Brock Mosley's Pattern, Baits & Gear
His search last Monday afternoon came up empty, but he started to get dialed in the following day on the Metro Flats. It was windy and rough and rather than run around the lake, he opted to stay put and drift the area. "I didn't want to run in those waves so I drifted 5 miles and went 2 1/2 hours without a bite," he said. "Then all of a sudden I catch three over 4 pounds within 100 yards. I expanded on it a little and caught a few more." On the final day of practice, he caught 23 pounds by 10 a.m. in the same area. "I knew the potential was there and made the decision after that morning to start there," he said. "I could save those river fish and grind out five on the flat on day 1." On both days 1 and 2 of the tournament, Mosley had a 5-pounder in the boat before the entire field had blasted off. Rather than mix in a crankbait or other reaction baits like others did, Mosley stuck with the finesse presentation throughout.
"I was the only one slowing down," he said. He was focused stretches where the water was 16 to 17 feet deep with grass that grew up two feet tall. "On day 1, I caught a few off the grass edge, but on days 2 and 3 when the wind slacked off, I caught more in the grass," he added. When he did go to the river on day 2, he finished off his limit by skipping a jig around docks that had current eddys under them.
Winning Gear:
Drop shot gear: 7'2" medium-action Spiralite Defiant spinning rod, Ardent C-Force 3000 spinning reel, 16-pound unnamed braided line, 8-pound unnamed fluorocarbon line (leader), 1/0 Owner dropshot hook, 6" NetBait Contour Worm (green-pumpkin), 1/4-oz. unnamed dropshot weight.
Jig gear: 7'2" heavy-action Spiralite Defiant casting rod, Ardent Apex Elite casting reel (6.4:1 gear ratio), 15-pound unnamed fluorocarbon line, 1/2-oz. Angler Assets Big Money flipping jig (green-pumpkin with orange tips), NetBait Paca Slim trailer (green-pumpkin).
He also used a Bagley Knocker B when fishing a slack water grass flat behind a seawall in the Detroit River.
Main factor: "Slowing down and keeping it simple. For the lake, I had two rods on my deck - both dropshots with different baits. I saw guys throw a crankbait and jerkbait and spinnerbait and dropshot. I stuck with a dropshot knowing I was going to get seven or eight bites a day."
Performance edge: "I ran the Garmin Fishing Chart on the satellite image and that helped read me the grass lines a little better."
BASS Lake St Clair 2-5 Patterns BassFan 8/30/17 (Todd Ceisner)
