Tracy Adam's Pattern, Baits & Gear
Tracy Adams has been to Beaver as an FLW competitor on numerous occasions, but hadn't visited since his most recent Tour campaign in 2009. The notoriously stingy venue treated him well upon his return.
He pulled about half of his 20 weigh-in fish from beds (including all five on day 1) and spent the rest of his time on nearby points, where he caught both pre- and post-spawners.
"I didn't have that many bed-fish; the weather in practice was terrible for looking," he said. "I probably had 15 or 20 marked. The big wave is still yet to come, but I think the warm weather we had (on day 3) moved a few more of them up. I found four (on day 4) and caught two of them."
He threw a shaky-head attached to 6-pound line on the points and worked his way through a lot of smaller fish in order to catch a few that would aid his case.
"I could get some decent ones if I kept throwing it," he said.
Sight-fishing gear: 7' medium-heavy Cashion rod, Pro Qualifier casting reel (6.4:1 ratio), 17-pound XPS fluorocarbon line, 5/16-ounce XPS tungsten weight, 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook, Zoom Centipede (watermelon seed).
Shaky-head gear: 6'6" medium-action Cashion rod, Pro Qualifier spinning reel, 6-pound XPS fluorocarbon, 3/16-ounce unnamed shaky-head jig, 4.95" Reaction Innovations Flirt (watermelon/green-pumpkin).
Main factor: Getting a limit early on the last day with a couple of good fish in the mix. That allowed me the time to find a couple more good ones on the beds."
Performance edge: "All my equipment played a big role, from my Nitro Z9 boat with a Mercury Pro XS 250 motor to the rods and reels to my Minn Kota trolling motor."
