Here’s an interesting observation that tournament fans should appreciate.
Each of the top 3 anglers are using different techniques and patterns.
Hank Cherry is flipping flooded shoreline cover. (Update: He just switched to fishing around docks, but still different.)
Kevin VanDam is offshore, cranking points.
Chris Lane is fishing creek mouths with a topwater.
All three patterns have varying elements of luck and timing.
According to Lane his best success comes between now and 1:30 p.m. That’s a narrow timeframe. With a topwater bite he’s not fishing for schooling bass. That makes it all contingent on individual bites, and good ones. He needs another, for sure.
VanDam is surrounded by spectators, tournament anglers and weekend fishermen. He is fishing for bass coming out of the creeks following the spawn. What VanDam needs is for quality fish to show up on the points where he’s found success the previous two days. Some wind is good, too much of it creates a challenge with boat positioning. He’s fishing an x-marks-the-spot kind of pattern. As in precise casts are key in making contact with specific cover on the bottom.
Cherry is also fishing for individual fish, not schoolers. His flipping bite is proving successful. Things can only get better as the sun casts more shade along the shoreline targets where he’s flpping. More shade, more cover for the bass. But there is a risk when anyone ahead or behind him boats a big bass.