Troy Morrow's Pattern, Baits & Gear
He said the water temperature on the bottom in 15 feet was 10 degrees cooler than the surface temperature so he knew how to better manage the water in his livewells for fish care. When the water started to recede in practice, he had a strong feeling the brush piles would be a big player in the tournament. "There were quit e few shallow when we got here, but it was like 75 percent of them left and went to the piles when the water dropped," he said. Once the tournament started, he settled on a crankbait, big worm and drop shot as his three best fish-catchers. He also had a progression of baits he'd throw depending how far off of a brush pile he was. "When I'd approach and get to be about 100 feet away, I'd throw the crankbait," he said. "If I hit it, usually a big one would eat it on the first cast. I'd set the crank down and pick up the big worm and bomb it in there two or three times. As I got closer, I'd pitch the drop shot in there. "I slowed down on some and did catch some after pulling over top of them a little bit." He said brush piles in creek mouths or outside of creek mouths seemed to have better concentrations of fish in them. "It seemed like some of the fish were getting way out finally, but the piles in the smaller pockets were vacant, he added.
Crankbait gear: 7'11" medium-heavy Duckett Fishing Micro Magic casting rod, Lew's BB-1 Speed Spool casting reel (5.4:1 gear ratio), 16-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, SPRO Little John DD 70 crankbait (citrus light). He swapped the stock Gamakatsu trebles on the Little John DD for No. 2 short-shank Gamakatsu trebles to limit getting hung up. The Little John DD is designed to run 16 to 20 feet deep and Morrow said the bait was grinding the bottom all the way to the brush pile on the retrieve and he said the big lip helped it deflect better off cover.
Worm gear: 7'7" extra-heavy Duckett Fishing White Ice casting rod, Duckett Fishing320R casting reel (7.1:1 gear ratio), 20-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line, 1/2-oz. Eco Pro Tungsten worm weight (pegged), 6/0 Gamakatsu offset worm hook, Zoom Magnum Ol' Monster worm (plum apple).
Dropshot gear: 7' medium-heavy Duckett Fishing Micro Magic spinning rod, unnamed spinning reel, 16-pound Sunline SX-1 braided line (main), 8-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon line (leader), #1 Gamakatsu Finesse Heavy Cover hook, 6" unnamed worm (morning dawn).
Main factor: "The number of piles I had marked and knowing what was in the ones I was fishing."
Performance edge: "The way I run my Lowrance units - I run so many of them, I don't have to switch screens. I don't miss near as much as some guys."
