7 HOURS LEFT6:45 a.m. The Phoenix hits the water. Shryock checks the lake temp: 85 degrees. âIn midsummer, bass can be either deep or dirt shallow. My preference is shallow fishing, so Iâll make a scouting run to see what type of shallow cover this lake has to offer. Hopefully, Iâll find submerged grass; it provides oxygen, shelter and multiple prey species for bass. Iâll definitely pound skinny water early before making any offshore moves.â 6:50 a.m. Shryock makes an exploratory run uplake while both eyeballing his electronics for offshore structure and scanning the shoreline for signs of wood or weed cover. 7:01 a.m. Shryock stops at a long point and drags the structure with a green pumpkin Berkley Lug Worm on a drop-shot rig. âI graphed some fish on this point, but I canât tell yet if theyâre bass.â 7:05 a.m. He switches to a watermelon/red 5-inch Berkley Fatty Bottom Hopper finesse worm on a 1/8-ounce shaky head. âThis worm is supersoft with a flat belly and powerful scent.â
Captions: Don Wirth
6 HOURS LEFT7:45 a.m. Shryock idles into a nearby cove to fish more pads with the frog and creature. âSome of these pads look brownish-yellow, like they normally do in late fall. Also, I havenât seen any milfoil or hydrilla so far. I wonder if this lake hasnât been sprayed to kill aquatic vegetation. Thatâs never good for the bass.â 7:53 a.m. Shryock retrieves the Choppo parallel to the edge of a big pad field. âIâd like to see an 8-pounder plaster that thing!â 7:57 a.m. Shryock dramatically switches gears by tying on a copper shad Berkley Dredger 20.5 crankbait. âIâm not feeling any love from those pads, so Iâll try fishing offshore.â He idles to a long, main-lake point and grinds the diving plug across the structure. 8:02 a.m. He casts a green pumpkin 3/8-ounce Z-Man ChatterBait with a matching Berkley shad trailer around the end of the point. âThere are stumps all over this point, but Iâm not seeing any bait or bass on my electronics.â 8:08 a.m. Shryock makes a blistering run to the extreme upper end of the lake, where muddy water is entering the system via a culvert. He casts the shaky head worm to a ditch in front of the culvert and bags a small bass. 8:17 a.m. Shryock tries the frog and the creature in a nearby patch of shallow, emergent grass. Neither produces a strike.
5 HOURS LEFT8:45 a.m. A short trek farther downlake brings Shryock to a shoreline pocket studded with submerged timber, where he catches a short fish on the shaky head worm. 8:54 a.m. Shryock runs across the lake to a channel bank. He skips the shaky head worm beneath a dock and bags another nonkeeper. 8:58 a.m. Shryock makes another cast with the shaky head and suffers a âprofessional overrunâ in his baitcasting reel. He partially clears the tangle, only to discover a big knot in his line. âThatâs what happens when you respool with fresh fluorocarbon three weeks ago and donât use the reel until today.â 9:04 a.m. Shryock finally picks apart the knot and is back in action, hitting docks.
9:10 a.m. He casts the shaky head worm to a seawall. âI like structures close to deep water in summer. Itâs 20 feet deep a cast from this wall.â 9:20 a.m. Shryock switches Dredger crankbait models to a shallower-running 10.5 and retrieves it parallel to the seawall. 9:26 a.m. He probes a brushpile he graphed in 10 feet of water with the shaky head worm.
