How-To

Top lures at Grand Lake 2021

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Nick LeBrun achieved redemption in grand style in the final Basspro.com Bassmaster Open of the year at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees. Two weeks after dropping from first place to second on the final day of the Central Division Open at Alabama’s Smith Lake, the 37-year-old Bossier City, La., resident went from second to first on the final day at Grand Lake to earn a 2022 Bassmaster Classic berth. <br><br> <em>All captions: Steve Wright</em>
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - Nick LeBrun achieved redemption in grand style in the final Basspro.com Bassmaster Open of the year at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees. Two weeks after dropping from first place to second on the final day of the Central Division Open at Alabama’s Smith Lake, the 37-year-old Bossier City, La., resident went from second to first on the final day at Grand Lake to earn a 2022 Bassmaster Classic berth. All captions: Steve Wright
“Money spends, but going to the Classic is a childhood, manhood, everything dream,” LeBrun said. “It’s going to take a while for that to sink in.” <br><br> He was remarkably consistent over three days, posting five-bass limits weighing 17-12, 15-3 and 17-3 for his winning total of 50 pounds, 2 ounces.
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - “Money spends, but going to the Classic is a childhood, manhood, everything dream,” LeBrun said. “It’s going to take a while for that to sink in.” He was remarkably consistent over three days, posting five-bass limits weighing 17-12, 15-3 and 17-3 for his winning total of 50 pounds, 2 ounces.
<b>Harvey Horne (10th, 33-8) </b><br> Horne jumped from 36th place on Day 1 to 6th on Day 2 with 17-14. He accomplished that mainly with a SPRO Little John DD crankbait in spooky nasty color pattern on rocky, wind-blown points. “It’s a little clear, translucent shad pattern,” Horne said. “It seemed to be something they wanted this week, something subtle that they couldn’t see real well. I think that was the key for me, being able to go behind guys and pick up a few extra bites with it.” <br><br> Horne also used two jigs on those same rocky, wind-blown points to catch some key fish – a 3/4-ounce Green Fish Tackle Crawball football jig and a 1-ounce jig made by Hook, Line & Sinker, his hometown tackle store in Bella Vista, Ark. He trailed them with a Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog in brown and green pumpkin/purple color patterns.
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - Harvey Horne (10th, 33-8) Horne jumped from 36th place on Day 1 to 6th on Day 2 with 17-14. He accomplished that mainly with a SPRO Little John DD crankbait in spooky nasty color pattern on rocky, wind-blown points. “It’s a little clear, translucent shad pattern,” Horne said. “It seemed to be something they wanted this week, something subtle that they couldn’t see real well. I think that was the key for me, being able to go behind guys and pick up a few extra bites with it.” Horne also used two jigs on those same rocky, wind-blown points to catch some key fish – a 3/4-ounce Green Fish Tackle Crawball football jig and a 1-ounce jig made by Hook, Line & Sinker, his hometown tackle store in Bella Vista, Ark. He trailed them with a Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog in brown and green pumpkin/purple color patterns.
<b>Vance Montgomery (9th, 35-13) </b><br> Montgomery, who lives in nearby Claremore, Okla., spends more than 100 days a year on Grand Lake. He’s got two main lures of choice in October on this, his home lake. He starts with a Tightlines UV Power Worm, a 10-inch, ribbontail worm in June bug color. “I use this to get numbers of bites,” he said. “Once I get a limit, I switch.” <br><br> Montgomery’s big fish lure is a 1-ounce black-and-blue jig with a watermelon red Tightlines UV Hy-Brid Craw trailer. “I know it’s kind of a weird combination,” he said. “I think it looks like a big bluegill. I had four 4-pound-plus fish this week, and they all came on the jig. I fished docks in the back one-third of pockets. I’m looking for big threadfin and gizzard shad. I’ve won a lot of money on this lake in October, and this is pretty much what I do.”
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - Vance Montgomery (9th, 35-13) Montgomery, who lives in nearby Claremore, Okla., spends more than 100 days a year on Grand Lake. He’s got two main lures of choice in October on this, his home lake. He starts with a Tightlines UV Power Worm, a 10-inch, ribbontail worm in June bug color. “I use this to get numbers of bites,” he said. “Once I get a limit, I switch.” Montgomery’s big fish lure is a 1-ounce black-and-blue jig with a watermelon red Tightlines UV Hy-Brid Craw trailer. “I know it’s kind of a weird combination,” he said. “I think it looks like a big bluegill. I had four 4-pound-plus fish this week, and they all came on the jig. I fished docks in the back one-third of pockets. I’m looking for big threadfin and gizzard shad. I’ve won a lot of money on this lake in October, and this is pretty much what I do.”
