John Crews' Winning Pattern, Baits & Gear

John Crews didn't spend all of his time in Lake George; he also focused a lot of his attention on the main river. He caught an 11-02 monster on day 1 that held up as the biggest fish of the tournament. "I was never married to any one area," he said. "Getting that 11 was just a total fluke; a real gift." He used a Neko rig tipped with a Missile Baits Destroyer to catch a couple of solid spawning fish (a 6-pounder and a 4) on the first day. The vast majority of his weigh-in fish were enticed by a Texas-rigged Missile Baits 48 fished around pennywort and other types of vegetation. "Sometimes I'd just run down the river and if something looked right, if it had certain types of reeds or lily pads, I'd go fish it. "The wind blew so hard (on day 4) that I was limited in where I could go."

Worm gear: 7'6" medium-heavy Cashion flipping stick, unnamed casting reel (8:1 ratio), 20-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon line, 3/16-ounce SPRO tungsten weight, 40 Gamakatsu Heavy Cover worm hook, 4.8" Missile Baits 48 (junebug).

Main factor: "Just to keep fishing new water was a big factor."

Bassmaster Elite Series St. Johns River Patterns 2-5 BassFan 2/13/19 (John Johnson )