TW_Staff
06-05-2009, 03:26 PM
Adam Wagner wins Mississippi River BFL All-American
Whenever events are held on main-stem rivers – like the Mississippi, Red or Ohio – lock strategy's typically a deciding factor.
Anglers must decide where to concentrate their time and effort. Is it more important to keep a line wet? Or is it better to run far, wait for locks, and fish only an hour or two in some far-off pool?
At the recent BFL All-American, the 54-boat field faced that choice as they launched onto the Mississippi River out of Davenport, Iowa
What's especially notable about his win is his brief fishing time in Pool 13 was critical, but equally important was some dead time he spent waiting for the Pool 13 lock. Others beat around aimlessly with a crank or spinnerbait, but he focused on cover near the lock for 20 minutes each day. That micro-pattern produced several quality fish.
The victory netted him $120,000 in prize money plus a berth in the summer's Forrest Wood Cup. He also secured an invite to the 2010 FLW Tour, which he plans to accept if he can assemble enough sponsor support.
“I’ve dreamed of being a professional fisherman since I was 6 years old. It gives me a shot to go out on the Tour,” he said, “so if (my wife) says it’s OK … I’m ready to go.”
Wagner found his system during practice and never looked back. He fished pools 14 and 13 – the farthest eligible upstream from the takeoff site of Rock Island, Ill. – plucking keeper bass from each all three days.
Competition:
Wagner stuck with his plan on day 1, but when he got to the Pool 13 lock, he had 20 minutes to kill before the lock opened.
"I didn't practice in that area of 14," he said. "I saw some laydowns. There weren't many – maybe eight or 10 on both sides of the river, within a quarter-mile of the dam. I had a Beaver tied on, so I just picked that up and caught a 3-pounder in my first three pitches. I thought, 'Man, this is great – a bonus fish.' Then I went to the next tree, pitched in there and caught a 3 1/2-pounder.
"Then I had to make a decision," he added. "Should I stay in 14 or run up to 13? I had about 5 minutes left and I decided to go. I knew what was in 13."
He locked through, got to his spot in Nicholson and "everything came together." He caught two good ones right away on his swim-jig, and later added a smaller fish to finish his limit.
"I was feeling pretty good, but every day, it was killing me not to stay in 14," he noted. "I felt I could catch a limit in 14. There were so few laydowns the fish seemed to be on, and if you found the right ones, they kept replenishing and you could get bit on them every day."
For the final day of competition, Wagner switched from his boat to a finals boat provided by FLW Outdoors. As he came out of the lock into Pool 14, "chaos" ensued.
His motor went down. There was a camera boat with him, however, so he switched all his gear over to the camera boat in a mad race to make his lock time for Pool 13.
"I got up to the lock and only had a few minutes," he said. "But right off the bat I caught a keeper in the laydowns. And my partner caught a keeper. I was thinking I needed to stay there and not go into 13. Plus, there was a 60-boat tournament out of 14, and the majority of them locked into 13 at 6:30 that morning. I had about 4 minutes to decide."
He decided to stay with his plan and locked into 13. When he got to his area, "boats were everywhere."
"And there were seven boats sitting where I was fishing," he said. "I was absolutely sick. Everybody was pretty respectful and got out of the way, but I couldn't get bit. I just lost my confidence in all those boats."
At that point, he picked up and moved to his backup area in Mallard Bay. He saw a 2 1/2-pounder on a bed and caught it with the Senko. Turns out that fish was enough to win, but he didn't know it at the time.
He locked back into Pool 14 with just two fish and caught "a good one" from the laydowns to bring his total to three.
He ran all the way back and had 30 minutes left, so he decided to fish a small river he'd looked at in practice. He ran up the river, flipped a black-and-blue jig and stuck a 4 1/2-pound smallmouth.
Winning Gear:
Swim-jig gear: 8' heavy-action All Pro APX rod, Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCER) casting reel, 20-pound P-Line fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PLPFC), 1/4-ounce unnamed jig (black), 3" Punisher single-tail grub (pearl).
Senko gear: 7' medium-heavy All Pro APX rod, Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCER), 15-pound P-Line fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PLPFC), 5/0 Gamakatsu round-bend hook (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GWHRB), 5" Gary Yamamoto Senko (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YAS) (green-pumpkin).
