Alton Jones' Pattern, Baits & Gear
Being that he was in the Top 20 in points coming into the AOY Championship, all Alton Jones needed to do was weigh in one fish and his Classic berth would be secured. He did that and then some.
He caught the fish he needed on his first cast of day 1 and never looked back in registering his second Top-3 finish of the season. He also moved up to 16th in points and secured a spot in next year's Toyota Texas Bass Classic (last year's TTBC winner Brent Ehrler finished 7th in points so he'll be considered a double-qualifier).
"My goal coming in was to qualify for the Classic and I got that done by catching a keeper on my first cast," he said. "Beyond that, I wanted to stay in the Top 20 in points because it meant a better payday. I accomplished every incremental goal that I set."
He did it by relying on what's become his go-to smallmouth tactic - dropshotting a green-pumpkin YUM Warning Shot. Last week, he targeted a isolated 50-yard square rock hump in 35 to 40 feet of water well north of Sturgeon Bay.
"I'm convinced a lot of those Green Bay fish leave Green Bay for the summer and go to the islands up north and out into Lake Michigan," he said. "I went as far North as we could trying to catch fish coming in from lake. The fish were just eating whatever scattered across the area I was on. It was a lot of fun."
That particular area produced all but one of his weigh-in fish on days 2 and 3.
"Most of my fish were deep on a late-summer pattern, at least those were the more consistent fish," he said. "If the water had been a little cooler, those shallower fish would've been better and more bigger fish would've been caught."
Dropshot gear: 6'9" medium-action Kistler Z-Bone spinning rod, unnamed spinning reel, 15-pound unnamed braided line (main), 8-pound Silver Thread fluorocarbon line (leader), 1/0 Owner offset worm hook, YUM Warning Shot (green-pumpkin), 3/8-oz. unnamed dropshot sinker. Jones prefers to Texas-rig the Warning Shot and he rigs it upside down.
Main factor in his success - "That YUM Warning Shot. I really believe there's something to that bait. I gave a bag to a few other guys and I don't think they used them. I hope they don't."
Performance edge - "My Skeeter and Yamaha. We were in brutal conditions and I didn't have a lick of trouble. It got me there and back safely and comfortably."