<b>Cody Huff (8th, 38-0) </b><br> Saturday’s final was icing on the cake for Huff, the 24-year-old Bethel University graduate from Ava, Mo. He had clinched an invitation to the 2022 Bassmaster Elite Series on Friday. Huff won the Central Division points title with finishes of 25th on Pickwick Lake, 5th at Smith Lake and 8th at Grand Lake. “Everything I weighed came from a boat dock,” he said. “I was skipping a jig and throwing a (Zara) Spook behind boat docks. As crazy as it sounds, I was skipping the Spook to get it where I needed it to be. I caught some big ones on it this week, just getting it back there in the shade. This lake seems to really get good when the big gizzard shad start cruising the bank.” <br><br> Huff used two different colored Spooks – bone and clear. And he used two different 1/2-ounce green pumpkin/orange jigs – a Terminator flipping jig and a Queen Tackle flipping jig, both trailed with a green pumpkin Missile Baits Baby D Bomb. The Terminator jig has a lead head, and the Queen Tackle jig is made of tungsten. “They make a different sound when they drag on the rocks,” Huff said. “The tungsten is a little louder. A lot of times I’ll go back through an area with a different jig and get bites like that.”
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - Cody Huff (8th, 38-0) Saturday’s final was icing on the cake for Huff, the 24-year-old Bethel University graduate from Ava, Mo. He had clinched an invitation to the 2022 Bassmaster Elite Series on Friday. Huff won the Central Division points title with finishes of 25th on Pickwick Lake, 5th at Smith Lake and 8th at Grand Lake. “Everything I weighed came from a boat dock,” he said. “I was skipping a jig and throwing a (Zara) Spook behind boat docks. As crazy as it sounds, I was skipping the Spook to get it where I needed it to be. I caught some big ones on it this week, just getting it back there in the shade. This lake seems to really get good when the big gizzard shad start cruising the bank.” Huff used two different colored Spooks – bone and clear. And he used two different 1/2-ounce green pumpkin/orange jigs – a Terminator flipping jig and a Queen Tackle flipping jig, both trailed with a green pumpkin Missile Baits Baby D Bomb. The Terminator jig has a lead head, and the Queen Tackle jig is made of tungsten. “They make a different sound when they drag on the rocks,” Huff said. “The tungsten is a little louder. A lot of times I’ll go back through an area with a different jig and get bites like that.”
<b>Sam George (7th, 38-3) </b><br> “I basically kept two baits in my hand the whole time,” said Sam George, who just missed an invitation to the Bassmaster Elite Series after finishing 4th in the Opens overall points. Lure No. 1 was a 1/2-ounce Strike King Thunder Cricket with a skirt removed and Strike King pearl white Blade Minnow added as a trailer. “I took the skirt off just to give it that slender baitfish look,” said George, who lives in Athens, Ala. <br><br> Lure No. 2 was a hard candy-colored Strike King Rage Tail Cut R Worm on a Trokar Pro-V 4/0 hook and a 1/2-ounce weight. “I was pitching it at isolated brush, brushpiles – anything like that,” George said.
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - Sam George (7th, 38-3) “I basically kept two baits in my hand the whole time,” said Sam George, who just missed an invitation to the Bassmaster Elite Series after finishing 4th in the Opens overall points. Lure No. 1 was a 1/2-ounce Strike King Thunder Cricket with a skirt removed and Strike King pearl white Blade Minnow added as a trailer. “I took the skirt off just to give it that slender baitfish look,” said George, who lives in Athens, Ala. Lure No. 2 was a hard candy-colored Strike King Rage Tail Cut R Worm on a Trokar Pro-V 4/0 hook and a 1/2-ounce weight. “I was pitching it at isolated brush, brushpiles – anything like that,” George said.
<b>Matsayumi Matsushita (6th, 39-9) </b><br> The 38-year-old resident of Tokoname, Japan, clinched a Bassmaster Elite Series invitation by finishing 6th at Grand Lake and 2nd in the Opens overall points race. Matsushita relied on three main lures fished around brushpiles and boat docks. They were a chartreuse Deps Evoke 2.0 crankbait, a 4-inch Deps Barbute creature bait, free-rigged with a 3/8-ounce weight and a green pumpkin/blue Jackall Lures drift crab on a 3/16-ounce football head jig.
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - Matsayumi Matsushita (6th, 39-9) The 38-year-old resident of Tokoname, Japan, clinched a Bassmaster Elite Series invitation by finishing 6th at Grand Lake and 2nd in the Opens overall points race. Matsushita relied on three main lures fished around brushpiles and boat docks. They were a chartreuse Deps Evoke 2.0 crankbait, a 4-inch Deps Barbute creature bait, free-rigged with a 3/8-ounce weight and a green pumpkin/blue Jackall Lures drift crab on a 3/16-ounce football head jig.
