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Justin Lucas Wins Sacramento River

Justin Lucas' Winning Pattern, Baits & Gear

Knowledge was power for Justin Lucas at the Sacramento River Elite Series. In early April, Lucas had the opportunity to compete in an Elite Series event at Lake Guntersville, a stone's throw from where he currently resides in Alabama. He knows the lake well, but so did plenty of his competitors. Last week, he got to return to his fishing roots at the California Delta, a place where his love for the sport was born and nurtured by his grandfather, a Delta lifer. While the Guntersville tournament didn't pan out how he'd hoped - he finished 30th - the Sacramento River not only served as a trip down memory lane, but it also gave him the chance to employ all of his experience there in securing his first win as a professional. Having history and confidence on that particular fishery was incredibly beneficial, especially when each day's fishing time was reduced significantly with 90-minute runs going from and to Sacramento. Lucas' keen understanding of how the tide cycle influences bass around the Delta and how they positioned in certain scenarios at this time of year was a critical factor in his success. So, too, was his heads-up decision on the final day to fish to a stretch of wood pilings in the western reaches of the Delta, far away from the other finalists. It wasn't a spot he could've won on over 4 days, but the limit of 3-pounders he caught there Sunday proved oh-so valuable in holding off Aaron Martens by less than 2 pounds. "Hands down, it was the best decision I made all week," he said. "Going out there, there were 5-foot foot waves and strongest current of the month. It was bad rough. I had to take a 10-mile detour to get there that cost me 15 minutes of fishing time, but I'm glad I went." His 82-14 total was right on target for he thought it would take to prevail in his old stomping grounds.

Stable, warm weather - "Typical California weather," Lucas called it - greeted the field for practice and held steady through the tournament. That set the stage for another wave of fish to make their way to their spawning grounds. While some anglers "just fished around" in areas where the water clarity was dingy and caught some fish they were fairly certain were bedding, Lucas tried to station himself around cleaner water so he could get a positive ID on the kind of fish that were in those bedding locales. He didn't come out of practice thinking he was on the winning fish, but he had pegged some quality fish on beds and also poked around the area he eventually fished on the final day of the event. "It was a terrible practice, but on the last day I had a few bites on that western stuff and I'd found a few big bed fish and felt like new ones were coming, so I knew how I'd be able to catch big ones," he said. "Those bites out west gave me confidence that I had something to fall back on at some point."

Competition:

The first 2 days of competition were dominated by sight-fishing and Lucas took advantage of the areas he was in. "You had to pick off the easy bedders on the first 2 days because if you didn't, someone else was going to," he said. Over the first 2 days, he weighed in five fish that were 5 pounds or bigger, which he knew would be a key to building a strong foundation as the tournament wore on and the bedding fish thinned out. He was one of five anglers to crack the 20-pound mark on days 1 and 2. His 21-13 on day 1 had him tied for 8th and he never slipped below that the rest of the way. He had his best day on Friday when he clobbered 25-14 to move up to 3rd. When sight-fishing, he focused on small, shallower canals with marinas and docks. "I focused on a low tide all week," he said. "I started in the west Delta every day except for day 3 and then followed the low tide east. "The low tide positioned the fish better and the water is always dirtier on the west side. Back east, where all the grass is, you were able to sight-fish better when the water dropped." While the other leaders started to give ground on day 3, he thumped 19-03 to take over the lead, but he couldn't have done it without a big assist from Ish Monroe to get back to the check-in point on time. Lucas ran out of fuel a few miles shy of check-in and Monroe, who was trailing him on the way up the river, stopped to give him a lift. "I need to give a big shout out to Ish for doing that," Lucas said. "Without him stopping, I don't know if I'd have made it back on time."

With a 3-pound cushion over 2nd-place Aaron Martens, he shifted his focused to going somewhere he could rack up some consistent bites on the final day rather that get hung up targeting bed fish that may or may not bite. He also sensed as the event wore on that the potential to catch a big fish off a bed was starting to dwindle. "It seemed like all the sight fish went away," he said. Sensing that, he opted to make a long run toward Collinsville in the west Delta. "It is as brackish as it gets before you hit saltwater completely," he said. He fished a stretch of wood pilings and quickly boated a limit for 14 pounds, flipping a Berkley Havoc Pit Boss. He culled a couple times later on to reach 16 pounds. "I knew going out there I wasn't going to catch a big one in the morning," he said. "The spot had mostly 2- to 3-pound fish and that's what I got. I think I culled one time out there." He endured the long, stressful ride back to Sacramento not knowing if he'd caught enough to hold off Martens and the other finalists. It wasn't lost on him that once the outcome had been determined, he'd beaten one of the anglers he looked up to as he was breaking into the sport. "Growing up watching Aaron and then going head to head with him was crazy," he said. "I look up to him as much as anyone in the sport. I pretty much followed the same path in life as he did growing up out here and moving to Alabama. It was just neat to have him up there for it."

