Lures of the Top 12 at BASSfest

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While this tournament was dominated by anglers flipping Lake Texoma’s abundance of flooded vegetation, there were some other ways that these cats figured out how to catch a bass, like they always do. For instance, Rick Clunn’s spinnerbait success, Dean Rojas using a crankbait for big smallmouth and Brandon Card’s final day big bag on a topwater walking bait were notable exceptions to the flipping bite. The following is a rundown of the lures used by the Top 12 in the GEICO Bassmaster BASSfest presented by Choctaw Casino and Resort at Lake Texoma. <p> <em>All captions: Steve Wright</em>
Photo: James Overstreet - While this tournament was dominated by anglers flipping Lake Texoma’s abundance of flooded vegetation, there were some other ways that these cats figured out how to catch a bass, like they always do. For instance, Rick Clunn’s spinnerbait success, Dean Rojas using a crankbait for big smallmouth and Brandon Card’s final day big bag on a topwater walking bait were notable exceptions to the flipping bite. The following is a rundown of the lures used by the Top 12 in the GEICO Bassmaster BASSfest presented by Choctaw Casino and Resort at Lake Texoma. All captions: Steve Wright
<b>12. Bradley Roy, 53-4</b> – The flipping bite produced all of Roy’s weight. He used two lures: 1. A 1/2-ounce D&L Tackle jig with a Cabin Creek Express crawfish trailer, both in black; and 2. A black & blue 5-inch crawfish soft plastic with a 1/2-ounce weight. “Once the water got down, I noticed that the bushes that had rock underneath them was where I’d caught most of my fish,” Roy said.
Photo: James Overstreet - 12. Bradley Roy, 53-4 – The flipping bite produced all of Roy’s weight. He used two lures: 1. A 1/2-ounce D&L Tackle jig with a Cabin Creek Express crawfish trailer, both in black; and 2. A black & blue 5-inch crawfish soft plastic with a 1/2-ounce weight. “Once the water got down, I noticed that the bushes that had rock underneath them was where I’d caught most of my fish,” Roy said.
<b>11. Keith Poche, 53-15</b> – It was primarily a flipping bite for Poche. He relied on a Lucky Strike Ringmaster creature bait with a 1/2-ounce weight.
Photo: Chris Mitchell - 11. Keith Poche, 53-15 – It was primarily a flipping bite for Poche. He relied on a Lucky Strike Ringmaster creature bait with a 1/2-ounce weight.
“I wouldn’t let it go to the bottom because the fish were suspended right underneath the flooded bushes and willow trees,” Poche said.
Photo: Chris Mitchell - “I wouldn’t let it go to the bottom because the fish were suspended right underneath the flooded bushes and willow trees,” Poche said.
<b>10. Randall Tharp, 54-2</b> –Every fish came on a Zoom Z Craw. Tharp used a green pumpkin/flash color the first day, but switched to straight green pumpkin the final three days.
Photo: Chris Mitchell - 10. Randall Tharp, 54-2 –Every fish came on a Zoom Z Craw. Tharp used a green pumpkin/flash color the first day, but switched to straight green pumpkin the final three days.
Tharp started with a 3/4-ounce Reins Tungsten weight, then went to a 1/2-ounce as the water level continued to fall.
Photo: Chris Mitchell - Tharp started with a 3/4-ounce Reins Tungsten weight, then went to a 1/2-ounce as the water level continued to fall.
<b>9. Jordan Lee, 54-10</b> – Every bass Lee weighed-in was caught on a Strike King Rage Structure Bug, either in black-and-blue or green pumpkin or green pumpkin/blue color patterns, paired with a 1/2-ounce weight on a 5/0 straight shank hook.
Photo: James Overstreet - 9. Jordan Lee, 54-10 – Every bass Lee weighed-in was caught on a Strike King Rage Structure Bug, either in black-and-blue or green pumpkin or green pumpkin/blue color patterns, paired with a 1/2-ounce weight on a 5/0 straight shank hook.
<b>8. Dean Rojas, 56-2</b> – Some big smallmouth bass that hit a ghost shad-colored crankbait were a key for Rojas. He had a 4-14 the second day, a 4-pounder the third day and a 5-pounder the final day. The rest of his fish were caught flipping a Big Bite Baits Dean Rojas Fightin’ Frog.
Photo: James Overstreet - 8. Dean Rojas, 56-2 – Some big smallmouth bass that hit a ghost shad-colored crankbait were a key for Rojas. He had a 4-14 the second day, a 4-pounder the third day and a 5-pounder the final day. The rest of his fish were caught flipping a Big Bite Baits Dean Rojas Fightin’ Frog.
<b>7. Rick Clunn, 56-3</b> – It was a surprising spinnerbait clinic that Clunn exhibited on Lake Texoma, using a Lucky Strike 3/4-ounce Trickster spinnerbait. The skirt was chartreuse and white.
Photo: Chris Mitchell - 7. Rick Clunn, 56-3 – It was a surprising spinnerbait clinic that Clunn exhibited on Lake Texoma, using a Lucky Strike 3/4-ounce Trickster spinnerbait. The skirt was chartreuse and white.
The key component in the spinnerbait is the “long drop blade,” which Clunn designed several years ago. It combines the water displacement of Indiana or Colorado blades with the flash of a willowleaf blade to give Clunn, as he put it, “the best of both worlds.”
Photo: Chris Mitchell - The key component in the spinnerbait is the “long drop blade,” which Clunn designed several years ago. It combines the water displacement of Indiana or Colorado blades with the flash of a willowleaf blade to give Clunn, as he put it, “the best of both worlds.”
