Clark Wendlandt's Pattern, Baits & Gear

Clark Wendlandt was focused primarily on big fish and at Smith Lake, that can sometimes be a challenge. Last week, however, he was able to catch above-average fish on a consistent basis by focusing on two main areas that gave him access to spotted bass as well as largemouths that had moved in to spawn. "I caught them around all kinds of cover - logs, bluff rocks, regular banks, docks," he said. "I caught them everywhere." He also weighed in five fish caught off beds, but that pattern grew more daunting as the water continued to rise. "I didn't mark it, but it sure looked like the water came up 2 1/2 to 3 feet during the tournament and those bedders kept getting deeper and it was harder to see them," he said. In practice, he was focused on covering as much water as possible and wound up pinpointing 15 bedding fish that he deemed might be catchable once the tournament began. "I only caught one on day 1 that I knew where it was so the ones I knew about were no good to me," he added. "I had some good bites (in practice). These fish were wanting to spawn and they were staging. I don't know if I had an unbelievable practice, but I found an area I liked. A lot of the battle is having confidence in those areas and I did." He pitched white and natural-colored tubes to fish around beds and also threw a jerkbait, mainly on day 2 when the conditions got cloudy and breezy. He added in a 1/4-oz. white swimjig as well. "Each day I changed a little bit and adapted as best I could," he said. "Those two cold nights (Friday and Saturday) really shut down new ones coming in. If new ones had kept coming, I could've done well. There were just fewer fish on the beds. "If the cold front hadn't come through, the weights may not have been all that different, but I would've caught 'em because it was conducive to what I was doing."

Swimjig gear: 7'1" medium-heavy Cabela's Tournament ZX swimjig/spinnerbait casting rod, Verano casting reel, 20-pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid line, 1/4-oz. 4x4 Jigs swimjig (white), Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper trailer (pearl blue shad).

Jerkbait gear: 6'9" medium-action Cabela's Tournament ZX jerkbait/topwater casting rod, Cabela's Tournament ZX casting reel, 10-pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid line, Yo-Zuri 3DB Series jerkbait (prism shad), Rapala Shadow Rap (albino shiner).

Sight-fishing gear: 7'2" medium-heavy Cabela's Tournament ZX jig/worm casting rod, same reel as jerkbait, 17-pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid line, 1/4-oz. unnamed tungsten worm weight, 4/0 Owner Wide Gap Plus worm hook, 4" unnamed tube (white and green-pumpkin).

Main factor: "Deciding to fish for suspended fish instead of fish that were on the bottom."

Performance edge: "Those Cabela's rods are fantastic. I like how they feel and they make casting really easy."

Smith Lake 2-5 Patterns BassFan 4/1/15 (Todd Ceisner)