Keith Combs' Pattern, Baits & Gear

Combs had a 30-spot milk run of cranking locations that started in the mid-lake area and ran all the way down by the dam. Some of the stops had water in the 6- to 8-foot depth range and others were as deep as 20. He was remarkably consistent Ð there was only a 10-ounce difference between his heaviest bag and his lightest. "Pretty early on the first day of practice I stopped on a point and caught one on the crankbait," he said. "I just kept expanding on it from there.

"I came to understand as time went on that the fish bit best during low-light periods, so I'd run as much water as I could and sometimes I'd double back. If I didn't catch one on the first few casts, I was gone." He picked up a couple of 4-pound-plus fish on a shaky-head during times when the crankbait was drawing no interest. He said the LakeMaster mapping for Lanier is extremely detailed. When he programmed his depthfinder to highlight the 10- to 12-foot range, he could easily pick out all of the points that had potential.

Gear:

Cranking gear: 7' medium-action Shimano Curado CDC 70M cranking rod, Shimano Curado K casting reel (7.3:1 ratio), 12-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorcarbon line, Strike King 5Xd (blueback herring) or 3XD (crawfish).

He said he also mixed in a few other medium-diving crankbaits.

His shaky-head setup featured a 6 1/2" Strike King Finesse Worm.

Bassmaster Elite Lake Lanier 2-5 Patterns BassFan 2/21/19 (John Johnson)