Bob Downey Wins Grand Lake Bassmaster Central Open
Bob Downey doesn't sound like the type of guy who puts a lot of stock in astrological signs and what his daily horoscope may say. He does, however, have a firm belief that the way things played out at Grand Lake last week at the final Central Bassmaster Open, a higher power had to be in his corner. Sure, it seems cliche to say, "things were meant to be," but how else, Downey says, does he explain how multiple quality bass swam free from the entanglements created by the countless submerged bushes and tree limbs he fished and eventually to his boat. His first hunch that things were going to fall in his favor occurred on day 2. In the last 20 minutes, he caught a 3 1/2- and a 4-pounder, with the latter requiring a bit of extra work to be extricated from a bush. "That fish was buried down in a bush and I could see him rolling in there," Downey recalled. "I about fell in trying to grab it. I was down to my armpits. Normally, when you hang a fish like that in a bush, it gets off."
Then on the final day, his biggest fish got hung in a willow tree, but managed to swim to open water, where Downey could corral it. "When stuff like that happens, it's just meant to be," Downey said. "That fish was about a half-pound upgrade and I won by that amount so that fish was huge." Downey finished the three-day event with 48-09, edging fellow Wisconsin angler Caleb Kuphall by eight ounces. Downey's win represents the latest instance of an out-of-towner coming to a Bassmaster Open at a lake he'd never seen before and leaving with the trophy and, in Downey's case, a berth in next year's Bassmaster Classic and an invitation to join the Elite Series in 2020.
A resident of Hudson, Wis., which is situated along the banks of the St. Croix River, about 30 minutes east of Minneapolis, Downey showed up to Grand a total greenhorn on the 46,500-acre reservoir that's hosted two Bassmaster Classics and multiple Elite Series and FLW Tour stops. He quickly got on a pattern of pitching soft plastics and a jig to isolated bushes and willow trees with one to three feet of water in and around them. From there, the gears meshed pretty well, even amidst falling water levels, and he spent the duration of the event with essentially two rods on his front deck. "I still can't believe it," said Downey, a 31-year-old who works for a surety bond agency.
Nor can he believe that he'll in the field for the 50th Classic, set for next March at Lake Guntersville. "I'm still processing all of it right now," he said. "It's been a dream of mine, as it is I'm sure for every bass angler, but you never think it's going to happen. "I've fished since I was probably two years old and fished my first tournament at 14. That's when my dad drove me to my first event - a B.A.S.S. Junior event - and since then it's been a goal to get there. To actually get there and it be the 50th one, I can't describe it. It means the world to me."
Practice:
About midway through the first day of practice, Downey noticed a good amount of willow trees and buck brush a good distance off the bank compared to other shallow cover. A number of them were isolated. "I tried it on a whim and caught a six-pounder right away," he said. "I hopped around to other similar looking stuff and every place I stopped I caught a 2 1/2- to 4-pounder in numerous areas." He figured he had a 19-pound day to start practice and thought he might be onto something. Water levels, which had been well above average for much of the spring and summer, had started to fall, and that was a cause for concern because he wasn't sure if that downward trend would continue into the tournament and how it would impact the areas where he got bit. "I didn't know if it would hold up," he added. "It was almost a scary situation because I felt like I almost had too good of a day."
He anticipated the fishing to be a grind in the 90-degree late summer heat - and it was - but Grand exceeded his expectations in terms of the quality of fish he caught. "I was only getting five to eight keepers bites each day and you had to work at it, but I was impressed by the size of the I caught," he said. As the tournament drew closer, his anxiety level began to climb. He hadn't checked the areas from the start of practice and the subsequent three days of practice didn't produce much to get excited about. "I knew what I was going to do - I was going to try to duplicate what I did that first day and roll with it," he said.
Competition:
Downey went into the first day "just hoping for a limit." He came out sitting in the top 10 after catching 17 1/2 pounds. "I exceeded my expectations because 12 to 13 pounds a day is what I was shooting for," he said. He piled up close to 15 pounds off his primary area, pitching a Texas-rigged creature bait and a trusted jig to flooded wooden cover. "I fished an area that I hadn't seen all practice and it just fit the pattern," he said, noting he caught a 3 1/2-pounder at the end of the day to augment his total.
