Dylan Hays' Pattern, Baits & Gear
He shared a locale near the South Shore (within shouting distance of where Grigsby fished) with 3rd-place finisher Brad Knight. The place wasn't really structure- or cover-oriented, but was teeming with perch that the smallmouth were feasting upon in 17 to 18 feet of water. "It was windy in practice and on that one little stretch I made six stops," he said. "I'd catch a 4-pounder and then move about a quarter-mile and do it again. That area was full of 5-, 4- and 3-pounders and they were all really fat." A Ned rig was his primary weapon. "Really long casts were definitely better when it was calmer, but it was also easier to lose fish that way," he said.
Gear:
Ned rig gear: 7' medium-heavy Falcon Cara rod, Shimano Stradic Ci4+ 2500 spinning reel, 10-pound Hi-Seas braided line (main line), 8-pound Hi-Seas fluorocarbon (leader), 3/16-ounce Mustad Grip-Pin Ned jighead, Z-Man Finesse TRD (green-pumpkin).
He caught two weigh-in fish on a dropshot rig featuring a 6-inch Roboworm (Aaron's magic) on day 1.
Main factor: "Finding an area and calling it home. I knew there were lots of good fish around and I stuck with it."
Performance edge: "The Minn Kota trolling motor with Spot-Lock, the Power-Pole Drift Paddles for slowing down in the wind and the Lowrance graph. I used different colors on the graph for my trails each day so I'd know where I'd been and where I hadn't been and it made the waypoints real easy to manage."
FLW Tour St. Clair Patterns 2-5 BassFan 7/6/18 (John Johnson)
