John Hunter's Pattern, Baits & Gear
Practice:
He wanted to stay on Big and Little Harris and had a couple solid days in practice. "I wasn't trying to catch them, but you need to lean on them every once in a while and I caught a 5 and a 4," he said. "I found a few areas and found a lot of things I really liked in the offshore grass." As the tournament played out, he discovered the fish were is grouped up in "pods" and when he caught one, he often caught five or six in the same small area. "I knew there'd be bite windows," he added. "When you'd get around those pods when they were in the mood to eat, it was like they were eating out of your hand. I'd get a bite, pole down and cast to the same spot over and over again. It was like you had them penned in." He relied on 1-2 punch of a jerkbait and vibrating jig around offshore hydrilla in Little Harris to catch his weight throughout the event. After bagging a modest 13-07 on day 1, he caught 62-07 over the final three days to notch his career-best finish. He fished the same way last year in the Southern Open, but finished way back in the pack. "Coming here this time around, the lake is in way better shape with loads of offshore hydrilla," he added.
Competition:
The flat that was most productive covered shallow water and terminated in about 7 feet of water. "You had to find the juicy spots in the giant flat and that spot would change every day," he said. "There were little 400-by-200-yard areas and the sweet spot would be in that zone, but each day that spot would move. "I wouldn't say they were schooled up. They were more in pods and there'd be multiple 10- to 20-fish pods out there and you had to run into one of those. On day 3, I hit three of them pods of them." He estimated only five of the fish he weighed in came from shallow hydrilla patches while the rest were out in 7 feet where there was a couple feet of water on top of the grass. He'd throw the jerkbait in and around the holes and thinner patches and deploy the vibrating jig around thicker grass. "Pausing the jerkbait was a big deal," he said. "When I'd catch one, then I'd pause it on the next cast. I'd always pause it by the trolling motor because I'd see them stalking it so I tried to get it out further away from the boat and pause it for four or five seconds, then twitch it and they'd eat it almost every time."
Gear:
Jerkbait gear: 7' medium-heavy Cashion Fishing casting rod, unnamed casting reel (7.0:1 ratio), 15-pound P-Line Tactical fluorocarbon line, 6th Sense Provoke 106 jerkbait (shad scream), Megabass Ito Vision 110 (pro blue).
Hunter opted for the Provoke in the morning because it offered more contrast in the lower light. In the afternoon, when it got brighter, he went with the more translucent Megabass option.
He preferred 15-pound line because it kept the baits from digging too deep and getting hung in the grass.
Vibrating jig gear: 7'1" medium-heavy Cashion Elite casting rod, same reel, same line (17-pound), 1/2-oz. Z-Man/Evergreen Jackhammer vibrating jig, Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Zako trailer (green-pumpkin).
Hunter replaced the stock skirt on the Jackhammer with a Jakked Baits skirt in the badgill pattern, which features green-pumpkin with orange and chartreuse strands.
Main factor: "I just fished the way I like to fish. A lot of times when I have good tournaments, it's staying in my comfort zone and doing what I like to do."
Performance edge: "My Falcon boat and Suzuki are the best set up in my opinion. They're a very reliable and smooth ride back and forth. My Lowrance units were a big factor in marking the grass edges and patches and also my Power-Poles and Costa sunglasses were a big deal keeping me still and allowing me to pick apart those pods of fish."
FLW Tour Harris Chain 2-5 Patterns BassFan 2/28/18 (Todd Ceisner)