Winning Gear:

Flipping/sight-fishing gear: 7'6" heavy-action Abu Garcia Veracity casting rod, Abu Garcia Revo Rocket casting reel (9.0:1 gear ratio), 50-pound Berkley Trilene Professional Grade braided line (main), 20-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon line (2-foot leader), 5/16-oz. EcoPro Tungsten worm weight (black), Berkley Havoc Pit Boss (vampire orange). He said using a fluorocarbon leader gave him more confidence on hooksets against the voracious Delta bass. "Not a lot of guys do that, but one thing I've noticed at the Delta is the fish are so aggressive here and there's so much competition for bait that you needed a strong hookset and I was getting that with the braid-to-fluoro connection," he said. He also caught some fish casting a vibrating jig (red/black) with a Berkley Havoc Rockey Craw (black red flake) and punching with a Pit Boss in green-pumpkin green.

Main factor: "My decision-making on day 4 after burning up some of the obvious fish on the first couple days.

Performance edge: "This is my first year in a Phoenix and first year with a Yamaha and I'm in love with that motor. I total thing my boat and motor is the best combination you could possibly have. I wouldn't feel as confident in anything else. Also, my Power-Poles were vital. They're a must-have on the Delta, especially with how the wind is always blowing."

Sacramento River Winning Pattern BassFan 5/5/15 (Todd Ceisner)

Aaron Martens' Pattern, Baits & Gear

As the tournament wore on, Aaron Martens says it got tougher and tougher to find the better quality fish on bed that were in a mood to bite. Most of them had been picked off over the first couple days, including several by himself, and he suspects there weren't many more new fish coming in to spawn. "I think there were areas that were better (than where I fished)," he said. "I'm sure there was an acre-sized place somewhere on the Delta that was just loaded, but I didn't have the guts to go look for it. We had a 5-hour day and when you start working on those fish, you run out of time pretty quick. If we'd had an 8-hour day, I might've." He caught more than 50 pounds over the first 2 days as he took over the lead entering the weekend, but he let a couple of such fish occupy a lot of his time on day 3 and it likely cost him a shot at the win. He wound up weighing in a pair of 1-pounders on Saturday. "I called them time bandits," he said. "They'd come up and look at you and show some aggression and go back, so you'd stick around. Then they'd come up again and look at you and go back to the nest. They were taking all of my time. Everybody was going through same thing." He started the event around Mildred Island where he'd pinpointed several 5- and 6-pounders on beds. "There were five other boats in there and a lot of the easy fish got caught right away," he said. "I tried to fish for some of the harder ones, but they were harder to see. I left because I knew everything else was going to be hard to catch and probably not worth it. I ran south and caught a few 4-pounders." He then moved into White Slough up north and opted to stick around the north Delta the rest of the event. "The Delta is so big that it has areas where the fish are more behind than others," he said. "Once I figured out they were toward the end of the spawn I started to look for areas where newer fish may have moved up. "I was on the fish to win. It was exciting and fun," he added. "I think I fished a good tournament. I'm happy for Justin. I like him a lot."

Sight Fishing gear: 7'3" medium-heavy Enigma Fishing casting rod, Shimano Metanium casting reel (8.5:1 gear ratio), 20-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, unnamed bobber stop, 1/4-oz. unnamed tungsten worm weight, 4/0 Gamakatsu heavy cover flipping hook, unnamed punch skirt (various colors), Strike King Rage Craw (green-pumpkin).

Dropshot gear: 6'11" medium-heavy Enigma Fishing spinning rod, Shimano Stella spinning reel, 12-pound Sunline SX-1 braided line (main), 10-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line (leader), 1/0 Gamakatsu Finesse Heavy Cover hook, 4.5" Roboworm Fat Straight Tail Worm (Aaron's Magic).

