TW_Staff
04-21-2009, 02:32 PM
Roy Hawk is halfway to making a clean sweep of the 2009 Western Strens.
Six weeks after topping the field at California's Clear Lake, the 38-year-old Utahan did the same thing at Arizona's Lake Roosevelt. When you throw in his triumph at Nevada's Lake Mead in a Western Series event last May, he has three FLW Outdoors wins in three different states in less than 12 months.
Winning Pattern:
Hawk caught most of his fish on a 1-ounce, double-willow-leaf Pepper Custom Baits spinnerbait that he designed. The color, called Hawk's secret, is a shad imitation combining smoke, blue, gold flake and chartreuse.
He said some of the fish were in the pre-spawn mode, while others were post-spawners, and he was picking them off as they moved through the area. Some came from 10 feet of water, while others were as deep as 17 or 18 feet.
"I'd make the same cast 10 times in a row, and then I'd get an idea to crank the handle real hard three times and I'd get bit," he said. "Another time I got a bite by shaking the spinnerbait while I was reeling it. Little bits of inspiration like that were key on the last day.
"I felt having the right cadence with the blades was important. I either had to fish it erratically, or the rotation had to be a certain speed that I'd call medium-slow."
When the spinnerbait action slowed down, he'd switch to a 1/2-ounce Pepper jig, and that resulted in a couple of weigh-in fish.
Winning Gear:
Spinnerbait gear: 7'6" medium-action Powell 765 CB (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PSBR) rod, Quantum Energy PT (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=QEPVCR) casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), unnamed 17-pound fluorocarbon line, 1-ounce Pepper Custom Baits spinnerbait (Hawk's secret).
Jig gear: 7'3" heavy-action Powell 734 CF (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PCR) rod, Quantum Energy PT (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=QEPVCR) casting reel (7:1 ratio), 16-pound Yamamoto Sugoi fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YSFL) line, 1/2-ounce Pepper jig (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PUFJ) (sticky green), Yamamoto craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YFC) trailer (green-pumpkin).
Main factor in his success – "Finding that school of fish. On these Arizona lakes, you need to have one school that you can stick with."
Performance edge – "I'm not sponsored by Quantum – I buy those reels myself – but those PTs are so smooth. With that, the fluorocarbon line and the sensitivity of the rod, I could really feel the cadence of the blades."
TW Staff
Six weeks after topping the field at California's Clear Lake, the 38-year-old Utahan did the same thing at Arizona's Lake Roosevelt. When you throw in his triumph at Nevada's Lake Mead in a Western Series event last May, he has three FLW Outdoors wins in three different states in less than 12 months.
Winning Pattern:
Hawk caught most of his fish on a 1-ounce, double-willow-leaf Pepper Custom Baits spinnerbait that he designed. The color, called Hawk's secret, is a shad imitation combining smoke, blue, gold flake and chartreuse.
He said some of the fish were in the pre-spawn mode, while others were post-spawners, and he was picking them off as they moved through the area. Some came from 10 feet of water, while others were as deep as 17 or 18 feet.
"I'd make the same cast 10 times in a row, and then I'd get an idea to crank the handle real hard three times and I'd get bit," he said. "Another time I got a bite by shaking the spinnerbait while I was reeling it. Little bits of inspiration like that were key on the last day.
"I felt having the right cadence with the blades was important. I either had to fish it erratically, or the rotation had to be a certain speed that I'd call medium-slow."
When the spinnerbait action slowed down, he'd switch to a 1/2-ounce Pepper jig, and that resulted in a couple of weigh-in fish.
Winning Gear:
Spinnerbait gear: 7'6" medium-action Powell 765 CB (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PSBR) rod, Quantum Energy PT (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=QEPVCR) casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), unnamed 17-pound fluorocarbon line, 1-ounce Pepper Custom Baits spinnerbait (Hawk's secret).
Jig gear: 7'3" heavy-action Powell 734 CF (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PCR) rod, Quantum Energy PT (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=QEPVCR) casting reel (7:1 ratio), 16-pound Yamamoto Sugoi fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YSFL) line, 1/2-ounce Pepper jig (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PUFJ) (sticky green), Yamamoto craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YFC) trailer (green-pumpkin).
Main factor in his success – "Finding that school of fish. On these Arizona lakes, you need to have one school that you can stick with."
Performance edge – "I'm not sponsored by Quantum – I buy those reels myself – but those PTs are so smooth. With that, the fluorocarbon line and the sensitivity of the rod, I could really feel the cadence of the blades."
TW Staff