Anglers don’t like hearing accusations of “fishing safe.” That means they’re risking little, showing minimal ambition and just fishing for a limit.
David Mullins isn’t fishing safe, he’s fishing smart. He’s fishing to win.
That’s what he did during the last Elite tournament on Lake Champlain, but a painful outcome left him with a bad taste in his mouth. But drawing inspiration from despair has prompted Mullins to make a strategic adjustment that’s working.
An accomplished cranker, the pro from Mt. Carmel, Tenn. has kept the reaction baits stowed on St. Clair. Instead, he’s catching his fish on dropshots, with a little Ned rigging here and there. Smallies readily bite both and Mullins said his catch ratio has been nearly perfect.
It’s not that St. Clair smallies won’t eat crankbaits. Takumi Ito and Clark Wendlandt have proven that. However, Mullins lost several key fish — possibly the ones to win — while cranking on Champlain.
Bassmaster LIVE captured a couple of heart-breaking moments when solid fish just came unbuttoned. Mullins knows cranking, so he wasn’t making any mistakes. He even changed hook styles, but still dumped quality smallies.
Mullins may never figure out why the wheels came of the wagon, but rather than lament the past, he’s playing a different game on St. Clair.
Some of this is mental. You get stung bad and you stay away from the hornet’s nest.
Confidence also plays a big role in establishing and building momentum. Mullins did just that with a second-place bag of 24 pounds, 2 ounces on Day 1. Today, he’s nipping at the heels of Day 1 leader John Cox. As of noon, Mullins was less than a pound off the lead.
If Mullins keeps getting tempting big ones, he’s going to make this interesting.