Main factor: "Paying attention to the details."

Performance edge: "My new rods worked really well for the way I was fishing."

Sacramento River 2-5 Patterns BassFan 5/6/15 (Todd Ceisner)

Dean Rojas' Pattern, Baits & Gear

Dean Rojas likened the lengthy boat rides to the Delta to fishing the 2011 Bassmaster Classic when many in the field made the run to Venice, La., from New Orleans. "I'm tired of driving a boat right now," he quipped on stage on the final day. What he's not growing weary of is the string of strong finishes he's putting together. Counting this year's Classic and last year's Angler of the Year Championship, Rojas has six straight Top-20 finishes, including three Top-8s. This year, he's averaged an 11th-place finish through three events and that has him in the lead for AOY heading into Lake Havasu, his home waters, this week. "I needed that big bag in the 25-pound range," he said of his Sacramento River effort. "That would've done it for me. This is my highest finish ever here. I'm not considered a local by any means as I grew up fishing southern California and the desert lakes."

He was happy with his decisions throughout the event, especially his call toward the end of day 1 to duck into a canal off the San Joaquin River. He'd started the day in a crowded area around Mildred Island and Frank's Tract and didn't see how the fish there would hold up for the duration. "There was so much traffic and I knew there was no way to make it last for 3 or 4 days," he said. "I left there with 7 pounds and said to myself, 'I can't do this.' I had to find an area that away from everyone else." The canal off the San Joaquin turned out to be that spot. "It was open on both ends so it had water flowing through it and it's just a place where they can go to spawn. It's off the main river channel and it had nice grass and mats and reeds and tules. It had all the right ingredients. "Making the decsion to go into that area was more of a last-ditch effort. I was ready to concede. I had 20 minutes before I had to run back. I'd just got fuel. I was there 5 minutes and made a flip and cautht a 6 1/2-pounder and then caught one every 5 minutes after that. I couldn't get the bait back in the water fast enough." On the remaining days, he threw a frog as a search bait, then pitched and flipped soft plastics when he had to slow down. "I covered a lot of water," he said. "I saw some bedding fish, but I didn't think concentrating on that would pay off. Ish (Monroe) is a good friend of mine and he insists you can't win sight-fishing here for 4 days. I figured if I can catch them better just fishing, I'd do that. It's not you can go out sight-fishing on other lakes where the water stays the same. "In the area I was in, the water was dirty. I'd get certain bites where I was certain they were on a bed. I wasn't visually fishing for them, I was just fishing."

Frog gear: 7' medium-heavy Duckett Fishing Terex casting rod, Duckett Fishing 360R casting reel (7:1 gear ratio), 80-pound Sunline FX-2 braided line, SPRO Bronzeye 65 frog (clear chartreuse).

Pitching gear: 7'4" heavy action Duckett Fishing Terex casting rod, same reel, 60-pound Sunline FX-2 braided line, 3/4-oz. unnamed tungsten worm weight, Paycheck Baits punch skirt (brown/blue/black), 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG worm hook, 5" Big Bite Baits Fightin' Frog (tilapia and green-pumpkin).

Main factor: "Making the decision to move into that canal on day 1. That saved my tournament."

Performance edge: "Everything performed flawlessly. I had no issues at all with my equipment. It allowed me to do my job. It says a lot that I've been with these companies for so long. It's because their products are the best of the best ."

Sacramento River 2-5 Patterns BassFan 5/6/15 (Todd Ceisner)

Ish Monroe's Pattern, Baits & Gear

The Delta is home for Ish Monroe and he certainly fished like he was in a comfort zone all week. It was an easy transition for him coming off the Beaver Lake FLW Tour the week before. "I fished an area I don't normally fish in tournament only because it gets a lot of pressure," he said. "During practice, I saw it was my best opportunity to win and I chose to fish around that area. "It's just one big community hole and I guess I figured out something different than most. There were not a lot of Elite Series guys in there which was surprising as well." He had the best of all worlds with pre- and post-spawn fish as well as those locked on beds. "The one part about this area is I knew I could have it all," he said. "I had them coming, leaving and spawning." His comfort fishing the tide cycles was also a key element to his success. He opted to throw a frog on high tide and flipped and looked at bedders on low tide. "It was a huge key," he added. "It only happens every once in a while where the frog fish bite better on high tide than on low tide and the flipping fish bite better on a low tide than high tide. The sight fish are always sight fish - you just have to catch them in the right mood." The main ingredient to the area he fished was a rich variety of vegetation. "I drove the whole Delta looking for good structure which was grass," he said. "Good grass means bass will be there. My area had great grass. It had holes in the grass, matted grass, submerged grass, every type of vegetation on the Delta." He said hyacinth and pennywort were prevalent there. "Those were key factors," he added. "When I pull into an area and there's all types of grass that means I get to fish the way I like to."

