Bobby Lane's Pattern, Baits & Gear
Bobby Lane opted to focus both days of practice at Lake Winnebago, knowing two decent days to start the tournament would lay the foundation for him earning a berth in the final MLF Cup event. "I spent all of my time on 'Bago because I've been doing this long enough to where I'm comfortable on new lakes without any practice," he said, acknowledging he'd be going into the Knockout Round blind if he made it take far. "I had to get there first before I could do anything," he added.
With Winnebago a windy, muddy mess, he opted to seek out shallow, protected bays. He found one with some matted coontail and had one bite there. When he returned for the Group B Shotgun Round, the water had cleaned up and the fish didn't seem interested in a vibrating jig so he switched to flipping a creature bait under a heavy weight. "After I caught the first one, I spent the next 45 minutes just blasting them," he said. "I went from 15th to first in 45 minutes. It seemed like all of those fish sucked in there and the plan just came together. It was cool, too, because other boats were around and nobody was catching them." The flipping bite wasn't as productive during the Elimination Round so Lane had to explore other options in the area. "I think they just hunker down, much like they do at Okeechobee," he said. "They just sit and wait because they know in a day or two (the water) will clean up and they'll go back to feeding. When I found it they were fresh."
The water was still muddy by the Elimination Round and he was able to catch a few on a vibrating jig to get himself into position to make the Knockout Round. "I just stayed in that bay and went fishing and put my head down," he said. "I cruised through that round and relaxed from noon on because this format wears you down physically and mentally so you take any chance you can get to ease up." From there, it was on to Butte des Morts, where he finished second by primarily throwing a vibrating jig and a frog in the morning before catching his better fish in the afternoon pitching a jig around metal docks. "I just flew by the seat of my pants," he said. "Toward the end of the day, the creek I was in got muddy so I headed out to the main lake." The jig bite was a little slower, but it produced bigger fish. His first bite doing it was a 3 1/2-pound smallmouth. His next two fish were a 3-09 and a 3-04. "That got me going," he said.
He moved to another section of lake with another stretch of metal docks and finished with another flurry of smallmouth ranging from 2 to 3 1/2 pounds. "They knocked the fire out of that jig and it made me feel good to make the championship round," he added. It didn't Lane long to recognize how different Green Lake was from the venues used during the first three rounds. "There was no comparison at all," he said. "The water was crystal clear. You could see 20 feet. Smallmouth were still on beds. It was a perfect scenario for PowerBait Maxscent and I'm sure glad I loaded the boat with it because I went through a pile of them."
Lane started the final day on the same shoal as Jacob Wheeler and Brandon Coulter. While Wheeler seized the early lead, Lane caught several smallmouth sight-fishing with a dropshot. "I didn't want go throw a frog in the back of a creek," he said. "I felt like if the smallmouth were there, they'd dominate." He was right. To start the second period, Lane and Pace landed on the same spot, but Pace was throwing a jerkbait while Lane continued with his vertical presentations. Before long, Lane opted to move on. "I ran across the way and found something identical because I felt the only way to win was to find fresh fish somewhere similar to what we'd been fishing," he said. "The water 6 to 10 feet and as long as there were rocks there you could catch them." Lane feels that had the weather not turned bad and caused a 75-minute delay, the outcome might've swung in his favor. "If the wind had not blown and (Pace) didn't kill them on a jerkbait, I think I would've been holding the trophy. The spot I found was good enough to win. When it slicked off, it got stupid for a while."
Gear:
Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier casting rod, Abu Garcia Revo Rocket casting reel, 50-pound Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate Braid line, 3/4-, 1-, 1.5-oz. Flat-Out Tungsten flipping weight, 4/0 Berkley Fusion 19 Heavy Cover flipping hook, Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Creature Hawg (black blue fleck).
Jig gear: 7' medium-heavy Abu Garcia Villain 2.0 casting rod, Abu Garcia Revo ALX casting reel, 15-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line, 1/2-oz. homemade casting jig (black/blue), 3.25" Berkley PowerBait Craw Fatty trailer (black blue fleck)
Dropshot gear: 7' medium-action Abu Garcia Veracity spinning rod, Abu Garcia Revo MGXtreme spinning reel, 10-pound Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate Braid line, 10-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line (leader), size 1 Berkley Fusion 19 dropshot hook, 4" Berkley PowerBait MaxScent The General (green-pumpkin), 5/16-oz. Flat Out Tungsten dropshot weight.
Lake Winnebago/Green Lake 2-5 Patterns BassFan 7/5/19 (Todd Ceisner)
