Bradley Roy's Pattern, Baits & Gear

Bradley Roy, who's up to 2nd in the Angler of the Year race behind Brent Chapman, fished ponds and canals on the upper stretches of the Neches River. He had five productive locales, a couple of which he shared with two or three other competitors, but he had the others to himself. "I'd never fished that area before - I found it doing my homework," he said. "I came down for pre-practice (prior to the original cut-off) and got a hint that there were fish in that area and then I came back for 2 days after the Travis tournament and kind of refined it a little bit." The canals had scattered grass that held better-quality fish. He mainly exploited cypress trees in the ponds.

He was remarkably consistent on such an unpredictable fishery, as there was only a 1 1/4-pound variance in the weight of his four bags. A Fluke-style soft-plastic bait was his primary offering - he made everything from long casts to short pitches with it, depending on the cover. He also caught some fish on a crankbait. "The (Fluke-type bait) just seemed to fit the situation," he said. "There were a lot of little baitfish in there and the bass were definitely eating them. "I threw the crankbait when the tide set up a little better for that - the best was high, but falling out. The fish would pull off the hard line of the trees to the stuff out in front."

Gear:

Fluke gear: 7'3" medium-heavy MHX MB873 rod, unnamed casting reel (7.3:1 ratio), 15-pound Seaguar InvizX flurocarbon line, unnamed 4/0 hook, 5" Fluke-style bait (white).

Cranking gear: 7' medium-action MHX CB843 rod, unnamed casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), same line, Bandit Series 100 square-bill (pearl/chartreuse back).

Main factor: "I felt like I managed my fish well in the areas I had."

Performance edge: "Definitely my boat and motor (Triton/Mercury) for getting me there and back."

Bass Elite Tour Sabine River Patterns 2-5 BassFan 6/13/18 (John Johnson)