Frog gear: 7'4" extra-heavy Daiwa Steez SVF-XBD frog rod, Daiwa Zillion casting reel (7.3:1 gear ratio), 65-pound Maxima braided line, Snag Proof Ish's Phat Frog (da man).

Flipping gear: 8' heavy-action Daiwa Steez SVF Compile-X flipping rod, same reel, same line, 1.5-oz. River 2 Sea Trash Bomb tungsten weight (black), 5/0 River 2 Sea New Jack flipping hook, Missile Baits D-Bomb (candy grass).

Sight-fishing gear: Same as flipping rod, Daiwa Steez casting reel (7.9:1 gear ratio), 25-pound Maxima fluorocarbon line, 1/2-oz. River 2 Sea tungsten worm weight, same hook, Missile Baits D Stroyer (watermelon red flake). During the course of the tournament, Monroe was flipping to fish that were holed up behind docks and he was able to get a couple in the boat on the 25-pound fluorocarbon. "I call is dock flipping," he said. "I caught an 8-pounder that way and literally bounced it over the dock and into my boat."

Main factor: "Experience on the Delta and knowledge of what to look for and knowledge of the tides."

Performance edge: "My Yamaha engine performed flawlessly. I logged nearly 1,000 miles during the week - 150 each day during the event and another 400 in practice. I covered every inch of the Delta and my boat and motor held up great."

Sacramento River 2-5 Patterns BassFan 5/6/15 (Todd Ceisner)

Chris Zaldain's Pattern, Baits & Gear

Day 1 of the event belonged to Zaldain, who weighed in the biggest fish caught in a B.A.S.S. event in several years - a 12-pounder that anchored his 30-pound stringer. He later said that bag served as a Get Out Of Jail Free card as his weights dropped off significantly the rest of the way. He was solely hunting for big fish and employed sight-fishing as his main tactic. "If you weren't blind casting or sight-fishing you weren't going to win," he said. "I had an unbelievable practice. During practice, that was the first two or three days of the nice weather and the fish were starting to move up. They'd bite moving baits and you could also catch them punching and flipping, but all that pre-spawn stuff turned to spawning stuff." He focused mainly on the north Delta while trying to avoid the moss bloom that hampered bait presentations in some areas. "They spawn last in the north Delta and I felt like California had had a mild winter and there'd been a sporadic spawn the last 4 to 6 weeks so I went to where I felt the spawn was going to be stronger," he said. "I put myself in big-fish areas. I've fished here for 15 years and know where the big ones live. My baits and presentations were all geared to big fish. "That's how you win on the Delta. You can't lay up and pick up a spinnerbait and expect to win."

Dropshot/sight-fishing gear: 7'5" medium-action Megabass Orochi XX Extreme Mission casting rod, Shimano Core casting reel, 12-pound Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon line, 3/0 Roboworm Rebarb hook, 6" Roboworm (color), 1/4-oz. unnamed tungsten dropshot weight. The 12-pound Tatsu was the same line he caught his 12-pounder on day 1 with. "It's super soft and limp," he said. He also flipped a Texas-rigged 4" Megabass Bottle Shrimp (uchida craw) and weighed a couple fish caught on a homemade wakebait. The Megabass I-Slide 185 was a productive bait as well, especially around bluegill beds on day 2, Zaldain said.

Main factor: "My experience on the Delta and confidence in knowing where the bigger fish would be."

Performance edge: "I have to give a big thanks to Dean Yoshizumi, the owner of Hi's Tackle Box. He let me stay at his house all week and any Megabass baits I'd run out of, I'd let him know and he'd bring them back from the store. That was a big help and he kept me calm and comfortable rather than doing the pizza box dinner in a hotel room."

Sacramento River 2-5 Patterns BassFan 5/6/15 (Todd Ceisner)

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