In doing interviews for my Lures of the Top 12 article I came across a mix of bait required to catch the bass in all spawning phases.
Reaction and finesse lures filled out the list. Some anglers, like Adrian Avena and Ott DeFoe, had rods and reels lined up on both sides of the deck. Fewer chose a simple approach. One of those anglers is Cliff Prince, who is near the top of the scoreboard. He entered the Top 12 after Day 3 in third place on the strength of a 7-pounder caught minutes before his weigh-in time.
Prince is rotating between a topwater hard bait and soft plastic topwater frog. In open water he uses the plug and the frog comes out for thicker cover.
Keeping it simple is certainly working for Prince.