Jake Whitaker's Pattern, Baits & Gear
The weight of Jake Whitaker's bags increased on each successive day, but his chances of winning were dealt a severe blow with an 18 1/2-pound effort in the opening round. Like Cox, he dedicated the vast majority of his time to the St. Clair River. "I practiced one full day in the river and I didn't kill it by any means, but I caught better quality fish in there," he said. "On day 1 (of competition) my plan was to catch 17 to 18 pounds in the river, then go to the lake and try to upgrade. I caught 18 1/2 and went to the lake at 12 o'clock, but I never did anything, so from the second day on I stayed in the river the rest of the time." He fished places where grass flats dropped off into the river channel and used a Ned rig to pull fish from 20 to 30 feet of water.
"I'd usually catch two or three good ones in the morning, then from 9 to 12 it would just go dead at my starting spot. I started spending that time at another place, which was sometimes good and sometimes not, and then I'd go back to my primary after 12 and usually upgrade a time or two. "If I could've made a couple of upgrades on that first afternoon, I would've had 20 pounds and I would've won. But that's part of fishing and I'm not disappointed at all."
Gear:
Ned rig gear: 7'2" medium-light ALX ZOLO Trickster rod, size 30 Abu Garcia Revo Premier MGX spinning reel, 15-pound P-Line XTCB braid (main line), 8-pound P-Line Tactical fluorocarbon (leader), 1/4-ounce True South Custom Lures Ned Head, Bizz Baits Ned Dizzy or Z-Man Hula StickZ (green-pumpkin).
Bassmaster Elite Lake St. Clair 2-5 Patterns - BassFan 8/26/20 (John Johnson)
