Shaw Grigsby spent virtually the entire tournament with a jig tied to the end of his line and presented it to the fish in various ways - from very short flips to casts of substantial distance. His weight-per-fish average was excellent, particularly over the last 2 days. On the flip side, he didn't weigh a limit either day.
He fished four different areas, all of which he discovered during practice, and caught a 6-pounder on each day except the first.
Jig gear: 7'2" Quantum Tour Edition Shaw Grigsby signature rod, Quantum Tour Edition PT casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), 17-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line, 1/4- or 3/8-ounce Strike King jig (crawfish), Strike King Rage Craw trailer (watermelon-red).
Delta Patterns 3-5 March 17, 2010. Bassfan (http://www.bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=3554).
The fish in Mike Iaconelli's primary location changed on him midway through the tournament. He could catch them only on high tide the first 2 days, but just the opposite was true on days 3 and 4.
He caught 16 of the ones he weighed in by flipping and the other four on a crankbait. He eventually opted to forego the crankbait pattern entirely because those fish, which came from a different locale than where he flipped, were smaller and most ended up being culled.
His day-2 bag was the best of the tournament.
"Two things were really key about the flipping pattern," he said. "One was that I was flipping fluorocarbon (line) instead of braid. Too many guys get caught up in flipping only with braid, but in hydrilla you can get away with fluorocarbon and you'll get more bites. It's not like when you're flipping mats."
"Another sleeper was that I was flipping to the isolated grass patches. You could get up there and see the obvious ones, but there were others that just looked like dark spots or little black circles. My signature series Cocoons (sunglasses) really helped me see those."
Flipping gear: 7'6" medium-heavy Abu Garcia Vendetta rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier casting reel, 25 or 20 pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line, 3/4 or 1/2 ounce Tru-Tungsten weight, 4/0 or 3/0 Youvella hook, 4" or 3" Berkley PowerBait Crazy Legs Chigger Craw (black/blue).
He flipped the bigger bait with the larger weight and heavier line in hydrilla and the smaller rig in more sparse cover.
Cranking gear: 7' medium-action Fenwick Elite Tech Crankshaft rod, Abu Garcia Revo Winch casting reel, 12-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon, Laser Lure Shallow Diver (red phantom).
Greg Hackney finished just 2-04 behind Crews and would've won had he boated either of the two bites he lost on day 4. He said he had a mediocre practice and was initially disappointed that he wasn't catching any 8-pounders.
"I got one of those, but the other fish were all 2- to 4-pounders," he said. "The first day of practice was pretty good, I had 20 or 25 pounds, but no real big ones."
"I think the fish were really affected by the cold weather. It reminded me of Florida where when the fish get cold, they don't like it. These fish like it warm, I could tell that."
He took the lead with a monster bag on day 3, but was at a loss to explain why his bites were so much bigger that day. The stringer included an 8-10 brute that tied Greg Vinson for biggest of the tournament.
In practice I found a couple of areas with tules and grass near deep water. At half-tide, I flipped and pitched the tules. They had about 1 1/2 foot of water in them. When it was at dead low, I flipped and pitched the grass. It was in 5 to 7 feet of water.
Flipping gear: 7'11" Quantum Tour Edition Greg Hackney signature rod, Quantum Tour Edition PT "Burner" casting reel (7:1 ratio), 50-pound Cajun braid or 20lbs Cajun fluorocarbon line, 3/8 or 3/4ounce Tru Tungsten slip sinker, prototype 5/0 Youvella straight-shank flipping hook, Strike King Rodent (doubleheader).
He also caught one weighin fish on a Strike King Pure Poison swim jig.
Crews said most of his fish were positioned on the outer edges of the hydrilla, no matter the tide stage.
"My theory as to what was going on with those fish was that they wanted to come up and spawn, but they were knocked in the head by the cold water," he said. "The water was 55 degrees most of the time and I think they were just hanging out a little deeper and waiting for it to warm up."
"Almost all of the bites came when the bait was on the bottom or when it was just about to hit the bottom. That was kind of weird because when you're flipping stuff like that, you'll usually get some bites from suspended fish."
He went to monofilament line and downsized his weight on the final day in an attempt to get more bites, and it worked. He said healthy dousings of his bait with Carolina Lunker Sauce was key. He used a new scent called craw-lic (a combination of crawfish and garlic).
Flipping Gear: 7'6" heavy action custom-made flipping stick, Daiwa Zillion casting reel (7:1 ratio), 65-pound Vicious braid or 25-pound Vicious fluorocarbon line, 1- or 3/4-ounce Tru-Tungsten weight, 5/0 Gamakatsu hook, Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver (penetration) or Gambler BB Cricket (riverbug).
Cranking gear: 7' medium-action custom-made rod, Daiwa Zillion casting reel (6:1 ratio), 12-pound Vicious fluorocarbon, Spro Little John (blood craw).
"I really made that color for fishing out West," he said of the crankbait. "It's not as good in water that's heavily stained, but if there's just a light stain I really like it."
Main Factor: "Committing to that area and staying positive. Also, when it's your time, it's your time, and the longer the tournament went on, the more I started thinking it might be my time."
Performance Edge: "The Carolina Lunker Sauce and the Vicious Line. I had no issues with line and the Sauce might've been the one thing that got me an extra bite or two on the last day."
California Delta Winning Pattern March 16, 2010. Bassfan (http://www.bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=3552).
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