Bradley Roy's Pattern, Baits and Gear
"I could see where the shelves came off and I'd stay back and pitch to where I thought the beds would be. A lot of times I'd catch the male first and then I'd make repetitive casts back in there to try to catch the female. "The reason I think they were spawning there is that when the water's down, they're more comfortable there and they can easily slide off into deeper water. The creek channel wasn't far away and it might be 10 feet deep if it was in the back of a pocket and 15 or 20 feet on a main creek arm." His bites came from water that ranged from 2 to 6 feet in depth. About 80 percent of his fish were enticed by a Texas-rigged creature bait and the others fell for a spinnerbait.
Gear:
Pitching gear: 7'6" heavy-action MHX Elite Pro Series rod, unnamed casting reel (7:1 ratio), 17-pound Seaguar AbrazX fluorocarbon line, unnamed 1/4-ounce bullet weight, unnamed 4/0 straight-shank hook, Cabin Creek Express Bug (green-pumpkin/blue).
Spinnerbait gear: 7'3" medium-heavy MHX rod, unnamed casting reel (6.4:1 ratio), 15-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon, unnamed 3/8-ounce spinnerbait (shad with No. 5 willow-leaf blades). Main factor: "Fishing new water every day and not just running the same water over and over again." Performance edge: "Having a rod with the right action and good sensitivity. A lot of the fish weren't biting the bait that hard - they'd just pick it up or swim off with it a little. The sensitivity would clue me in that there were fish there that I couldn't see."
Bassmaster Tour Grand Lake Patterns 2-5 BassFan 5/3/18 (John Johnson)
