The Whataburger Bassmaster Elite at Pickwick Lake proved to be an offshore beatdown, as the majority of the field roamed the main river ledges and outer thirds of creek arms to find schools of offshore fish. Nobody dialed it in better than Tennessee native Brandon Lester. With a four-day weight of 86 pounds, 1 ounce, Lester grabbed the first Elite Series win of his career.
As to be expected, having a rotation of baits was important for anglers to give the highly pressured fish a different look. In this gallery you will discover the top anglers used a mix of crankbaits, jigs, magnum spoons and soft plastic worms to find and catch offshore, postspawn bass. Having a variety of baits on hand is a must when tricking the fish to bite. Do you have all the tackle it takes to catch them? Head over to basspro.com to stock up on all the offshore essentials. Kenta Kimura (10th; 60-13)
Kenta Kimura rotated through a variety of large profile lures including a magnum spoon, swimbait and a jig. To trigger a reaction strike, Kimura threw a Nichols Lures Ben Parker Magnum Spoon. Kimura did the majority of his damage with a DRT Tiny Klash Swimbait
When the fish wouldn't bite the swimbait, Kimura slowed down with a 5/8-ounce Deps Kontour Jig paired with a 4.8-inch Deps Bull Flat trailer. Matt Robertson (9th; 64-15)To cover a variety of different depths, Matt Robertson utilized a magnum spoon, deep-diving crankbait and a jig.
To fire the schools up, Robertson made long casts with a Berkley Dredger 25.5 Crankbait. When the fish wouldn't bite the crankbait, he picked up a 3/4-ounce Outkast Tackle Touchdown 2 Football Jig paired with a Berkley Powerbait Maxscent Chigger Craw trailer. If Robertson saw the fish suspended off the bottom, he picked up a magnum spoon.
Justin Atkins (8th; 65-13)Fishing his home body of water, Justin Atkins kept it simple with a Texas-rigged worm.A 10-inch Berkley Powerbait Power Worm rigged on a 3/8-ounce weight and a 4/0 Berkley Fusion Offset Worm hook was the ticket for Atkins.
Brandon Palaniuk (7th; 68-0)Brandon Palaniuk carried on his momentum at Pickwick Lake with a swimbait and a flutter spoon. One of Palaniuk's main producers was an X-Zone Mega Swammer swimbait rigged on 3/4-ounce VMC Tokyo Rig.
Palaniuk's alternative choice was a 6-inch flutter spoon. Bryan Schmitt (6th; 69-0)Utilizing a power-finesse approach, Bryan Schmitt relied on a deep diving crankbait, drop shot and Neko rigged worm.
One of the finesse tactics Schmitt used was a Neko-rigged 6.5-inch Missile Baits Quiver Worm paired with a 2/0 Hayabusa FPP Strait Worm Hook and a 3/16-ounce Reins Tungsten Nail Sinker. To trigger a reaction bite, Schmitt threw a Spro Little John DD 70 Crankbait. Schmitt did a large part of his damage on the new Missile Baits Magic Worm rigged on a drop shot with a 3/0 Hayabusa WRM957 worm hook and a 1/4-ounce Reins Tungsten drop-shot weight.
Halfway through! Remember to head over to basspro.com to stock up on all the offshore essentials. John Cox (5th; 70-0)As he does so often, John Cox went against the grain and fished shallow with a swim jig and a wacky-rigged worm.
Cox fished shallow targets with his "ole trusty" Berkley Powerbait The General Worm wacky rigged with a 2/0 Berkley Fusion finesse hook. To cover water, Cox went with a 1/2-ounce Berkley Powerbait Finesse Swim Jig paired with a Berkley Shape 108 trailer. Jacob Foutz (4th; 77-3)
Tennessee pro Jacob Foutz fired up offshore fish with a deep-diving crankbait, then slowed down with a big worm. Foutz stuck with the Tennessee River staple Strike King 10XD Crankbait until the school of fish shut down. Once the bite slowed down, Foutz picked up a Texas-rigged Zoom 10.5-inch Ol' Monster worm paired with a 3/8-ounce tungsten weight and a 3/0 Owner Wide Gap Plus hook.
Chris Zaldain (3rd; 77-15)Chris Zaldain did exactly what he loves to do at Pickwick Lake by throwing a pair of big swimbaits. The swimbait is a heavy configured prototype from Bass Mafia. This was the smaller 6-inch version.
For a bigger profile, Zaldain threw the same bait in a 7-inch model. Cody Huff (2nd; 80-5)Elite Series rookie Cody Huff rotated between a deep-diving crankbait, magnum spoon and drop shot to cover all depth ranges.
Huff's main producer was a Dixie Jet Talan Flutter Spoon. When the fish set up closer to the bottom, Huff relied on a Rapala DT20 crankbait. As the bite got tougher, Huff went with the new Missile Baits Magic worm rigged on a drop shot with a No. 1 VMC Neko Hook and a 1/2-ounce VMC Tungsten drop-shot weight.
Brandon Lester (1st; 86-1)To secure his first Elite Series victory, Brandon Lester relied on a pair of large crankbaits and a Neko-rigged worm. Lester's main producer was a Berkley Powerbait Maxscent Magnum Hit Worm Neko rigged with a No. 2 Mustad TitanX Neko Hook.
To trigger a deep reaction bite, Lester went with a Strike King 6XD crankbait with Mustad KVD Triple Grip Treble Hooks. Lester's alternative crankbait was a Strike King 4.0 KVD Magnum Squarebill paired with Mustad KVD Elite Triple Grip Treble Hooks.
