6:29 a.m. Sullivan and I arrive at Lake Xâs boat ramp. Itâs clear and 64 degrees as we prep his boat for launching.
7 HOURS LEFT6:40 a.m. We launch the Triton. Lake X is 82 degrees and stained. Sullivan pulls several McCain rods fitted with Sixgill reels from storage. âWeâre heading into summer and Iâm expecting bass to be transitioning to their postspawn mode. Iâm seeing plenty of flooded wood cover on the banks; that, plus the likelihood that bluegill are spawning tells me there should be some bass up shallow. Of course, postspawn fishing is notoriously unpredictable because bass can be anywhere from 6 inches to 30 feet deep. And did I mention that today is the full moon? I know guys who plan all their fishing vacations around the full moon, but Iâve found it makes for a slow daytime bass bite and creates a very narrow feeding window, usually around midday. I hope Iâm wrong and the bite will be fast and furious all day long, but Iâm prepared to grind it out until that window of opportunity cracks open!â 6:48 a.m. Sullivan races uplake to a long rock point and makes his first casts of the day with a shad-pattern Berkley Cane Walker topwater stickbait. âMost guys use this plug in saltwater, but Iâve caught some huge bass on it.â 6:55 a.m. He moves shallower and cranks a sexy shad Strike King 1.5 squarebill around a gravel launch ramp. âNever bypass a launch ramp, especially an old, gnarly one like this â the more busted up they are, the better. Crawfish and minnows love âem.â 7:03 a.m. Sullivan continues down the bank with a pearl Zoom Salty Super Fluke soft stickbait. 7:08 a.m. Sullivan cranks the 1.5 down a stretch of riprap bank. âI havenât seen any shad or bluegill up shallow yet.â 7:14 a.m. He pitches a 1/2-ounce blue jig with a matching Rage Bug trailer (both Strike King) to a dock. 7:19 a.m. Sullivan spots what appears to be a pile of sunken tires on his electronics and hits them with the blue jig. No takers. 7:21 a.m. He bangs a chartreuse sexy shad Strike King 5XD crankbait over the sunken tires. âI spotted some bluegill hovering over them, but no bass.â 7:24 a.m. Sullivan casts a green Spro frog to a seawall and twitches it across the surface. 7:34 a.m. Sullivan ties on a 1/4-ounce Cayuga Craw (olive green) Vertical Lures JigX jig with a watermelon Xcite boot-tail trailer. âI call this my finesse swim jig. Itâs my go-to tournament lure â some days, itâs the only lure Iâll throw. The jigâs design is unique; your line passes through a hole in the head to a line tie hidden in the âthroat.â I fish it pendulum style with slow, gentle rod lifts so it hops up, then the swimbait trailer flutters back to the bottom.â
6 HOURS LEFT7:40 a.m. Sullivan resumes chunking the frog to the seawall. A small fish swirls on it.
5 HOURS LEFT8:40 a.m. Sullivan runs back to the point where he started and cranks the 5XD around the structure. 8:45 a.m. He zips to a channel bank straight across from the boat ramp and flips the JigX around shoreline bushes. 8:49 a.m. Sullivan crouches low to skip the frog beneath some shoreline shrubbery. He spots a light patch on the bottom. âThat was a spawning bed, but there are no fish on it now.â 8:57 a.m. Sullivan moves into a shallow pocket riddled with stumps and spots a cluster of bluegill beds. âThey make the bottom look like the surface of a golf ball.â He tries the frog across the beds without success. 9:14 a.m. He exits the pocket and drags the Carolina rig around a main-lake point. 9:21 a.m. Sullivan flips the JigX around several laydowns. âTheyâre not on the bank, theyâre not offshore and theyâre not on wood, so where the heck are they?â 9:29 a.m. While running toward Lake Xâs dam, Sullivan spots a submerged channel point in the middle of the lake on his electronics. He drops to his knees, sticks his rod in the water and cranks the 5XD around the structure. âKneel and reel â itâs old school, but it works!â 9:36 a.m. He tries the jighead worm on the structure but hauls water.
3 HOURS LEFT10:40 a.m. Sullivan moves to an offshore rockpile and probes the structure with the 5XD, Speed Trap and Baby Brush Hog. 10:47 a.m. The Keitech and jighead worm also fail to catch anything on the rockpile. âThey just arenât on this offshore stuff.â
2 HOURS LEFT11:43 a.m. Sullivan moves uplake to the long point he fished earlier. He hits the structure with the Speed Trap and Carolina rig. 11:50 a.m. Sullivan gets light taps on two consecutive casts with the swim jig, puts on a fresh trailer and dips its tail in chartreuse dye.
1 HOUR LEFT12:40 p.m. Sullivan swims the JigX around a wave-slapped seawall. 12:52 p.m. Sullivan has returned to the point where he whacked his Â6-4. He casts the JigX to the structure, gets a tap, sets the hook, and his line breaks. 1:01 p.m. After rigging a fresh swim jig, Sullivan casts again to the point and catches keeper No. 7, Â1-8. Itâs no help to his weight total. 1:12 p.m. He cranks the Speed Trap around the point. 1:19 p.m. Back on the submerged channel point he fished earlier, Sullivan tries the 5XD and Baby Brush Hog. 1:30 p.m. With minutes remaining, Sullivan races to the rock point where he started his day and grinds the 5XD. 1:40 p.m. Timeâs up! Sullivan has had an interesting day on Lake X, boating seven keeper bass; his five biggest weigh an impressive 16 pounds, 4 ounces.
âPostspawn is often tough, but the full moon made the bass extra spooky and created a very narrow bite window â I caught my five best bass during the noon hour,â Sullivan told Bassmaster. âThe only lure theyâd hit was the finesse swim jig. If I were to fish here tomorrow, Iâd start with that same lure and stick with it all day. Either that, or Iâd fish at night!â
WHERE AND WHEN RANDY SULLIVAN CAUGHT HIS FIVE BIGGEST BASS
6 pounds, 4 ounces; 1/4-ounce Cayuga Craw JigX jig with matching Yamamoto swimbait trailer; boat ramp on main-lake point; 11:25 a.m.
4 pounds, 1 ounce; same lure as No. 1; main-lake point; 11:55 a.m.
2 pounds, 2 ounces; same lure as No. 1; boathouse; 12:16 p.m.
1 pound, 10 ounces; same lure as No. 1; submerged tires; 12:25 p.m.
2 pounds, 3 ounces; same lure as No. 1; same place as No. 4; 12:28 p.m.
TOTAL: 16 pounds, 4 ounces