Whitehouse, Texas, professional angler Paul Ferguson started his Lake Texoma Central Open off on the right foot. He caught his big bass on the first day, at his first stop after only a couple of casts."During practice I located better bass — not big numbers but heavier weights — on windswept rock points during practice. The best bass were holding right on top of the points, taking advantage of the wind. There's no doubt they were ambushing shad from behind big chunk rock.Finding the right spot for a big bass is critical. Lake Texoma is a shad-driven bass fishery. To be successful there you have to find where the bass are feeding and then target the bigger ones. Of course, they're usually in the best areas and holding on the best ambush places. If you pick that type of spot and then throw a shad imitating bait you're halfway home."All in all it was really pretty basic crankbait fishing. I'd locate a long, sloping rock point with a strong wind blowing across it where I could park my boat in about 6 feet of water and throw into 2 feet. I was fishing with a Strike King Pro Model Series 1 crankbait "I selected Sexy Shad for a color because it looks so much like a real shad. I know a lot of guys rave about the foreign baits and their great finishes, but I'll tell you there's no better crankbait made than the Series 1 and no better finish than Sexy Shad "It was perfect for what I was doing. It'll run about 3 feet deep on 12-pound-test line. And if you crank it hard it has a very erratic action. At higher speeds it kind of bangs around off the chunk rock and the bottom looking for its center. But at the same time its wide, square bill keeps it from snagging on everything around it. The bass slam it out of instinct."Ferguson fished his Series 1 on a Quantum Tour Edition PT Randy Howell Signature Series medium action cranking rod — 7 foot, medium-light action with a fast taper — and a Quantum Energy E100PPT reel (5.1:1 gear ratio) spooled with 12-pound-test Seaguar fluorocarbon line.