TW_Staff
09-10-2009, 04:47 PM
The Hemphill, Texas resident practiced long and hard for last week's derby, but didn't grasp the keys that would unlock a wire-to-wire victory until a change in the weather a couple of days prior to the start of the tournament caused him to re-shift his focus. From that point on, he made it look easy.
He took a lead of more than 8 pounds into the final day and won by more than 10 over the runner-up – Bassmaster Elite Series pro and fellow "local" Todd Faircloth. The victory moved him up to 3rd in the Central Open points, and he needs to climb one more spot in the circuit finale at Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin in November to gain a berth in the 2010 Bassmaster Classic.
Johnston did a considerable amount of practicing about 2 weeks prior to the event, trying to get a handle on what was going on before the majority of the 193-boat field arrived. Those sessions weren't overly productive.
"I was out there for 5 straight days, and only 1 day out of the 5 would I call a decent day 15 or 16 pounds," he said. "The other days, I really struggled.
"Then 4 days before the tournament, a major cool front came in and made it worse. I went shallow and found some places where I could flip the grass with a 1 1/4-ounce jig and catch them, but they weren't the size I needed. That made me go back out deep to the places where I hadn't had good luck a couple weeks before."
He found four ledges out there that harbored abundant shad during the early mornings, and lots of fat bass were present for the feast. He said that particular shad migration normally occurs much later in the fall, but the lake is "different" this year – perhaps partially due to the higher-than-usual water level. He thinks the cold front was a factor, too.
The ledges were in 15 to 19 feet of water and when the sun shined, the bass were on the shallower portion early in the day, and went deeper as the sun rose. He could catch them early on a jig, and on a worm when they became less aggressive later in the day.
"I cut the hook off a football jig and made about seven casts and got two big bites. One was about a 5-pounder that I got right up to the boat and there was another one right behind it.
"I just drove around for those last couple of days and saw where the bait was lined up, and I made my gameplan for day 1."
Competition:
His limits on the first and third days came from the same set of three bare ridges, on which he flipped Texas-rigged Grande Bass Mega Tail worms and ½-ounce Falcon Lures football head jigs.
"What was happening was early in the morning the shad would come up and feed on the tops of those bare ridges, and the bass would follow them," Johnston said. "I was sitting in the deep water and casting on top of the ridge, and I was just hopping the baits over the edge of those ridges."
A bright sun shone throughout day 1 and Johnston put together his monstrous sack with little difficulty. He started with a couple of good ones from the brushpile before moving to the ledges and loading up there.
"I don't want to say that it was easy, but I had 22 pounds by about 11:00," he said. "I left the deep stuff and went to flip some grass and I caught a couple of 3-pounders, but nothing that helped me."
Day 2 brought dark skies, which suspended the shad and spread out the bass. He weighed another strong bag, though, thanks to a 7 1/2-pound brute.
"At one point I was fishing a Sebile crankbait and I caught a small one, and when I got it up to the boat there was a whole school of 5- to 8-pounders with that one little fish. After that I tried to really slow down, but I struggled. That one big one really boosted that bag."
With a lead that was bigger than that one giant fish to start day 3, he went into a defensive mode. He was feeling pretty good about things, though, when he awoke to see a vivid moon surrounded by thousands of stars.
"That played right into my hands and it was exactly what I was looking for. I was smiling all the way to the ramp. No disrespect to the other guys, but I was worried about Faircloth more than anybody because we'd grown up fishing against each other and I knew he could catch them.
"Once I got 10 pounds, I really settled down and took my time. I caught a 4-pounder at about 10:00 and one that was 4 1/2 to 5 at 11:30, and I was right at 16 pounds at 1:00. At that point I knew somebody would have to catch a huge sack to beat me."
Winning Gear:
Jig gear: 7'6" medium-heavy Power Tackle PG104 rod, Pflueger President (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PPRCR)casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), 20-pound Sunline fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SLSHF) line, 5/8-ounce Falcon Lures football jig (peanut butter and jelly), Strike King Rage Craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SKRCR)trailer (green-pumpkin).
Worm gear: 7' medium-heavy Power Tackle PG144 rod, Pflueger Summit (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PSTCR)casting reel (7:1 ratio), same line, 1/4-ounce Tru-Tungsten (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TTBW) weight, 4/0 Gamakatsu Wide Gap (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GDTH) hook, 8" Grande Bass Mega-Tail RattleSnake (red bug).
Main factor in his success – "Looking at my Humminbird 997 and watching the bass bust through the shad, and then just settling down and fishing."