His success on day 1 cemented his strategy to stay focused on the flooded wood that was well off the bank. "Right on the shoreline, there was very little water," he said, adding that he'd dip his rod tip in the water to get an accurate idea of the depth since the transducer on his trolling wasn't always accurate. "My theory was since the water has been high all year down there and it had dropped quite a bit in the last month, that a lot of those fish have been shallow all summer. Now that it's dropping they're pulling out to those pieces of isolated cover with just enough water on them. I knew I didn't have to worry about brush on the banks because it was too shallow."
On the second day, he continued to focus on his efforts in Horse Creek, where 11 of the fish he weighed in were caught. He left there Friday with four keepers despite having to work around other competitors. "There were probably 20 to 30 other boats in there and I struggled to get into a good rotation," he said. "I felt like I was constantly fishing behind somebody." He finished his limit with a fish caught off a dock, but later culled it out (along with another) with two key upgrades caught in Wolf Creek, not far from the launch ramp. "There was a patch of bushes where I'd gotten one bite in practice and I was able to catch two good ones in there," he said.
His 14-13 stringer pushed him into second place entering the final day, which turned out to be an exceedingly consequential day for Downey's fishing career. Entering the final day, he was fifth in Central Open points and had figured out that he needed a fourth-place finish at Grand to secure a high enough finish in points to earn an Elite Series bid for next year. "There was a lot on the line, but I just had a sense of calm going into it and whatever will happen will happen," he said. "That's easier said than done, but that's what I told myself."
Helping to ease his nerves was the reduction in boat traffic in some of his best areas. Fishing had been the toughest in the afternoon portion of days 1 and 2 and he attributed that to the heavy fishing pressure. "On day 3, that was not an issue," he said. "I just slowed down."
He had a limit by 9:30 a.m. and his two biggest fish, both four-pounders, came roughly 10 minutes apart. "After that, I just felt a huge sense of relief," he said. "I had enough, I felt, to be in the top four and maybe have a shot to win with a cull or two." He hit a lengthy dry spell and his next keeper didn't come until 2:20 with a check in time of 2:45. It turned out to be the winning cull and it came from the same area that produced his two afternoon upgrades on Friday.
Winning Pattern:
Downey noted that some of the trees and bushes he targeted were positioned in such a way that he could fish all 360 degrees around their perimeter. "Others were just isolated dead trunks of willows," he said. "A couple key ones were dead and blown over the root wad was up out of the water. The shade line created by the root wad was key as I caught a couple that way."
He figured 75 percent of his fish came off willow trunks and the rest were out of buck brush. "They were all on points," he said. "Even with the big open bays, like in Horse Creek, there'd be a big, round bay but in the back there'd be a jut out of willows."
Downey said despite his lack of experience at Grand, the technique he utilized was quite familiar. "I'm real comfortable fishing that way," he said. "I flip and pitch a lot back home on the natural lakes and the Mississippi River."
Winning Gear:
Texas-rig gear: 7' medium-heavy St. Croix Avid casting rod, Shimano Curado E Series casting reel, 20-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, 3/8-oz. unnamed tungsten worm weight, 4/0 Gamakatsu heavy cover flipping hook, Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver (green-pumpkin).
Jig gear: Same rod, same reel, same line, 3/8-oz. All-Terrain AT jig (green-pumpkin), unnamed craw trailer (green-pumpkin).
Downey said the Avid series is his go-to choice for lighty-duty flipping, especially around docks and wood and stand-alone cover.
"I grew up going to Park Falls and went to the (St. Croix) shop all the time," he said. "I feel a sense of loyalty to St. Croix. They don't sponsor me, but I love that Avid series."
Bassmaster Open Grand Lake Winning Pattern BassFan 9/17/19 (Todd Ceisner)