<b>Brock Mosley (5th, 40-6) </b><br> “Junk fishing – it’s just what I like to do in the fall,” said Mosley, “anything from topwater to flipping, spinnerbaiting, ChatterBaiting, cranking a squarebill. I didn’t have a game plan all week.” The Elite Series pro from Collinsville, Miss., did have a few baits that he relied on more than others – an Angler Assets 1/2-ounce spinnerbait in a Mississippi special color pattern, a Bill Lewis SB-57 squarebill crankbait and a Z Man ChatterBait JackHammer with a Yamamoto Zako swimbait trailer. <br><br> “It’s the kind of stuff I use in almost every event,” Mosley said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in what I’m throwing. It’s all about just running into them.”
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - Brock Mosley (5th, 40-6) “Junk fishing – it’s just what I like to do in the fall,” said Mosley, “anything from topwater to flipping, spinnerbaiting, ChatterBaiting, cranking a squarebill. I didn’t have a game plan all week.” The Elite Series pro from Collinsville, Miss., did have a few baits that he relied on more than others – an Angler Assets 1/2-ounce spinnerbait in a Mississippi special color pattern, a Bill Lewis SB-57 squarebill crankbait and a Z Man ChatterBait JackHammer with a Yamamoto Zako swimbait trailer. “It’s the kind of stuff I use in almost every event,” Mosley said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in what I’m throwing. It’s all about just running into them.”
<b>John Soukup (4th, 42-15) </b><br> Soukup had the second-heaviest one-day bag of the tournament – 19-1 – on Day 1 and held the lead after Day 2 before finishing 4th. One of his primary lures was a 1/2-ounce Booyah Buzz buzzbait in solid black. He added a trailer hook to the buzzbait. “I don’t usually like a trailer hook on it,” he said. “But they were swirling and slapping at it a lot.” Soukup covered water around bluffs and bluff ends where current had concentrated baitfish.
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - John Soukup (4th, 42-15) Soukup had the second-heaviest one-day bag of the tournament – 19-1 – on Day 1 and held the lead after Day 2 before finishing 4th. One of his primary lures was a 1/2-ounce Booyah Buzz buzzbait in solid black. He added a trailer hook to the buzzbait. “I don’t usually like a trailer hook on it,” he said. “But they were swirling and slapping at it a lot.” Soukup covered water around bluffs and bluff ends where current had concentrated baitfish.
Once the sun got up, the Sapulpa, Okla., angler threw a translucent colored Zara Spook around boat docks. “I can’t cover as much water as I can with the buzzbait, so it’s very cast specific,” said Soukup, who adds a green feather to the last hook on the lure. “I like it because no one else does that, and I think it looks a little more natural,” he said. <br><br> Soukup said most of his weight on Day 2 came on a homemade 1/2-ounce jig with an Arkie head. The jig was Oklahoma brown. He trailed it with a Berkley Chigger Craw. “I like the fatter body (of the Chigger Craw), so I can skip it,” he said. “I put it in spots where you shouldn’t be able to put a bait.”
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - Once the sun got up, the Sapulpa, Okla., angler threw a translucent colored Zara Spook around boat docks. “I can’t cover as much water as I can with the buzzbait, so it’s very cast specific,” said Soukup, who adds a green feather to the last hook on the lure. “I like it because no one else does that, and I think it looks a little more natural,” he said. Soukup said most of his weight on Day 2 came on a homemade 1/2-ounce jig with an Arkie head. The jig was Oklahoma brown. He trailed it with a Berkley Chigger Craw. “I like the fatter body (of the Chigger Craw), so I can skip it,” he said. “I put it in spots where you shouldn’t be able to put a bait.”
<b>John Pilcher (3rd, 43-13) </b><br> Pilcher’s two primary lures were a 1/2-ounce black Booyah Buzz buzzbait with a clacker blade trailed with a YUM Christie Critter tin foil-colored trailer and a 3/4-ounce Bass X jig paired with a Zoom Brush Hog.
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - John Pilcher (3rd, 43-13) Pilcher’s two primary lures were a 1/2-ounce black Booyah Buzz buzzbait with a clacker blade trailed with a YUM Christie Critter tin foil-colored trailer and a 3/4-ounce Bass X jig paired with a Zoom Brush Hog.
“I was kind of junk fishing,” said Pilcher, who lives in nearby Kansas, Okla., and spends over 100 days a year on Grand Lake. “Some of the fish were deep and some were shallow. I caught fish on bluff banks and bluff ends. I caught some on shallow docks and shallow gravel. I couldn’t do just one thing and catch them. I was all over the place.”
