John Murray's Pattern, Baits & Gear

John Murray flipped up the top bag on day 1, then caught twin 14-pound sacks the next 2 days to stay within shouting distance of the top slot. He followed that up with the heaviest stringer of the final day to equal his best finish since 2008. "I had an okay practice and I caught them the way I like to Ð up in the river," he said. "I know they live there. I was confident I could catch some, but I wasn't really confident with the flood conditions. Almost every day was totally different." He spent most of his time near the Bouldin Dam Canal and occasionally ventured into that ditch. He had a half-dozen key spots spread along a 5-mile stretch of the Coosa. He did most of his final-day work with a crankbait after the water had thinned out. "Those fish were in 5 to 12 feet on the sandbars and you had to crank the bait very fast."

Flipping gear: 7'6" medium-action Team Lew's rod, Team Lew's Pro casting reel (6.4:1 ratio), 15-pound unnamed fluorocarbon line, 1/2- or 3/4-ounce River2Sea Touch Down jig, Gene Larew Double-Tail trailer (brown/purple).

Cranking gear: 7'10" medium-action Team Lew's cranking rod, Lew's BB1 casting reel (6.4:1 ratio), 12-pound unnamed fluorocarbon line, unnamed medium-diving crankbait (chartreuse/blue).

Main factor: "Concentrating on that area. I'd caught big stringers there three times in the past and I knew they lived there."

Performance edge: "I'd say the Lew's reels. The casted farther than I needed them to and I could get a really good angle on those sandbars."

Alabama River 2-5 Patterns Bassfan 5/15/13 (John Johnson)