TW_Staff
04-07-2009, 05:39 PM
Guido Hibdon wins FLW Series Lake Eufala at the young age of 62.
“This was a classic case of an old man slowing down and fishing real slow,” Hibdon told the crowd. “And trust me, I do that very, very well."
“I had to be patient and make the same cast to the same rock 40 times before one of those big 5- or 6-pounders would eat it. A lot of guys might not have spent the time to do that, but you know me; I just kept badgering the fish until they surrendered.”
“Most of the bigger bass came on the crankbait,” Hibdon said. “I fished it on 17-pound line around bank rock. Two of my best places were in front of seawalls. Whenever they put seawalls in on lakes, a lot of times they dig out the rock and just dump it right there out in front of the walls. I found several isolated rocks in front of those walls that were key.”
“And by the way, the craziest thing I ever get asked is, ‘Guido, when are you going to retire?’ “Are you kidding me, I retired 37 years ago when I started fishing for a living, and been having fun ever since!”
Winning Pattern:
Hibdon got on the beginnings of a shad spawn pattern on the first day of the event. The shad were spawning around rock in extremely shallow, muddy water on the lower end of the lake and postspawn bass were taking advantage of the buffet.
The key was finding shad that were spawning around rocks on primary and secondary points. The bass, fresh off the reproduction ritual, were coming out of the coves and running smack-dab into a major feasting opportunity.
Crankbaits accounted for most of his bigger fish. He employed both a Lucky Craft RC 2.5 and a C Flash 22 Cal. The latter is a handmade, balsa-wood model.
"The main thing is they can't have a rattle in them. I tried some with rattles and for whatever reason, the big fish would not bite it. Ricky (Clunn) told me a long time ago that a (Bagley) Balsa B was the best crankbait after they were done spawning because it didn't have a rattle.
Winning Baits:
Crankbait gear: 7' medium-action JB Custom jig rod, Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Signature Series casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), 17- and 20-pound Berkley Trilene XT line, Lucky Craft RC 2.5 or C Flash 22 Cal. crankbait (chartreuse/black)
Jig gear: Same rod and reel, Berkley Trilene 100% (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC) fluorocarbon line, 1/4-ounce Luck "E" Strike jig (brown-red), Luck "E" Strike Guido Bug trailer (brown/purple flake).
Carolina rig gear: Same rod and reel, 20-pound Berkley Trilene 100% (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC) fluorocarbon line, 3/4-ounce bullet weight, three glass beads (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TBPGB), small barrel swivel, 14-pound Berkley Trilene 100% (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC) fluorocarbon leader (1 1/2 feet), 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GOSWG) hook, Luck "E" Strike Shakey Tail worm (chartreuse/green-pumpkin).
The Field:
Tom Mann Jr:
Mann spent the week fishing submerged hydrilla in a creek on the lower end of the lake.
“I had about a 500-yard stretch of pretty green hydrilla that grew out into 3 to 5 feet of water,” Mann said. “It was a perfect staging area, positioned between a couple of spawning bays, but what really made it good was that the old creek channel bumped up alongside the grass line.
Mann relied on two spinnerbaits: a ½-ounce Terminator (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-TERM.html) and a ¾-ounce Mann’s Classic teamed with Yamamoto grub trailers (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YASG) for much of the week. Today he added a dark-colored ChatterBait (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=CHAT38) with a Yamamoto craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YFC) to the mix to give the fish a different look, and it produced two big bass.
Glenn Browne:
Browne focused on grass and trees in a major creek on the lower end of the lake. He used ½-ounce Hildebrandt Okeechobee Special spinnerbaits, jigs and Berkley chigger craws (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BPCC) (black neon) with a 3/8-ounce weight.
His spinnerbaits were tied to Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC), and he used 65-pound-test Fireline braid (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BFBR) on the jigs and Chigger Craws.
Matthew Wilbanks:
Wilbanks’ productive water was located in a creek on the south end of the lake. He targeted grass with a swim jig.
“The best grass was surrounded by water on all sides,” he said. “A lot of that grass down there grows in a solid mat off the bank. But if you could find grass islands with water all the way around it, that was the ticket.”
“I did catch some on a spinnerbait and a worm, but that 3/8-ounce black-and-blue swimming jig (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-chatter.html) did most of the damage.”
Dave Lefebre:
Lefebre created a unique one-two punch by using a big 1-ounce spinnerbait with a giant willow blade to find balls of spawning shad. He would quickly change up to a smaller ¼-ounce spinnerbait with smaller blades or a 5/32-ounce Tabu jig (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TTOWJ) to actually catch the bass that were around the spawning shad.
“I used the big spinnerbait primarily as a search tool,” Lefebre said. “I could cast it a mile and cover a ton of water with it. Pods of spawning shad were attracted to that big blade, and they would swarm on it all the way back to the boat. Whenever that would happen, I’d stop and fish that same area with a smaller spinnerbait and the jig to get the bass to bite.”