4 HOURS LEFT9:45 a.m. Shryockâs boat has moved directly over a sunken brushpile. He marks its waypoint on his electronics. âIâll mark âem first, then go back and fish âem.â 9:49 a.m. A bass taps the shaky head worm; Shryock swings and misses. 9:50 a.m. Another tap, swing and miss. Shryockâs worm is getting chewed up by short fish, so he rigs a fresh one. 10:02 a.m. Dark clouds loom in the distance as Shryock moves across the cove to hit more docks. âAs hot as it is, some rain would feel great.â 10:05 a.m. Shryock marks a big fish on a 12-foot brushpile. He backs off and casts to the gnarly cover, but the shaky head hangs up in a limb. After much jigging and jerking, he frees the lure. âI hate when that happens! Iâll have to let that brushpile rest awhile before I hit it again.â Whatâs his take on the day so far? âEven though those pads failed to produce, I havenât had to move offshore to catch some fish so far. My gut tells me the clearer, deeper lower end is going to set up better today than the murkier upper end. Iâm going to keep focusing on docks and any shallow wood or grass I can find, especially close to deep water.â 10:08 a.m. Shryock rigs another baitcasting rod with a green pumpkin/red Berkley Magnum Fatty Bottom Hopper, a 7-inch version of the lure that caught his first two keepers. âThere are obviously some big fish in this lake and I want to give âem a full meal deal.â
3 HOURS LEFT10:45 a.m. Shryock crashes the 10.5 Dredger into the brushpile and dredges up a small limb. âThat big bass wonât stay there as long as I keep tearing up its house!â 10:50 a.m. Shryock locates more emergent grass a quarter-mile uplake and attacks it with the two Bunker Hawgs. âThereâs a 6-foot ditch running out in front of this grass â another ideal summer setup.â 10:51 a.m. A small bass strips the punch rig Bunker Hawg off its hook. Shryock replaces it with a fresh creature. 10:54 a.m. Shryock flips the punch rig into the grass and immediately gets a tap; he leans back on the fish, but it comes unbuttoned. âDang, that felt like a good one.â 10:56 a.m. He catches a squealer on the punch rig. âThat fish was in an inch of water!â He ties on a fresh hook. âThe points of these flipping hooks get dull quickly after you catch a few fish on them.â 11:03 a.m. Shryock runs out of grass as he moves down the bank but encounters several docks, most of which lack deep water nearby. 11:13 a.m. He catches a short fish off a dock on the light-sinker creature. 11:28 a.m. Shryock moves to a main-lake point, pitches the light-sinker creature to a sunken log and catches his fourth keeper, 1 pound, 2 ounces. âYouâve got to admit, Iâm putting together a pretty impressive mini-bag!â
2 HOURS LEFT11:45 a.m. Shryock flips the punch bait to a shoreline laydown, gets a tap and misses the fish. 11:53 a.m. He rockets downlake to flip scattered laydowns on a sandy bank. 12:01 p.m. Shryock catches a 10-inch bass off a stickup on the shaky head.
1 HOUR LEFT12:45 p.m. Shryock rockets back uplake and cranks the 10.5 Dredger around the ditch where he caught his first keeper. The plug comes back with a ball of discarded monofilament. âAt least Iâm cleaning trash out of the lake!â 12:57 p.m. He chunks the drop-shot rig into the ditch and catches a mini-bass.
1:03 p.m. Shryock flips the Magnum shaky head worm into a laydown and catches his sixth keeper, 1 pound even. Itâs no help to his total. 1:17 p.m. Shryock runs back to the point where he caught his fourth keeper and cranks the 10.5.
âMy deal today was flipping shallow cover close to deep water,â Shryock told Bassmaster. âIâm not saying thatâs the best possible pattern, but itâs the one I felt most comfortable exploiting in my brief time on the water. If I were to fish here tomorrow, Iâd spend more time fishing deeper structure, because Iâm sure many bass are offshore now. And, I wouldnât waste nearly as much time frogging those pads.â
WHERE AND WHEN HUNTER SHRYOCK CAUGHT HIS FIVE BIGGEST BASS
1 pound, 1 ounce; watermelon/red 5-inch Berkley Fatty Bottom Hopper finesse worm on 1/8-ounce shaky head; submerged ditch; 8:20 a.m.
3 pounds, 6 ounces; same lure as No. 1; dock; 9:32 a.m.
1 pound, 3 ounces; 7-inch green pumpkin/red Berkley Magnum Fatty Bottom Hopper finesse worm on 1/4-ounce shaky head; submerged brushpile; 10:14 a.m.
1 pound, 2 ounces; green pumpkin/red Berkley Bunker Hawg creature on 4/0 hook with 1/4-ounce sinker; submerged log on point; 11:28 a.m.
3 pounds, 1 ounce; same lure as No. 4; submerged tree; 12:21 p.m.
TOTAL: 9 pounds, 13 ounces