Pipkens calls himself a "big dropshotter" when it comes to catching smallmouth bass at St. Clair or elsewhere up north, but the finesse technique was mostly an afterthought at the Open. "There are three guys I grew up with fishing and we've spent a lot of time out there with tubes and dropshots," he said, "and we've found that the days it wasn't easy out deep, the fish were up shallow and that's how I was able to put the crankbait bite together as fast as I did." He started practice the Sunday before the tournament and spent some time probing transition areas in 12 to 22 feet. "I tried those and some deeper stuff, but only caught small fish," he said. "When I went shallow and started cranking, I caught a 4 1/2 and a 5. I fished two other places and had a 5 1/4, a 6 1/4 and a 3 1/2." The weather did pose a challenge before the tournament as winds would kick up significantly, making Erie inaccessible and unfishable at times. "I felt like I was driving my truck and boat more than I was fishing," he joked. On Wednesday, though, the waves on Erie laid down and he was able to fine tune his cranking program. "I had seven shallow places, but really wound up catching them off only two of them," he said. "That's why I like to fish Erie - it's very specific. If I don't get bit doing one thing on one place, I leave and go do something else until I find them." He did have backup areas in St. Clair where he figured he could catch 3 1/2- to 4-pounders, but their nomadic nature made it tough to bank on them sticking around. "When I'd come back in from Erie and stop on those places, they weren't there," he said. "I didn't event want to fish St. Clair if I didn't have to."
Competition:
Pipkens made the 70-mile run out to his area on the Canadian side of Lake Erie on day 1 and promptly put 21-06 in the boat. "I left myself 4 hours to get back and it wound up taking 3 hours and 10 minutes," he said. "It got so windy that I felt fortunate to catch what I did off my first two places. The biggest thing was paying attention to the weather. I was lucky to get down there okay." He estimates he had an hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours of fishing time each day once he got to the spots he wanted to hit. "I had about seven key areas in a 5-mile stretch," he added. His day-1 bag was anchored by a 6-pounder that fought so hard the rear treble was missing from the crankbait once Pipkens got it back to the boat. "I had three fish literally straighten out the split rings," he said. Day 2 was a bit more of a challenge in terms of getting to his area and back because the wind had picked up out of the southwest and was blowing into the part of the lake he was fishing. "It just made it hard to do everything," he said. "We'd catch one and by the time we'd land it and put it in the livewell, we'd be so far off the spot, I'd have to start the big motor and drive back over to it." His first five fish of the day, though, were good for 22 1/2 pounds and sensing he had enough weight to qualify for the final day, he headed back St. Clair with 5 hours left before check-in. "I knew if I could make it to Saturday, with the weather they were calling for, it could be one of the best days ever," he said. His 22-08 sack on day 2 gave him 43-14, but he was still 3-12 back of Balog, who crushed 25-02 on Friday. A sizeable front moved through Friday night and had Pipkens concerned, but when he woke up Saturday and saw the marine forecast for the Canadian side of Erie was calling for winds out of the northwest, he started licking his chops. "If it had been out of the west, there was a chance it would've stirred some stuff up," he said. "When we got out on the lake and started getting closer, I slowed down and saw the water color was right." With the favorable conditions, he knew he could stay a little longer than he had been. Calling it the "best 4 hours of fishing I've ever had," Pipkens hit the mother lode with his crankbait. "We had a lot of fun out there," he said. "Within 25 minutes, my co-angler had 12 pounds (three fish) and we eventually left the first place because we were just catching 4-pounders. We said, 'It had to be 4 1/2 or bigger or we're leaving.' We were laughing about it because that never happens." Pipkens guessed he caught 50 fish on the final day, 40 of which were 3 1/2 pounds or heavier. "I must've caught three or four 20-pound bags," he said.
Winning Pattern:
Pipkens opted for the Damiki DC-300, a 2.1-inch, 0.55-ounce crank that dives to 12 to 15 feet, because it "seemed to be just the right size bait," he said. "The key was I had to hit around the right pieces and just have it knick the bottom," he added. "On day 3, if you were around the right stuff, they'd just eat it. Each day they were set up on different parts of the sweet spot depending on the wind or current. On the last day, they were literally on the whole thing." Water clarity was a key factor in his success, too. "A lot had to go right with it not getting muddy, but it wasn't too clean either," he said. "Plus there was a lot of bait in the area." The areas he fished ranged from 8 to 11 feet deep.
Winning Gear:
Cranking gear: 7' medium-heavy Powell Max glass cranking rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel, 12-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, Damiki DC-300 crankbait (real shad). Pipkens swapped the stock hooks for #4 Gamakatsu round bend trebles on the front and #5s on the back.
Main factor: "Having the lake experience I do and having the confidence in the way Lake Erie fishes, as well as having put my time in and having an idea of what the weather would be like and knowing I could get to where I wanted to go. I knew it was a big risk, but if I could get there and focus on a fishing for a couple hours, I knew I could do well. It doesn't happen that often in a tournament where everything lines up in the right way on the right day."
Performance edge: "My Skeeter FX 20 and Yamaha 250 SHO were great. I have Hull Speed on the bottom of my boat and I feel like that really helps with mileage out there. It was about taking it slow and getting there. If you can get there and your stuff's not broke, you can get the job done."
Lake St. Clair Winning Pattern Bassfan 9/9/14 (Todd Ceisner)