If Boyd Duckett wins the Ramada Championship today, it will be due to his efficiency in solving the smallmouth vs. largemouth quandary every angler faces at Oneida Lake.
"Smallmouth are your lock," Duckett said. "I'm in second place [Saturday] because of the smallmouth. If I win, it will be because of the largemouth. I got two [largemouth] bites Friday and zero [Saturday]. But that one [largemouth] bite [Sunday] will win it for me."
That's why Duckett has to be ecstatic about the "bonus" 4 1/2-poun largemouth he caught first thing this morning on a swimbait. A 4-inch Berkley Hollow Belly swimbait paired with a 1/16th-ounce Buckeye J-Will jighead had been Duckett's go-to bait for smallmouth all week.
In order to find a kicker largemouth, Duckett has needed to move about 75 yards inshore and flip the grass with a 3-inch Berkley Chigger Craw, until today's big-time bonus largemouth bass on the swimbait.