Performance edge – "The Power Tackle rods. I switched over from another company a little more than a year ago and they've made a big difference in my fishing."
TW Staff
He took a lead of more than 8 pounds into the final day and won by more than 10 over the runner-up – Bassmaster Elite Series pro and fellow "local" Todd Faircloth. The victory moved him up to 3rd in the Central Open points, and he needs to climb one more spot in the circuit finale at Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin in November to gain a berth in the 2010 Bassmaster Classic.
Johnston did a considerable amount of practicing about 2 weeks prior to the event, trying to get a handle on what was going on before the majority of the 193-boat field arrived. Those sessions weren't overly productive.
"I was out there for 5 straight days, and only 1 day out of the 5 would I call a decent day 15 or 16 pounds," he said. "The other days, I really struggled.
"Then 4 days before the tournament, a major cool front came in and made it worse. I went shallow and found some places where I could flip the grass with a 1 1/4-ounce jig and catch them, but they weren't the size I needed. That made me go back out deep to the places where I hadn't had good luck a couple weeks before."
He found four ledges out there that harbored abundant shad during the early mornings, and lots of fat bass were present for the feast. He said that particular shad migration normally occurs much later in the fall, but the lake is "different" this year – perhaps partially due to the higher-than-usual water level. He thinks the cold front was a factor, too.
The ledges were in 15 to 19 feet of water and when the sun shined, the bass were on the shallower portion early in the day, and went deeper as the sun rose. He could catch them early on a jig, and on a worm when they became less aggressive later in the day.
"I cut the hook off a football jig and made about seven casts and got two big bites. One was about a 5-pounder that I got right up to the boat and there was another one right behind it.
"I just drove around for those last couple of days and saw where the bait was lined up, and I made my gameplan for day 1."
Competition:
His limits on the first and third days came from the same set of three bare ridges, on which he flipped Texas-rigged Grande Bass Mega Tail worms and ½-ounce Falcon Lures football head jigs.
"What was happening was early in the morning the shad would come up and feed on the tops of those bare ridges, and the bass would follow them," Johnston said. "I was sitting in the deep water and casting on top of the ridge, and I was just hopping the baits over the edge of those ridges."
A bright sun shone throughout day 1 and Johnston put together his monstrous sack with little difficulty. He started with a couple of good ones from the brushpile before moving to the ledges and loading up there.
"I don't want to say that it was easy, but I had 22 pounds by about 11:00," he said. "I left the deep stuff and went to flip some grass and I caught a couple of 3-pounders, but nothing that helped me."
Day 2 brought dark skies, which suspended the shad and spread out the bass. He weighed another strong bag, though, thanks to a 7 1/2-pound brute.
"At one point I was fishing a Sebile crankbait and I caught a small one, and when I got it up to the boat there was a whole school of 5- to 8-pounders with that one little fish. After that I tried to really slow down, but I struggled. That one big one really boosted that bag."
With a lead that was bigger than that one giant fish to start day 3, he went into a defensive mode. He was feeling pretty good about things, though, when he awoke to see a vivid moon surrounded by thousands of stars.
"That played right into my hands and it was exactly what I was looking for. I was smiling all the way to the ramp. No disrespect to the other guys, but I was worried about Faircloth more than anybody because we'd grown up fishing against each other and I knew he could catch them.
"Once I got 10 pounds, I really settled down and took my time. I caught a 4-pounder at about 10:00 and one that was 4 1/2 to 5 at 11:30, and I was right at 16 pounds at 1:00. At that point I knew somebody would have to catch a huge sack to beat me."
Winning Gear:
Jig gear: 7'6" medium-heavy Power Tackle PG104 rod, Pflueger President (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PPRCR)casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), 20-pound Sunline fluorocarbon (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SLSHF) line, 5/8-ounce Falcon Lures football jig (peanut butter and jelly), Strike King Rage Craw (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SKRCR)trailer (green-pumpkin).
Worm gear: 7' medium-heavy Power Tackle PG144 rod, Pflueger Summit (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=PSTCR)casting reel (7:1 ratio), same line, 1/4-ounce Tru-Tungsten (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TTBW) weight, 4/0 Gamakatsu Wide Gap (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=GDTH) hook, 8" Grande Bass Mega-Tail RattleSnake (red bug).
Main factor in his success – "Looking at my Humminbird 997 and watching the bass bust through the shad, and then just settling down and fishing."
Performance edge – "The Power Tackle rods. I switched over from another company a little more than a year ago and they've made a big difference in my fishing."
TW Staff