BASS West Point Lake Baits, Gear & Patterns
Skeet Reese's Winning Pattern Baits & Gear
"I didn't think I'd be throwing a spinning rod and 10-pound line," he said. "I thought I'd be throwing a swimbait if I'd won. It just goes to show that preconceived notions don't ever work. I just kept an open mind and went fishing." As he mentioned above, Reese attempted to get something going on a swimbait in practice, but eventually moved in shallow to target post-spawners. He mentioned on stage after his victory that the creek by Highland Marina, a known release spot for local tournaments, seemed to harbor a good population of quality fish. "It was the best thing I found in practice," he said. "I saw some big ones and had some bites. I wound up grinding it out there all week long." Reese started the tournament in the creek where he'd located several fish near beds. Problem was so did a number of other competitors. He managed 13 pounds, which had him in 5th place after day 1. He backed it up with a 9-10 stringer on day 2 and caught 8-08 in between rain drops on Saturday to make the Top 12 cut in 7th. Entering the final day, the gap from leader Tommy Biffle to Cliff Pace in 12th was just 4-01 so each finalist knew he had a legitimate opportunity at the win. Reese faced a 2 1/2-pound deficit, which he quickly erased. "(Sunday), the sun came out and it repositioned the fish where they were on Tuesday and I just started going down the banks slow and got the bites," he said. He managed between five and eight keepers a day during the event. "Going out in the morning, I was never optimistic about catching a good stringer," he added. "t doesn't matter what lake you go to, most people get caught up fishing their spots, especially on a home lake. We pride ourselves fishing the moment and the conditions. I was able to do that and change up."
Winning Gear:
He used a variety of baits on finesse presentations, including a wacky-rigged 5" Berkley PowerBait Fat Dover Crawler (methiolate) and a Berkley Havoc Bottom Hopper Jr. (smoke purple) rigged on a dropshot. A few key fish also came on a Lucky Craft LV 100 lipless crankbait.
West Point Lake Winning Pattern Bassfan 5/8/13 (Todd Ceisner)
Aaron Martens' Pattern, Baits & Gear
Soft jerkbait gear: 7' medium-action Megabass Diablo casting rod, Shimano Metanium casting reel (7.0:1 gear ratio, 12-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, 3/0 Gamakatsu Offset G-Lock light wire worm hook, Zoom Super Fluke (glimmer blue and mardi gras). He tied on the glimmer blue under cloudy conditions and broke out the mardi gras or watermelon version when the clouds parted. He also dipped the flukes in JJ's Magic Dye, which he thinks triggered some bites.
Jerkbait gear: 7' medium-action Megabass Orochi XX Flatside Special casting rod, same reel, 10-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, Megabass Ito Vision 110 Magnum (pro green).
Shaky-head gear: 6'11" medium-action Megabass Orochi XX Dropshot Series spinning rod, Shimano Stella 2500 spinning reel, unnamed 3/16-ounce jig, 6" Roboworm straight tail worm (bold bluegill).
Main factor: "I made a couple scouting trips there. I went there one day last December and spent two half days there right before off limits. It seems like most of the time I pre-practice, I do pretty well."
Performance edge: "My Roboworms. I caught a few key fish on the shaky-head during the tournament."
West Point Lake Patterns 2-5 Bassfan 5/7/13 (Todd Ceisner)
Pete Pond's Pattern, Baits & Gear
Topwater gear: 6'10" medium-heavy Duckett Fishing White Ice Terry Scroggins Pro Series Model casting rod, Ardent Edge casting reel (7.2:1 gear ratio), 14-pound Vicious monofilament line, Rebel Pop-R (silver black). While most of his competitors were throwing newer, pricey popper-style baits, he dug out a Pop-R that he estimates he's caught 300 bass on. "It's got teeth marks all over it," he said. "The paint's all worn off, but I put new hooks on it and it worked just fine." On day 4, he caught several of his weigh fish on a 1/2-ounce Talon spinnerbait in a shad pattern with a willow-leaf blade.
Main factor: "Persistence and sticking to it mentally. Sticking with a lure I knew would work was key."
Performance edge: "My HydroWave was very important for me. I believe strongly in it. I had it on Shad/continuous play and I really believe that masked the trolling motor noise and depth finder noise and the fish relate that to eating."
West Point Lake Patterns 2-5 Bassfan 5/7/13 (Todd Ceisner)
Hank Cherry's Pattern, Baits & Gear
Jerkbait gear: 7' medium-heavy Denali Rosewood casting rod, Abu Garcia Revo MGX casting reel (7.0:1 gear ration), 15-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon line, Livingston Lures Stick Master (beauty shad). He'd throw the Livingston Lures jerkbait when fishing shallow, switch to a Megabass Ito Vision 110 when fishing deeper water and throw a Lucky Craft Pointer when working over shoals. All had a pearl blue/chartreuse shad color pattern.
Jig gear: 7'4" Denali Ray Scheide Signature Series flipping rod, Abu Garcia Revo MGX casting reel (7.9:1 gear ratio), 20-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon line, 9/16-ounce E.R. Lures jig (white/pearl blue skirt), 4" Damiki Air Craw trailer (white silver flake). He also trimmed his jig with a Zoom Super Chunk, but threw the Air Craw trailer around bushes.
Main factor: "Not taking the temptation to go to the bank and staying out and doing what I know I how do."
Performance edge: "I really think that HydroWave played a big part in catching fish. On the second morning, I had it off for the first hour and the fishing was slow. I went back through those places with bait in it and cranked it up and it made a big difference."
West Point Lake Patterns 2-5 Bassfan 5/7/13 (Todd Ceisner)
Todd Faircloth's Pattern, Baits & Gear
Topwater gear: 6'10" medium-heavy CastAway Skeleton casting rod, Shimano Chronarch casting reel (7.0:1 gear ratio), 16-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, unnamed popper-style bait (shad pattern).
Jerkbait gear: Same rod, same reel, 10-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, Strike King KVD jerkbait (pro blue).
Soft stickbait gear: 7' mag-heavy CastAway Skeleton casting rod, same reel, 16-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, 4/0 offset worm hook, 5" Strike King KVD Perfect Plastics Shim E Stick (watermelon).
Main factor: "On day 3, I dedicated about 90 percent of the day to fishing for largemouths. I'd split up 50-50 the first 2 days."
Performance edge: "My Lowrance unit was a big key. I was running new water every day and looking at my Navionics/Lowrance mapping for those flatter pockets which is where I caught some of my bigger fish."
West Point Lake Patterns 2-5 Bassfan 5/7/13 (Todd Ceisner)