<b>6. Casey Ashley, 56-8</b> – It marked the first time Ashley had used a Strike King Slither Rig and it almost produced a win for him. He paired the 1/2-ounce Slither Rig with a green pumpkin skirt and pitched in thick flooded bushes that wouldn’t allow a jig to go in and out easily.
Photo: Chris Mitchell - 6. Casey Ashley, 56-8 – It marked the first time Ashley had used a Strike King Slither Rig and it almost produced a win for him. He paired the 1/2-ounce Slither Rig with a green pumpkin skirt and pitched in thick flooded bushes that wouldn’t allow a jig to go in and out easily.
“Jonathan VanDam gave me one at Bull Shoals, but I’d never used it,” Ashley said. “That thing goes in and out of cover better than anything I’ve ever used.” When Ashley got a strike and a miss, he’d follow with a Zoom Z Craw on a 1/2-ounce weight, which produced several key fish. But all of his biggest fish came on the Slither Rig, he said.
Photo: Chris Mitchell - “Jonathan VanDam gave me one at Bull Shoals, but I’d never used it,” Ashley said. “That thing goes in and out of cover better than anything I’ve ever used.” When Ashley got a strike and a miss, he’d follow with a Zoom Z Craw on a 1/2-ounce weight, which produced several key fish. But all of his biggest fish came on the Slither Rig, he said.
<b>5. Ott DeFoe, 56-11</b> – The early bites, until about 9 or 10 o’clock came on a 1/2-ounce white Terminator Pro Series jig paired with a white Zoom Swimmin’ Chunk trailer fished around boat docks.
Photo: Chris Mitchell - 5. Ott DeFoe, 56-11 – The early bites, until about 9 or 10 o’clock came on a 1/2-ounce white Terminator Pro Series jig paired with a white Zoom Swimmin’ Chunk trailer fished around boat docks.
Later in the day, DeFoe used a Texas craw-colored skirt and green pumpkin Berkley Havoc Change Up on a 1/2-ounce punch rig with a 4/0 VMC heavy-duty wide gap hook.
Photo: Chris Mitchell - Later in the day, DeFoe used a Texas craw-colored skirt and green pumpkin Berkley Havoc Change Up on a 1/2-ounce punch rig with a 4/0 VMC heavy-duty wide gap hook.
<b>4. Chad Morgenthaler, 57-9</b> – It was a combo of a shad-colored 1/2-ounce Lunker Lures Hawg Caller spinnerbait…
Photo: Chris Mitchell - 4. Chad Morgenthaler, 57-9 – It was a combo of a shad-colored 1/2-ounce Lunker Lures Hawg Caller spinnerbait…
…and a 3/8ths-ounce black Lunker Lures buzzbait that produced his early bites.
Photo: Chris Mitchell - …and a 3/8ths-ounce black Lunker Lures buzzbait that produced his early bites.
Then Morgenthaler went to a 3/4-ounce black-and-blue Lunker Lures jig paired with a black-and-blue Zoom Salty Chunk…
Photo: Chris Mitchell - Then Morgenthaler went to a 3/4-ounce black-and-blue Lunker Lures jig paired with a black-and-blue Zoom Salty Chunk…
…or a California Love colored Missile Baits D Bomb when the flipping bite picked up as the sun got higher.
Photo: Chris Mitchell - …or a California Love colored Missile Baits D Bomb when the flipping bite picked up as the sun got higher.
<b>3. Gerald Swindle, 60-6</b> – As happened at Lake Wheeler, Swindle caught a 6-pounder on a buzzbait one day, and he caught one on a frog another day, but he said, “I caught 95 percent of the fish I weighed in on a green pumpkin Zoom Z Craw using a 3/8ths-ounce or a 1/2-ounce Reins tungsten weight.” Swindle was dipping the tips of the Z Craw in chartreuse dye.
Photo: Chris Mitchell - 3. Gerald Swindle, 60-6 – As happened at Lake Wheeler, Swindle caught a 6-pounder on a buzzbait one day, and he caught one on a frog another day, but he said, “I caught 95 percent of the fish I weighed in on a green pumpkin Zoom Z Craw using a 3/8ths-ounce or a 1/2-ounce Reins tungsten weight.” Swindle was dipping the tips of the Z Craw in chartreuse dye.
<b>2. Brandon Card, 64-3</b> – The first three days, it was strictly a flipping bite. Card used a 1/2-ounce weight on a creature bait, with the tail dipped in chartreuse.
Photo: Chris Mitchell - 2. Brandon Card, 64-3 – The first three days, it was strictly a flipping bite. Card used a 1/2-ounce weight on a creature bait, with the tail dipped in chartreuse.
But with the cloud cover on the final day, Card posted the biggest bag of the tournament, 21-1, and almost won it on a bone-colored Yo-Zuri 3DB topwater walking bait.
Photo: Ronnie Moore - But with the cloud cover on the final day, Card posted the biggest bag of the tournament, 21-1, and almost won it on a bone-colored Yo-Zuri 3DB topwater walking bait.
<b>1. Greg Hackney, 66-2</b> – Every fish Hackney caught came on a 1-ounce Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover jig with a Strike King Rodent trailer. Hackney had two flipping rods on the deck, one with an Alabama craw colored jig and double header colored Rodent, and the other with a blue jig and blue bug trailer.
Photo: Steve Bowman - 1. Greg Hackney, 66-2 – Every fish Hackney caught came on a 1-ounce Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover jig with a Strike King Rodent trailer. Hackney had two flipping rods on the deck, one with an Alabama craw colored jig and double header colored Rodent, and the other with a blue jig and blue bug trailer.