Flipping gear (laydowns): 8' heavy-action All Pro APX flipping stick, Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCER), 25-pound P-Line CXX (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PLCXCC) X-tra Strong mono, 4/0 Gamakatsu Superline Hook (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GSWH), 3/8-ounce tungsten weight (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TTBW), Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISB) (hematoma).
The Field:
Steve Wagner:
Being the runner-up sat fine with Wagner, who said: “I knew unless I pulled out a miracle today, he was going to win. I’m not disappointed. “I made it here. I’ve only been fishing for four years.” With only an hour to fish each day that far north in pool 13, he wasted precious time Thursday trying to recapture his success from practice.
“Those areas where the good fish were – the water dropped about a foot and the fish weren’t there,” he said of day one, when he only bagged four bass for 9-4 as he checked four other spots he’d previously located before locking on to a bite in a 40-yard stretch of water. “As soon as I got there, I knew the fish were going to be there.”
Wagner spent most of the rest of the week on that small area on Edick Lake flipping a 3 ½-inch Strike King jig in June-bug color to heavy cover for his bass.
Chris Baldwin:
“I started out in pool 13 the first day, the second day I fished pool 14, and today I stayed in pool 16,” Baldwin said of his combo-platter strategy. After only catching three bass on day one, Baldwin said it was time to change it up on day two. He caught three bass in pool 14 Friday, but then caught two nice ones in pool 16 on the way back to the marina. That convinced him to stay near the launch site today, where he reeled in three more bass to add 7 ½ pounds to his total. Two largemouths came from a Zoom crankbait, and he caught his kicker smallmouth on a three-bladed War Eagle spinnerbait.
Mike Devere:
Devere fished areas in pool 14 each day that he found in practice. Devere caught most of his bass this week on a ¼-ounce Brovarney swim jig with a Zoom twin tail in pearl-white color, targeting lay-downs and stumps in about 3 feet of water.
Russ Moran:
Moran spent the week in the minority, fishing downstream in pool 17, where he found slack water in a backwater lake with bushes. He caught most of his fish flipping a black-and-blue Strike King jig.
TW Staff
Whenever events are held on main-stem rivers – like the Mississippi, Red or Ohio – lock strategy's typically a deciding factor.
Anglers must decide where to concentrate their time and effort. Is it more important to keep a line wet? Or is it better to run far, wait for locks, and fish only an hour or two in some far-off pool?
At the recent BFL All-American, the 54-boat field faced that choice as they launched onto the Mississippi River out of Davenport, Iowa
What's especially notable about his win is his brief fishing time in Pool 13 was critical, but equally important was some dead time he spent waiting for the Pool 13 lock. Others beat around aimlessly with a crank or spinnerbait, but he focused on cover near the lock for 20 minutes each day. That micro-pattern produced several quality fish.
The victory netted him $120,000 in prize money plus a berth in the summer's Forrest Wood Cup. He also secured an invite to the 2010 FLW Tour, which he plans to accept if he can assemble enough sponsor support.
“I’ve dreamed of being a professional fisherman since I was 6 years old. It gives me a shot to go out on the Tour,” he said, “so if (my wife) says it’s OK … I’m ready to go.”
Wagner found his system during practice and never looked back. He fished pools 14 and 13 – the farthest eligible upstream from the takeoff site of Rock Island, Ill. – plucking keeper bass from each all three days.
Competition:
Wagner stuck with his plan on day 1, but when he got to the Pool 13 lock, he had 20 minutes to kill before the lock opened.
"I didn't practice in that area of 14," he said. "I saw some laydowns. There weren't many – maybe eight or 10 on both sides of the river, within a quarter-mile of the dam. I had a Beaver tied on, so I just picked that up and caught a 3-pounder in my first three pitches. I thought, 'Man, this is great – a bonus fish.' Then I went to the next tree, pitched in there and caught a 3 1/2-pounder.
"Then I had to make a decision," he added. "Should I stay in 14 or run up to 13? I had about 5 minutes left and I decided to go. I knew what was in 13."
He locked through, got to his spot in Nicholson and "everything came together." He caught two good ones right away on his swim-jig, and later added a smaller fish to finish his limit.
