Stacey King's Pattern, Baits & Gear
Up until two weeks before the Lake Toho tournament, Stacey King wasn't sure he was up for the potential week-long grind of a Tour event.
"I have really been feeling good, but my endurance wasn't that good," he said. "I could fish for five or six hours and would get worn out. (My wife) Peggy coaxed me into coming to this thing. We came down early and fished three days at Okeechobee to get in shape so this was more of an endurance contest for me. I did pretty well, I think."
Over the years, King, who hails from the Ozarks, has been able to obtain a better understanding of how to fish effectively in Florida and he used that experience to his advantage.
"It's just a learning experience after you've fished a lot in the same place," he said. Eventually, you learn how to catch them. When you're blind casting, you have to understand what type of cover they spawn around. You need a hard bottom and openings in the vegetation so there's sunlight getting through so they can build the bed.
"Pads and Kissimmee grass typically grow on a hard bottom, so I was keying on little openings in those."
His go-to bait was a soft stickbait, but he also threw a buzzbait, but caught the majority of his keepers on the Bass Pros Shops Stick O.
He popped 28-01 on the first day and was a fixture in the top 5 the rest of the event. He ran to Lake Kissimmee three of the four days, opting to stay in Toho on day 3.
"I stuck with a pattern all week," he said. "I caught most of my fish in 3 to 5 feet."
Worm gear: 7' heavy-action Carbon Lite casting rod, Johnny Morris signature series casting reel (6.4:1 ratio), 17- and 20-pound XPS fluorocarbon line, 1/16- and 3/16-oz. tungsten slip sinkers, 3/0 Gamakatsu Finesse Heavy Cover hook, 6" Stick-O (green-pumpkin), Zoom Magnum Speed Worm (junebug).
Main factor: "That face that my wife and I had had several big bites in practice and that zeroed me in what they were doing and it paid off for me."
Performance edge: "My Power-Poles and Lowrance electronics, not so much for the depth but for the course extension features. You can pinpoint a spot 20 miles down the lake and go directly to it."
