windy, they'd come a long ways to eat the swimbait," he said.
Winning Gear:
Worm gear: 7'3" heavy-action Falcon Cara (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=FCC) rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRSTX) casting reel (6.4:1), 17-pound McCoy Fluoro100 line, 3/8-ounce tungsten weight, Zoom Ole Monster (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=ZOM) worm (watermelon-red).
Swimbait gear: 7'6" heavy-action Falcon Cara (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=FCC) rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRSTX) casting reel (6.4:1), 20-pound McCoy Fluoro100, 8" Osprey Talon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=OSIH#) (hitch).
He used a No. 1 Gamakatsu treble (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GSLTH) as his swimbait hook.
The Field:
Alton Jones:
Alton Jones worked what could be described as the oddball pattern. Most competitors fished 15 feet and deeper, but Jones fished shallow and worked a 6" Yum Dinger soft stickbait.
"I caught all my weigh-in fish on that Yum Dinger," he said. "I was Texas-rigging it and there were two things that were really important.
Dinger gear: 7' heavy-action Kistler Helium LTA rod, Ardent XS1000 casting reel, 50-pound braided line, 5/0 Reaction Innovations BMF flipping hook (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RIH), 1/8-ounce XCalibur TG Tungsten (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=XTBW) weight, 6" Yum Dinger (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YD) (watermelon/candy and green-pumpkin/purple-metal-flake).
Jared Lintner:
Tackle Warehouse pro staffer Jared Lintner hit the button on the way-back machine at Amistad and used the old shakin' technique popularized in the west, except with a twist, he did it shallow.
"I caught 60% of my fish throwing a Tru-Tungsten weight with a glass bead – shaking a Senko in 10 to 15 feet of water around a grassline," he said. "It's kind of like the old-school brass and glass, but modified with tungsten and a big, old Senko.
"I wasn't getting many bites with a Texas-rig," he added. "But when I started shaking I think it started pulling them up out of that grass."
He also threw a swimbait quite a bit, which accounted for the other 40% of his fish. He threw the swimbait over the grass, as well as in other areas.
Swimbait gear: 8' heavy-action Powell flipping stick (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PFLR) ("It's pretty much a broomstick but has a quick tip and you can fling the bait a mile."), Abu Garcia Revo Toro (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRT) casting reel, 25-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC), homemade swimbait made by a friend ("It's pretty close to an Osprey, but it's softer and has a lot more action. I fished light hitch and bluegill.")
Senko gear: 7' medium-heavy Powell 705 rod (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PCR), Abu Garcia Revo Premier (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRP) casting reel, 3/16- and 3/8-ounce Tru-Tungsten worm weights (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TTCBW) (green-pumpkin), glass bead (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TBPGB) (red), 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GOSWG) hook, 5" and 6" Gary Yamamoto Senkos (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YAS) (green-pumpkin, green-pumpkin/amber laminate, green-pumpkin/red-flake, watermelon/red-flake).
Stephen Browning:
Stephen Browning spent his time doing different things, but by the end of the tournament his main pattern was dragging a football jig. He got on that technique during day 3 when he stuck 27 pounds, and stuck with it the final day.
About the jig bite, he said: "It was deep-structure. I was basically running down the lake, looking at my Lowrance electronics and finding the drains. I think one of the big keys was I didn't use my Navionics chip. That chip has great contour lines, but it didn't have the actual drains off the river. But the standard map on the Lowrance actually showed the drains off the main river.
He threw three different football-heads – a Strike King (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SKTFJ), Picasso (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PFFJ) and Black Angel (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BAFJ). He fished a 1/2-ounce model, but stepped up to 3/4 in heavy wind. Each jig was peanut-butter-and-jelly, and he tipped them with a green-pumpkin Berkley PowerBait Chigger craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BPCC).
Jig gear: 7'3" St. Croix Legend Tournament Series (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCLTC) Carolina-rig rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=AGRP) casting reel, 20-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC).
Gary Klein:
Gary Klein fished a jig on deep breaks in about 35 feet of water.
"The bite was real slow – that's what was so hard," he noted. "You couldn't run through water real fast. You had to fish it. If you pulled on a spot, you'd need to commit 15 to 30 minutes to it."
One of his best spots, he noted, was "out in the middle of the lake," while another was "actually in a creek." His creek fish he felt were largely pre-spawn, while his main-lake fish were largely post-spawn.
Jig gear: 8' heavy-action Quantum Tour Edition Gary Klein flipping stick (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=QSSCR), Quantum Tour Edition PT (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=QTPVCR) "Burner" casting reel (7.0:1), 17-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC), 3/4-ounce homemade jig (custom unnamed color), unnamed trailer.
TW Staff