"I was feeling pretty good, but every day, it was killing me not to stay in 14," he noted. "I felt I could catch a limit in 14. There were so few laydowns the fish seemed to be on, and if you found the right ones, they kept replenishing and you could get bit on them every day."
For the final day of competition, Wagner switched from his boat to a finals boat provided by FLW Outdoors. As he came out of the lock into Pool 14, "chaos" ensued.
His motor went down. There was a camera boat with him, however, so he switched all his gear over to the camera boat in a mad race to make his lock time for Pool 13.
"I got up to the lock and only had a few minutes," he said. "But right off the bat I caught a keeper in the laydowns. And my partner caught a keeper. I was thinking I needed to stay there and not go into 13. Plus, there was a 60-boat tournament out of 14, and the majority of them locked into 13 at 6:30 that morning. I had about 4 minutes to decide."
He decided to stay with his plan and locked into 13. When he got to his area, "boats were everywhere."
"And there were seven boats sitting where I was fishing," he said. "I was absolutely sick. Everybody was pretty respectful and got out of the way, but I couldn't get bit. I just lost my confidence in all those boats."
At that point, he picked up and moved to his backup area in Mallard Bay. He saw a 2 1/2-pounder on a bed and caught it with the Senko. Turns out that fish was enough to win, but he didn't know it at the time.
He locked back into Pool 14 with just two fish and caught "a good one" from the laydowns to bring his total to three.
He ran all the way back and had 30 minutes left, so he decided to fish a small river he'd looked at in practice. He ran up the river, flipped a black-and-blue jig and stuck a 4 1/2-pound smallmouth.
Winning Gear:
Swim-jig gear: 8' heavy-action All Pro APX rod, Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCER) casting reel, 20-pound P-Line fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PLPFC), 1/4-ounce unnamed jig (black), 3" Punisher single-tail grub (pearl).
Senko gear: 7' medium-heavy All Pro APX rod, Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCER), 15-pound P-Line fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PLPFC), 5/0 Gamakatsu round-bend hook (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GWHRB), 5" Gary Yamamoto Senko (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=YAS) (green-pumpkin).
Flipping gear (laydowns): 8' heavy-action All Pro APX flipping stick, Shimano Curado (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SCER), 25-pound P-Line CXX (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PLCXCC) X-tra Strong mono, 4/0 Gamakatsu Superline Hook (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GSWH), 3/8-ounce tungsten weight (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TTBW), Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=RISB) (hematoma).
The Field:
Steve Wagner:
Being the runner-up sat fine with Wagner, who said: “I knew unless I pulled out a miracle today, he was going to win. I’m not disappointed. “I made it here. I’ve only been fishing for four years.” With only an hour to fish each day that far north in pool 13, he wasted precious time Thursday trying to recapture his success from practice.
“Those areas where the good fish were – the water dropped about a foot and the fish weren’t there,” he said of day one, when he only bagged four bass for 9-4 as he checked four other spots he’d previously located before locking on to a bite in a 40-yard stretch of water. “As soon as I got there, I knew the fish were going to be there.”
Wagner spent most of the rest of the week on that small area on Edick Lake flipping a 3 ½-inch Strike King jig in June-bug color to heavy cover for his bass.
Chris Baldwin:
“I started out in pool 13 the first day, the second day I fished pool 14, and today I stayed in pool 16,” Baldwin said of his combo-platter strategy. After only catching three bass on day one, Baldwin said it was time to change it up on day two. He caught three bass in pool 14 Friday, but then caught two nice ones in pool 16 on the way back to the marina. That convinced him to stay near the launch site today, where he reeled in three more bass to add 7 ½ pounds to his total. Two largemouths came from a Zoom crankbait, and he caught his kicker smallmouth on a three-bladed War Eagle spinnerbait.
Mike Devere:
Devere fished areas in pool 14 each day that he found in practice. Devere caught most of his bass this week on a ¼-ounce Brovarney swim jig with a Zoom twin tail in pearl-white color, targeting lay-downs and stumps in about 3 feet of water.
Russ Moran:
Moran spent the week in the minority, fishing downstream in pool 17, where he found slack water in a backwater lake with bushes. He caught most of his fish flipping a black-and-blue Strike King jig.
TW Staff