GROVE, Okla. — For the final day of the Sooner Run presented by Longhorn Moist Snuff, ESPNOutdoors.com asked the final 12 anglers the keys to their success: 1. What specific technique has benefited you most? 2. What has been your primary bait? And 3. What area of the lake have you been fishing?
Jeff Kriet, Ardmore, Okla. (1st place, 59 pounds, 13 ounces)
1. Specific Technique: Slow Carolina rigging
2. Primary Bait: Green Pumkin Zoom Brush Hawg
3. Area of the Lake: Terra Mara to Duck Creek
Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Mich. (2nd, 59-6)
1. Specific Technique: Run and gun on main lake points, really digging the crankbait on the rocks
2. Primary Bait: Strike King Series Five and Six in Sexy Shad color
3. Area of the Lake: Mid-lake down to Duck Creek
Marty Robinson, Landrum, SC (3rd, 58-1)
1. Specific Technique: Keeping the bait hitting the bottom in 10-12 feet of water
2. Primary Bait: Tap crankbait by Zoom, Chartreuse green/black back. Buckeye Mop jig with Green pumkin Zoom Super Chunk
3. Area of the Lake: Mid-lake below Honey Creek
Kevin Short, Mayflower, Ark. (4th, 55-14)
1. Specific Technique: Flipping, then cranking
2. Primary Bait: ½ oz rattleback jig with Sapphire Zoom Super Speed Craw trailer. Norman DD22 crankbait Pearl color
3. Area of the Lake: Lower end near the dam
Davey Hite, Ninety Six, S.C. (5th, 53-3)
1. Specific Technique: Working the worms slow on the bottom, digging the bottom on the crankbait
2. Primary Bait: Ten-inch Berkley Power Worms in a variety of colors. Strike King Series Five crankbait Shad color
3. Area of the Lake: Mid-lake to the lower end.
Timmy Horton, Muscle Shoals, Ala. (6th, 52-1)
1. Specific Technique: Working the willows
2. Primary Bait: ½ oz Booyah jig black/blue, Yum Craw Papi Green Pumpkin, ½ oz Booyah Spinnerbait chartreuse
3. Area of the Lake: Upper end
Boyd Duckett, Demopolis, Ala. (7th, 52-4)
1. Specific Technique: Working the jig very slow on the pea gravel
2. Primary Bait: True Tungsten black/blue jig, Berkley Chigger Craw sapphire blue
3. Area of the Lake: Honey Creek, then by the dam
Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla. (8th, 51-7)
1. Specific Technique: Working the jig really slow in 7-13 feet of water
2. Primary Bait: Zara Spook in Christmas Tree color, then 5/8 oz Football jig in Peanut Butter and Jelly color, Yum Wooly Hawg Tail trailer
3. Area of the Lake: Mid-lake to the dam
Matt Reed, Madisonville, Texas (9th, 50-12)
1. Specific Technique: Really banging the crankbait along the rocks
2. Primary Bait: Bomber BD-6 Fat Free Shad, Carolina rigging a Green Pumpkin Wooly Hawg Tail
3. Area of the Lake: Mid-lake to the southern end
Kelly Jordon, Mineola, Texas (10th, 50-1)e
1. Specific Technique: Not really digging the crankbait except on a couple of ledges, ticking a few brushpiles
2. Primary Bait: Lucky Craft D-20 Pearly Ayu crankbait
3. Area of the Lake: Lower end
Mike McClelland, Bella Vista, Ark. (11th, 49-15)
1. Specific Technique: Carolina rigging, targeting mail lake points in 8-12 feet of water.
2. Primary Bait: Zoom Brush Hawg Green Pumpkin
3. Area of the Lake: Lower end
Terry Scroggins, San Mateo, Fla. (12th, 49-7)
1. Specific Technique: Making contact with the bottom with the crankbait. Working the worm very slowly.
2. Primary Bait: ½ oz Fat Free Shad Citrus color, Yum Ten inch worm with ¼ oz weight
3. Area of the Lake: Wolf Creek and Duck Creek
Editor’s note: ESPNOutdoors.com invited the University of Oklahoma bass fishing team to join coverage of the Sooner Run. The collegiate anglers will post a regular blog and appear on Hooked Up, the live Internet shows that air at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET today in advance of the live weigh-in. Bob Cobb, creator of Bassmaster Magazine and Bassmaster television, will be the special guest on Hooked Up.
The live weigh-in and a realtime leaderboard will be at approximately 4:40 p.m. ET. Please feel free to post comments to this blog via the ESPN Conversation feature at the bottom of this and every news page on this site.