Joshua Weaver's Winning Pattern, Baits & Gear
Joshua Weaver caught every fish he weighed off the same wing dam. He had company on it for part of day 2, but otherwise didn't have to share it with anybody.
"It was about a 100-yard stretch and I was only able to fish about 60 percent of it until (day 4), when the water rose up. I only fished the down-current side - I tried the top side a few times just to let the bottom side rest, but all I caught were a couple of small ones. I don't even know if I caught a keeper on that side."
He had a terrible practice, catching just 11 keepers over the course of three days. On day 1 of competition he was fishing around an island and caught one off a small rock jetty (he'd been encouraged to try that type of cover by roommate Buddy Gross), so he zoomed out on his Lowrance unit and discovered the wing dam less than a mile away.
He estimated that 17 of his weigh-in fish were enticed by a Zoom Z-Craw Jr. on a swing-head jig. The other three bit a wacky-rigged Senko during slow-action periods.
Winning Gear:
Swing-head gear: 7'6" medium-heavy Berkley E-Motion rod, Shimano Curado casting reel (7:1 ratio), unnamed 20-pound fluorocarbon line, 1/2-ounce homemade jig, Zoom Z-Craw Jr. (blueberry).
Wacky-rig gear: 7' medium-action Berkley Series One spinning rod, Shimano Stradic CI4+ spinning reel, unnamed 15-pound braid (main line), unnamed 10-pound fluorocarbon leader (10'), 2/0 Gamakatsu Aaron Martens TGW Drop Shot hook, 5" Yamamoto Senko (black/blue).
Main factor: "(Gross) telling me about getting bit on wing dams throwing a swing-head. I didn't have anything going, so I decided that's what I'd do. I thought it was my best chance of doing well."
FLW Tour Mississippi River 2-5 Patterns BassFan 5/26/17 (John Johnson)