TW Staff
“This was a classic case of an old man slowing down and fishing real slow,” Hibdon told the crowd. “And trust me, I do that very, very well."
“I had to be patient and make the same cast to the same rock 40 times before one of those big 5- or 6-pounders would eat it. A lot of guys might not have spent the time to do that, but you know me; I just kept badgering the fish until they surrendered.”
“Most of the bigger bass came on the crankbait,” Hibdon said. “I fished it on 17-pound line around bank rock. Two of my best places were in front of seawalls. Whenever they put seawalls in on lakes, a lot of times they dig out the rock and just dump it right there out in front of the walls. I found several isolated rocks in front of those walls that were key.”
“And by the way, the craziest thing I ever get asked is, ‘Guido, when are you going to retire?’ “Are you kidding me, I retired 37 years ago when I started fishing for a living, and been having fun ever since!”
Winning Pattern:
Hibdon got on the beginnings of a shad spawn pattern on the first day of the event. The shad were spawning around rock in extremely shallow, muddy water on the lower end of the lake and postspawn bass were taking advantage of the buffet.
The key was finding shad that were spawning around rocks on primary and secondary points. The bass, fresh off the reproduction ritual, were coming out of the coves and running smack-dab into a major feasting opportunity.
Crankbaits accounted for most of his bigger fish. He employed both a Lucky Craft RC 2.5 and a C Flash 22 Cal. The latter is a handmade, balsa-wood model.
"The main thing is they can't have a rattle in them. I tried some with rattles and for whatever reason, the big fish would not bite it. Ricky (Clunn) told me a long time ago that a (Bagley) Balsa B was the best crankbait after they were done spawning because it didn't have a rattle.
Winning Baits:
Crankbait gear: 7' medium-action JB Custom jig rod, Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Signature Series casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), 17- and 20-pound Berkley Trilene XT line, Lucky Craft RC 2.5 or C Flash 22 Cal. crankbait (chartreuse/black)
Jig gear: Same rod and reel, Berkley Trilene 100% (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC) fluorocarbon line, 1/4-ounce Luck "E" Strike jig (brown-red), Luck "E" Strike Guido Bug trailer (brown/purple flake).
Carolina rig gear: Same rod and reel, 20-pound Berkley Trilene 100% (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC) fluorocarbon line, 3/4-ounce bullet weight, three glass beads (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TBPGB), small barrel swivel, 14-pound Berkley Trilene 100% (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC) fluorocarbon leader (1 1/2 feet), 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GOSWG) hook, Luck "E" Strike Shakey Tail worm (chartreuse/green-pumpkin).
The Field:
Tom Mann Jr:
Mann spent the week fishing submerged hydrilla in a creek on the lower end of the lake.
“I had about a 500-yard stretch of pretty green hydrilla that grew out into 3 to 5 feet of water,” Mann said. “It was a perfect staging area, positioned between a couple of spawning bays, but what really made it good was that the old creek channel bumped up alongside the grass line.
Mann relied on two spinnerbaits: a ½-ounce Terminator (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-TERM.html) and a ¾-ounce Mann’s Classic teamed with Yamamoto grub trailers (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YASG) for much of the week. Today he added a dark-colored ChatterBait (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=CHAT38) with a Yamamoto craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YFC) to the mix to give the fish a different look, and it produced two big bass.
Glenn Browne:
Browne focused on grass and trees in a major creek on the lower end of the lake. He used ½-ounce Hildebrandt Okeechobee Special spinnerbaits, jigs and Berkley chigger craws (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BPCC) (black neon) with a 3/8-ounce weight.
His spinnerbaits were tied to Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BTFCC), and he used 65-pound-test Fireline braid (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=BFBR) on the jigs and Chigger Craws.
Matthew Wilbanks:
Wilbanks’ productive water was located in a creek on the south end of the lake. He targeted grass with a swim jig.
“The best grass was surrounded by water on all sides,” he said. “A lot of that grass down there grows in a solid mat off the bank. But if you could find grass islands with water all the way around it, that was the ticket.”
“I did catch some on a spinnerbait and a worm, but that 3/8-ounce black-and-blue swimming jig (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-chatter.html) did most of the damage.”
Dave Lefebre:
Lefebre created a unique one-two punch by using a big 1-ounce spinnerbait with a giant willow blade to find balls of spawning shad. He would quickly change up to a smaller ¼-ounce spinnerbait with smaller blades or a 5/32-ounce Tabu jig (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TTOWJ) to actually catch the bass that were around the spawning shad.
“I used the big spinnerbait primarily as a search tool,” Lefebre said. “I could cast it a mile and cover a ton of water with it. Pods of spawning shad were attracted to that big blade, and they would swarm on it all the way back to the boat. Whenever that would happen, I’d stop and fish that same area with a smaller spinnerbait and the jig to get the bass to bite.”
TW Staff