Adrian Avena's Patern, Baits & Gear

Like Hawk, Adrian Avena also kept his running around to a minimum, as he had places to catch spotted bass and other places to catch largemouths, all in Kowaliga Creek. He pursued the spots in the early hours and switched to the largemouths after he'd compiled a decent limit. He fished solidly throughout the event, but his high finish (his best in two-plus seasons on the Elite Series) was built around the 6 1/2-pound largemouth he caught on day 2, when he moved up a whopping 56 places in the standings. "Without that one fish squeezed in there, I would've still gotten a check but I probably would've ended up somewhere in the 40s," he said. "Going shallow got me three good fish Ð the 6 1/2, a 3 1/2 and one that was close to 3."

His spotted-bass work was strictly vertical fishing while paying close attention to his Lowrance HDS9 unit. He caught those fish in 30 to 45 feet of water on a Berkley Gulp! Minnow. "I'd be watching the 2D and I'd see one, and then I'd kick the trolling motor into reverse and drop down and try to entice it into biting." In the shallows, he threw a 3-inch swimbait and flipped a jig to wood targets. He caught one largemouth on a Berkley Cutter 110 jerkbait (elegy bone).

Gear:

Shaky-head gear: 6'10" medium-light Abu Garcia Fantasista rod, Abu Garcia Revo Premier 35 spinning reel, 8-pound Berkley Fireline Super 8 braided line (main line), 6-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon (leader), 3/8-ounce VMC Moon Eye jighead, Berkley Gulp! Minnow (smelt).

Swimbait gear: 7' medium-heavy Abu Garcia Villain 2.0 rod, Abu Garcia Revo ALX casting reel, 6- or 8-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon, 1/4-ounce custom-made ball-head jig, unnamed 3" swimbait (shad).

Flipping gear: 7' medium-heavy Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier rod, same reel as swimbait (8:1 ratio), 17-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon, 3/8-ounce All Terrain Tackle swimjig (black/blue with skirt trimmed for a finesse-style presentation), Berkley Havoc Pit Boss Jr. trailer (black/blue).

Main factor: "Having that 1-2 punch approach."

Performance edge: "I always thought the HydroWave was kind of a gimmick and I'd never buy one, but I was given one to put on my boat and there were a couple of situations where it made a difference and proved to me that it's legit. On the second day I only had one line-burner in my livewell and I turned that thing on, and within 45 seconds I had a school of spots right under my boat. They were just coming up to my trolling motor and I

Bassmaster Tour Lake Martin 2-5 Patterns BassFan 2/14/18 (John Johnson)