Scott Rook's Pattern, Baits & Gear
There wasnÕt a lot of bait in the area Scott Rook fished, but that didnÕt seem to matter much. He located the offshore shoal in practice and caught a decent smallmouth on a jerkbait and noticed several followers nearby. On the last day of practice, he went back to check the spot and caught three 3-pounders on a dropshot rig.
ÒI knew thatÕs where I was going to start,Ó he said. ÒThere were quite a fish there. I wasnÕt really dialed into where the sweet spot was so I started working my way around.Ó
Once he IDÕd the sweet spot, he then got dialed into how the fish wanted to bait. ÒIÕd throw it out there and let it hit bottom and just dead-stick it,Ó he said. ÒIÕd pick my rod up and hold it and hold it and then when IÕd go to pull it thereÕd be one on there. If it was a small fish, like 1 1/2 pounds or less, IÕd feel him bite.Ó
He caught every fish he weighed in the tournament off that same shoal and never had another boat move in on him. He was still able to catch quality bags the final 2 days despite some strong winds at various points of the day.
ÒI was just real patient with it,Ó he said. ÒIÕd just go back and forth. When I caught a fish the first couple days and itÕd slick off, I could see them swimming down there and they had fish of equal size swimming with them, so that gave me confidence that there was enough there.Ó
Dropshot gear: 7Õ medium-action St. Croix Legend Extreme spinning rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier spinning reel, 8-pound Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon line, size 1 Gamakatsu Rebarb hook, 1/4-ounce Big Strike dropshot weight, unnamed dropshot worm (smoky green color).
Main factor: ÒWorking it real, real slow and being real patient with it.Ó
Performance edge: ÒThe equipment had to work good and my MotorGuide trolling motor helped me stay out in those waves the last 2 days. I was just crashing into waves with water coming over the nose. All of your equipment has to work right and my Mercury outboard and MotorGuide trolling motor were big parts of my success.Ó
Oneida Lake Patterns 2-5 Bassfan 9/4/12 (Todd Ceisner)
