B.A.S.S. Federation Nation representative Terry McWilliams might have ridden a Stupid Tube to a catch of 45-3 and an impressive fourth-place finish, but there was nothing dumb about his game plan.
It was so obvious it was brilliant.
The Indiana angler focused his efforts on the warmwater discharge of a power plant, a strategy that produced catches of 15-9, 12-4 and 17-6. All but one of the 15 bass he brought to the Classic scales were relating to boulders and rocks located about 20 feet down from the outfall at a depth of about 6 feet.
"I guide on the White River back home where the average depth is only 2 1/2 to 3 feet, and it's all current-related stuff," he says. "So I was real comfortable fishing this way.
"Basically, I was trying to get my bait into the current and drift it in the spot where the fish were positioned. Bass in current will go up shallow and feed, and once they feed they'll move back down behind something to get out of the current to rest."
McWilliams' ticket to catching these fast-water spotted bass was a Texas rigged Honey Creek Tackle Stupid Tube, which contained a 1/8- or 3/16-ounce jighead. Several of his strikes were triggered when he snagged a rock and then managed to free the tube.
CLASSIC DETAILS
NO. 4 TERRY MCWILLIAMS
LURES: Texas rigged green pumpkin Honey Creek Tackle Stupid Tube.
TACKLE: 10- and 12-pound-test Seaguar fluorocarbon line, 7-6 medium-heavy Setyr rod, Daiwa Sol spinning reel.
TECHNIQUE: McWilliams bounced the tube behind boulders and wood adjacent to a warmwater outfall from a power plant.