How Lester will attack Winyah Bay

This week the Bassmaster Elites Series gets back in action with our second stop of the season in Georgetown, S.C. After having a good first tournament of the year at the St. Johns River, I’m excited to hopefully keep the momentum going. The waterway we are fishing is called Winyah Bay. From what I know about the place it is made up of several different rivers that flow into and around it, and the size of our playing field is pretty astounding. Looking at it on Google Earth images, it reminds me a lot of the Sabine River tournament from last year.

With that being said, this tournament has a different feel because this is the first time the Elite Series has ever visited this venue. As anglers we really don’t know what to expect, and for me, I love that. To me the most enjoyable part of fishing is going somewhere you’ve never been and figuring it out completely from scratch. These events level the playing field for everyone, and I like that about it as well. Look for guys to make huge runs to different parts of different rivers, and some guys will choose to stay close and maximize their fishing time.

As for how I will attack this tournament I expect two techniques to really shine. First, any time you’re on any type of river system and especially a tidal fishery, the fish will be very target- oriented. Flipping and pitching will certainly play a key role here. Some type of small creature bait like a Strike King Rage Craw or a soft stick bait like a Yamamoto Senko will catch fish that are sitting next to a target waiting to feed. Another bait that always shines in these types of events is a squarebill crankbait. One of my favorites is the Strike King 1.5. With this bait you can put the trolling motor on high and cover water until you get around some active fish and start to form a pattern. Another great thing about the square bill is it works well in grass, rock, wood; it doesn’t matter they will bite it. Match your color to the water color and the forage and you’re good to go.

The rods I’ll use for these two techniques give me confidence that I’m using the right equipment for the daunting task ahead. For flipping and pitching I’ll use a MHX-FP-885. This blank is 7-foot, 4-inch and is an absolute dream to pitch with. I feel like the 7-foot, 4-inch length gives me pinpoint accuracy with my pitches, and the rod is plenty-strong enough to flip baits anywhere from 1/4 ounce all the way up to 1-ounce jigs. I will be building some new Elite Pro Series blanks to test out soon, but for now this one fits the bill perfectly. When flipping I spool up with 20-pound Vicious fluorocarbon.

For my square bills, I will throw them on a MB-842. I’ve played around with several different blanks for square bills and MHX has several that will work fine for it, but I think the 842 might be my favorite up to this point. It’s a 7-foot, medium power with plenty of tip to let the fish eat the bait and enough backbone to drive the Mustad hooks home and get them in the boat. The 14-pound Vicious Pro Elite fluorocarbon gets the nod for my square bills.

I will also rely heavily on mapping this week. This place looks to be a maze with lots of options for where I will fish. Let’s hope my Raymarine units keep me on the right track and hopefully around some quality fish.