I mean, it's not like he's bangin' on the door and then β boom! β it's down. It's more like he streaks in like a missile and β bang! β the tournament's over and there he is with a blue trophy. Happened in 2021 at Champlain, and happened yesterday. Here's how this one went down β full deets on the BB site:
> "Day 1 was sunny and very calm. I wanted to catch them on a Chatterbait, but...I was largemouth fishing and I felt they were not in a reaction bait mood, that I needed to slow down.
> "I got a couple key bites quick on a dropshot rig with a Missile Magic Worm. Thank goodness they were quality β that led me to believe in that presentation. The fish were still in that area, but that presentation was the right thing.
> "I stuck with that throughout the day. They were all related to coontail edges. ...not a lot of bites, but big ones.
> "Day 2 was a combination of a dropshot, Carolina rig and I actually punched a few fish.
> "I'm a grass fisherman. The first 2 days it had to be coontail. I was catching them on the edge near a depression. The coontail was almost to the surface, and I'd catch them tight to where it broke off to deeper water. [He was fishing in 6-7'.]
> "...[punching] in the same area...little places topped out where you had duckweed on top of the coontail. For whatever reason I could get a couple bites punching into those coontail mats, even on the cloudy days.
> "Day 3 and day 4 I exclusively Carolina-rigged. I went to a couple places I had been fishing the first 2 days but it wasn't working. So I went to my eelgrass edge and it had gotten better.
> "...all eelgrass, depressions in 8'. I was all in on grass, from the beginning to the end. The pattern was any depressions in the grass. ...needed a depression, needed some kind of deeper water next to the grass."
Baits
> Dropshot bait: Missile Magic Worm ("blueback secret"). "I just feel like [that color] has a good contrast. It looks very natural...top's got a little green in it...can resemble a perch, a bluegill, but it gets bit, period. The water's not clear, but when you get tight to the grass it's clean."
> Dropshot hook: 3/0 Hayabusa 957 Offset Shank Worm Hook. "I don't know what it is about that hook, but I've been using it for Texas-rigging for weedless dropshots and I hook 'em man. It's the design of that hook, the coating β if a fish catches you off guard and you don't get the right hookset, you still get 'em.
> "...lot of confidence in that hook. I was using smaller hooks and was having string of bad luck. The Magic Worm is a little bit bigger than a traditional Roboworm. This hook is real lightweight and I felt like it fit [that bait] perfectly. I started using it at Pickwick [where he finished high] for dropshot largemouth, and I've stuck with it."
> Dropshot gear: 3/16-oz Reins Tungsten Dropshot Weight, 10-lb P-Line Braid to 12-lb P-Line fluoro [because he was fishing around grass], Fitzgerald Stunner Reel (3000), 6' 10" Fitzgerald Shakey Head Rod.
> Carolina rig: Missile Baby D Stroyer (gp flash β "I tried numerous colors to try to give them a different look and that's the only color they would bite"), 3/0 Hayabusa 959 EWG-style Hook, 17-lb P-Line fluoro leader, SPRO swivel (size 8?), 1/2-oz lead egg sinker, red bead, 17-lb P-Line fluoro mainline, Fitzgerald Stunner Reel (7:1), 7' 3" H Fitzgerald Stunner Rod.
> Punch rig: Missile Baby D Bomb (bruiser flash), 5/0 Hayabusa FPP Flipping Hook, 1.5-oz Reins Tungsten Weight, 50-lb P-Line braid, Fitzgerald Stunner Reel (7:1), 7' 6" MH Fitzgerald Hydrilla Rod.
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