Bill Lowen Wins Bassmaster Elite St. Johns River
Shop Bill's Winning Baits & Gear
Lowen flipped and pitched his way to the win in heavy cover. He relied on a staple of his lure lineup in two signature jigs. Those baits included this 3/8-ounce LurePartsOnline Bill Lowen Signature Series Jig with a Lowen Series Blue Craw Skirt and a 5/16-ounce LurePartsOnline Bill Lowen Signature Series Swim Jig with the Lowen Series Blue Craw Skirt. A Zoom Super Speed Craw was his choice for a trailer for both presentations.
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Bassmaster Elite St. Johns River - Top 10
2nd Place - Jay Przekurat - 73lb - 10oz - $20,000
Przekurat alternated between a jerkbait for reaction strikes, and a drop shot for finesse fishing. A Strike King KVD Elite 300 Jerkbait was the choice for covering water. For slower presentations, he made a drop shot with a Strike King Baby Z-Too Soft Jerkbait, rigging it on a 1/0 hook with a 1/4-ounce WOO! Tungsten Drop Shot Weight.
3rd Place - Shane LeHew - 73lb - 9oz - $15,000
LeHew rotated through a jerkbait for reaction bites and a flipping rig for heavier cover. The reaction bait was a Berkley Stunna. For heavy cover, LeHew fished a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Stank-Bug, rigged on a 4/0 Berkley Fusion19 Heavy Cover Hook with 1/8-ounce weight.
4th Place - John Garrett - 71lb - 0oz - $12,500
Garrett caught prespawn staging fish with a deep-diving crankbait. Choosing a Strike King 5XD crankbait.
5th Place - Cory Johnston - 68lb - 6oz - $11,750
Johnston keyed on prespawn largemouth in heavy cover. Johnston's key bait was a 3/8-ounce 6th Sense Braid Swim Jig with a 6th Sense Bongo for a trailer.
6th Place - Brock Mosley - 68lb - 6oz - $11,000
Mosley fished a bladed jig and flipping rig to catch his bass in heavy cover. A top pick was a 1/2-ounce Z-Man ChatterBait JackHammer with a with a Yamamoto Zacko for a trailer. For heavy-cover flipping, Mosley used a Yamamoto Flappin' Hog that he rigged on a 3/0 Eagle Claw Trokar Pro V Flipping Hook, with a 1-ounce weight.
7th Place - Gerald Swindle - 63lb - 0oz - $10,500
A wacky rig, swim jig and jerkbait covered the varying strike zones for Swindle. Swindle finessed a wacky-rigged Zoom Trick Worm with a No. 1 VMC RedLine Series Drop Shot Hook. For covering water, he used a 3/8-ounce Buckeye Lures G-Man Finesse Swimbait Jig with a Zoom Z Craw for a trailer. A Rapala PXR Mavrik 110 Jerkbait was the lure of choice for reaction strikes.
8th Place - John Cox - 59lb - 4oz - $10,300
Cox probed the shallows for signs of early bedding bass and prespawners, opting for a finesse worm and creature bait for flipping and pitching. A top choice was this Berkley PowerBait Speed Boss that Cox rigged weightless on a 4/0 Berkley Fusion19 Heavy Cover Hook. For heavy cover he fished a Berkley PowerBait Crick Craw, rigging it on a 3/0 Berkley Fusion19 Heavy Cover Hook, with a 1/4-ounce weight.
9th Place - Patrick Walters - 58lb - 12oz - $10,200
Walters rotated between a weightless fluke and a jerkbait for reaction bites. A key lure was this 6-inch Zoom Super Fluke rigged weightless on a 5/0 VMC RedLine Series Hybrid Wide Gap Hook. For a change-up setup he fished a weightless 5-inch Zoom Winged Fluke on a 4/0 VMC RedLine Series Hybrid Wide Gap Hook. Reaction bites came on a Rapala PXR Mavrik 110 Jerkbait.
10th Place - Jake Whitaker - 57lb - 14oz - $10,000
Whitaker fished a wacky rig around canals and docks and a flipping rig in pads. He made the weightless wacky rig with a Big Bite Baits Trick Stick, rigging it on a 2/0 Ryugi Talisman Wacky/Neko Hook. The heavy-cover rig was a Big Bite Baits Trick Stick that he rigged on a Ryugi Infini Wide Gap Offset Worm Hook, with a 5/16-ounce weight.
