Patrick Walters' Pattern, Baits & Gear
Patrick Walters got off to a sluggish start in his pro debut, but his weights went up considerably over the middle days of the event, culminating with the massive haul on day 3 that put him in 2nd place headed into the final round. He caught fish weighing more than 9 pounds on each of the first three days. He used a topwater prop bait to find fish and then caught them on a flipping stick using a couple of different sizes of worms. He targeted reed heads, isolated reeds and other emergent vegetation. He also caught a few good fish casting a soft stickbait to isolated pieces of cover.
"It was an unreal tournament," he said. "I had the best day of my life, catching almost 33 pounds, and I didn't even have the biggest bag of the day (that honor went to Clifford Pirch and his 34-09 stringer). "My practice was miserable - the bite was to tough that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to catch anything. But the lake showed up in style."
Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Daiwa Kage rod, Daiwa Tatula 100 casting reel (7:1 ratio), 20-pound Sufix fluorocarbon line, 3/8-ounce VMC tungsten weight, 4/0 VMC Heavy Duty Flippin' hook, Zoom Magnum Finesse Worm (junebug).
Casting gear: 7'4" heavy-action Daiwa Tatula Elite Ish Monroe Signature Series Frog rod, Daiwa Tatula SV TWS casting reel, 17-pound Sufix fluorocarbon, 3/16-ounce VMC tungsten weight, 5/0 VMC EWG hook, Zoom Magnum Trick Worm (watermelon red) or Zoom Fluke (pearl white).
Main factor: "I'd say it was finding clean water in the areas where fish were pulling up to spawn. They were coming fast."
Bassmaster Elite Series St. Johns River Patterns 2-5 BassFan 2/13/19 (John Johnson )
