Keith Combs’ first-place bag of 24 pounds, 15 ounces yesterday was the heaviest limit of smallmouth bass in his career. His previous best was the 21-15 he caught on Day 3 at Mille Lacs in last year’s AOY Championship. Interestingly, there’s been some carryover for Combs from that day.
“I caught them (last year) doing what I did (Thursday),” Combs said. “In practice this week, I was one rod, one bait.”
Combs is focusing on a particular depth and structure, but his lure is a crucial part of the equation. It, of course, will remain a secret for now.
“I got a clue on what to do on the first spot I stopped on in practice,” he said. “I caught two great big ones. It’s not a normal pattern. It’s something kind of weird. I ran with that and had a really good practice.”
That really good practice turned into a really good first couple of hours on Day 1.
“I caught five 4 1/2-pounders in five casts,” he said. “It was pretty wild. I’m throwing something big. I think I could have kept catching ’em if I’d gone to a smaller presentation. But I was in the middle of the lake, there was nobody around, and I’m like, ‘Why do this?'”
Combs moved his one-rod, one-lure pattern to another spot, made “three or four casts and caught two great big ones,” he said. “I went pre-fishing after that and caught one more fish after 9 o’clock.”