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - “I was kind of junk fishing,” said Pilcher, who lives in nearby Kansas, Okla., and spends over 100 days a year on Grand Lake. “Some of the fish were deep and some were shallow. I caught fish on bluff banks and bluff ends. I caught some on shallow docks and shallow gravel. I couldn’t do just one thing and catch them. I was all over the place.”
<b>Kenta Kimura (2nd, 45-12) </b><br> The Elite Series first-year pro from Osaka, Japan, had the big bag of the tournament – 21-14 on Day 1. Kimura threw a Deps Evoke 4.0 squarebill crankbait, a Berkley Powerbait Power Flutter soft plastic on a 5/8-ounce Ryugi wobblehead and a 4/0 hook and a Berkley Jago Rocket soft plastic, fished weightless. The two Berkley baits are lures Kimura designed and are primarily available in Japan.
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - Kenta Kimura (2nd, 45-12) The Elite Series first-year pro from Osaka, Japan, had the big bag of the tournament – 21-14 on Day 1. Kimura threw a Deps Evoke 4.0 squarebill crankbait, a Berkley Powerbait Power Flutter soft plastic on a 5/8-ounce Ryugi wobblehead and a 4/0 hook and a Berkley Jago Rocket soft plastic, fished weightless. The two Berkley baits are lures Kimura designed and are primarily available in Japan.
The big crankbait was Kimura’s big bass bait. “You don’t ever catch one less than 3 1/2 pounds on that deal,” he said. “The whole trick is you have to reel it as fast as you can.” <br><br> The Berkley Power Flutter he used in a green pumpkin pattern dipped in orange dye. The Berkley Jago Rocket is bulky enough that Kimura could skip it far under boat docks. “Fished weightless, it goes down real slow,” Kimura said. “I can still catch fish on a dock with it after someone else has fished it. It’s extremely slow, so you’ve got to know where they’re at.”
Photo: Seigo Saito - The big crankbait was Kimura’s big bass bait. “You don’t ever catch one less than 3 1/2 pounds on that deal,” he said. “The whole trick is you have to reel it as fast as you can.” The Berkley Power Flutter he used in a green pumpkin pattern dipped in orange dye. The Berkley Jago Rocket is bulky enough that Kimura could skip it far under boat docks. “Fished weightless, it goes down real slow,” Kimura said. “I can still catch fish on a dock with it after someone else has fished it. It’s extremely slow, so you’ve got to know where they’re at.”
<b>Nick LeBrun (1st, 50-2)</b><br> LeBrun’s lure choice for this tournament was as simple as it gets. He caught everything on a River2Sea Whopper Plopper 130 in a loon color pattern, which is primarily black. LeBrun puts an emphasis on changing the treble hooks to Hyabusa TBL930 trebles. “The hooks that come on any particular hard bait are going to be okay,” LeBrun said. “But when you get back behind docks and you’re around cables and rocks, your hooks are going to get worn out. The reason I like those Hyabusa TBL930s is because they come with a coating of non-reflective black, and it makes that hook slick.”
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - Nick LeBrun (1st, 50-2) LeBrun’s lure choice for this tournament was as simple as it gets. He caught everything on a River2Sea Whopper Plopper 130 in a loon color pattern, which is primarily black. LeBrun puts an emphasis on changing the treble hooks to Hyabusa TBL930 trebles. “The hooks that come on any particular hard bait are going to be okay,” LeBrun said. “But when you get back behind docks and you’re around cables and rocks, your hooks are going to get worn out. The reason I like those Hyabusa TBL930s is because they come with a coating of non-reflective black, and it makes that hook slick.”
As far as Whopper Plopper lure colors, LeBrun keeps it simple wherever he goes, throwing either black or white. “I like throwing it everywhere,” he said. “But when you get up around Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, it just really seems to shine in this part of the country. I think black does better this time of year because it’s more of an imitation of those dark gizzard shad in that dirtier water, but who knows?” <br><br> It was all about fishing docks for LeBrun, primarily the backside of docks, under cables and beams connecting the docks to the bank. “I had a few keepers that were on just straight rock banks, but all the memorable bites and all the key fish were behind docks,” he said. “This week they wanted it slow, just plop, plop, plop, plop, as slow as you could where it still plopped.”
Photo: Dalton Tumblin - As far as Whopper Plopper lure colors, LeBrun keeps it simple wherever he goes, throwing either black or white. “I like throwing it everywhere,” he said. “But when you get up around Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, it just really seems to shine in this part of the country. I think black does better this time of year because it’s more of an imitation of those dark gizzard shad in that dirtier water, but who knows?” It was all about fishing docks for LeBrun, primarily the backside of docks, under cables and beams connecting the docks to the bank. “I had a few keepers that were on just straight rock banks, but all the memorable bites and all the key fish were behind docks,” he said. “This week they wanted it slow, just plop, plop, plop, plop, as slow as you could where it still plopped.”