Brent Chapman's Pattern, Baits & Gear
Later that day, he ran up the river caught a few bass, including a 5-pounder, on a square-bill crankbait. He went back and spent the duration of the second day and found fish suspended in trees and bushes. That's when he decided how he'd fish the tournament. "The third day I stayed on the lower end and it didn't seem to be in the same ballpark as the river," he said. "It reminded me to fish what I was comfortable in and that was the dirty water. I felt like if I was going to bomb, I'm going do it doing what I like doing." His day-1 stringer was anchored by a 5 1/4-pounder and he was proud of the fact that he caught an 18-inch fish each day, meaning he could show one off on stage at weigh-in. He had a one-two punch of early-morning topwater bites followed by targeting flooded trees and bushes he could flip when the sun got high.
"The water clarity was perfect with 1 to 2 feet of visibility," he said. "Down the lake it was a whole different animal. My key stretches were closer to the channel where the fish got on the banks and would along those channels where the shad were spawning. As the day progressed, they got in those flooded bushes and trees along the channel." The flipping fish varied in depths from 2 to 20 feet, he said. "I caught fish out of both and everywhere in between -- that's what was so crazy about it," he added. "I also couldn't go back to the same places and catch them on same thing the next day. "It's a neat lake. I was impressed with it. Everybody talked it down and said that it'd be brutal, but our biggest fish of the year will come out of here."
Gear:
Topwater gear: 7' medium-action Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Micro Honeycomb casting rod, Wright & McGill Skeet Reese II casting reel (7.0:1 ratio), 40-pound Gamma Torque braided line, 3/8-oz. homemade buzzbait (unpainted), unnamed swimbait trailer (shad).
Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Micro Honeycomb casting rod, same reel, 20-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, 1/4- and 3/8-oz. Eagle Claw tungsten worm weights, 5/0 Lazer Sharp worm hook, Zoom Ol' Monster (plum).
Main factor: "Committing to the dirty water and the plan and sticking with it. Picking an area and getting to know it well was key."
Performance edge: "My Triton and Mercury were great. I bet I put 500 miles plus on this rig all week. To do that for that many days without a glitch is pretty impressive."
Bassmaster Elite Tour Lake Travis 2-5 Patterns BassFan 5/25/18 (Todd Ceisner)
