Matt Robertson Wins Bassmaster Open Cherokee Lake
There are only a few routes to the Bassmaster Classic for anglers who aren't Elite Series competitors. Matt Robertson has now covered two of them.The 34-year-old from Kuttawa, Ky. got into the 2019 Classic by winning the Bassmaster Team Championship Classic Fish-Off at Florida's Harris Chain of Lakes. Last week, he qualified for the 2021 edition by notching the biggest win of his career at the Cherokee Lake Eastern Open. Easily recognizable due to his long blond locks and "ON 'EM" insignia emblazoned in big block letters across his cap, Robertson compiled 40-12 over 3 days to triumph at Cherokee. He edged out runner-up Josh Roark by 1-10 to punch his ticket to Texas' Lake Ray Roberts in March. "I'm really excited because I know Ray Roberts is a big-fish factory, and I like those," he said. "I like the fall grinders, but I consider myself a heavyweight angler."
Came in Hot
Autumn got under way on a bad note for Robertson, who lost all of his equipment due to theft at the Sam Rayburn Reservoir Central Open in late September (he posted an 87th place finish using borrowed gear). It's turned much brighter as of late, though, as he was the runner-up to Cody Bird at the Neely Henry Lake Central Open just the week prior to the Cherokee derby. He found the deep-water spot that carried him through the first 2 days at Cherokee in the last couple hours of his 3 1/2-day practice period. Employing Ned and Neko rigs, he moved his boat no more than 60 feet on either day en route to amassing bags that weighed 14-08 and 14-00 from a series of boulders in 20 feet of water where smallmouths were feasting on baitfish. He took over the lead on the second day as the 160-angler field was reduced to the Top 12 for the final round. He spent more than half of the final day at the location that had been so good to him up to that juncture, but it surrendered just one non-keeper smallmouth and a striped bass.
"The wind was blowing back in that bay real hard on the first 2 days," he said. "The second day it came out of the west, which was the opposite of the day before, and the rain we got muddied up the water. "That water was clean - it was like 6 feet of visibility. Then it went to 2 feet and I wasn't seeing the fish move through there like they had been." He'd gotten some blow-ups on a topwater bait in practice and his co-angler, Jon Jezierski, told him that he had, as well. Jezierski loaned Robertson one of the two modified Strike King Sexy Dawgs that he'd gotten from Japanese angler Kenta Kimura. The Sexy Dawgs were equipped with Storm SuspenDots and the stock hooks were replaced with Japanese-made Yogi trebles to take away some of the buoyancy.
"The Sexy Dawg rides pretty high in the water, but those kept the belly pulled down and gave the bait a little bit different action," he said. "When the fish hit it, they were more apt to get the bait and the hooks instead of blowing it out of the water." Over the last 3 hours, he got six bites and put five in the boat. Those fish were swimming in 1 to 4 feet of water in drains at the backs of pockets. He made casts to any distinctive piece of cover, whether it was rock or wood. When the day was over, he had a 12 1/4-pound stringer. "I was pretty nervous (prior to the weigh-in)," he said. "I knew the guy who started the day just a few ounces behind (eventual 9th-place finisher Denny Fiedler) didn't catch them, but I knew I had to have 10 1/2 pounds. I'm bad at judging the size of fish and I thought it was going to be closer than it was. "I kept telling myself I had it, but you never really know until they go on the scale."
Winning Gear:
Ned-rig gear: 7' medium-heavy Lew's TP1 Speed Stick rod, Lew's Custom Pro Speed Spin reel, 10-pound Strike King Tour Grade braid (main line), 6-pound Strike King Tour Grade fluorocarbon leader, 1/4-ounce mushroom-style jighead, Strike King Ned Ocho (green-pumpkin).
He used the same rod, reel and line combination for the Neko rig, which also included a size 2 Gamakatsu circle hook and a 6 1/2-inch Strike King KVD Perfect Plastics Finesse Worm (green-pumpkin). He didn't know the weight of the nail insert he employed - "I only had the one size and they'd been in my box for years."
Topwater gear: 6'8" medium-action Lew's Custom Series rod, Lew's Custom Lite casting reel (7.5:1 ratio), 30-pound Strike King Tour Grade braided line, Strike King Sexy Dawg (sexy shad).
Notable
Robertson makes his living as the owner/operator of a pressure-washing business.
He and wife Kassie are the parents of a 14-year-old son (Kade), a football player who's not much of a fishing enthusiast at this point. "I make him go out with me about once a year just to ride around in the boat," he said. "The last time he was actually (angry) when he hooked a fish and had to reel it in."
Bassmaster Open Cherokee Lake Winning Pattern - BassFan 11/3/20 (John Johnson)
