Josh Bertrand's Pattern, Baits & Gear

Josh Bertrand, a rookie from Arizona, achieved a single-digit finish in just his second Elite Series event. He spent the vast majority of his time away from the banks. "I pretty much just fished structure," he said. "I had one real long point with a hard break on the end of it, but the fish were up on top of it. The flat part had isolated trees, and some post-spawn fish were hanging in those trees in about 9 or 10 feet of water. "Those fish were coming from the back of a creek and stopping on their way out to deeper water. On the first 3 days I totally beat up an area about the size of a basketball court, and then (on day 4) I expanded a little farther. I found another set of trees about 200 feet up the point and I caught all five of my fish on it." He alternated between a crankbait and a Carolina rig.

Cranking gear: 7'9" medium-action Temple Fork Outfitters Tactical Series rod, Abu Garcia Revo Winch casting reel (5.4:1 ratio), 12-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line, Spro Little John DD (citrus shad).

Carolina rig gear: 7'3" Temple Fork Outfitters Tactical Series rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel (7:1 ratio), 20-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon (main line and 2' leader), 1-ounce XPS tungsten weigh, red tungsten bead, barrel swivel, 6/0 Gamakatsu SuperLine EWG hook, 7" Yamamoto Senko (green-pumpkin/purple/green) or 10" Berkley Power Worm (plum).

Main factor: "Sticking to that one area."

Performance edge: "We had some rough water on a couple of days and my Nitro/Mercury got me there and back. My Navionics chip was real important, too."

Falcon Patterns 2-5 Bassfan 3/27/13 (John Johnson)

20 Colors

SPRO John Crews Little John DD 70 Crankbait 3/4oz

$14.49

4.0

1 Review

3 Options

Eco Pro Tungsten Pro Beads 8pk

$3.79

Gamakatsu SuperLine Offset EWG Hooks

130 Colors

Video

We use cookies to make our website and your shopping experience effective, secure and user-friendly. If you stay on this website, you agree to the use of cookies. You'll find more information on cookies at Data Protection.

Bargain Bin Sale! Shop Now

Bargain Bin Sale! Shop The $1 Bin

Bargain Bin Sale! Shop The $3 Bin

Bargain Bin Sale! Shop The $5 Bin

Bargain Bin Sale! Shop The $10 Bin

Bargain Bin Sale! Shop The $20 Bin