Day on the lake with Randall Tharp

Elite Series pro Randall Tharp took the challenge to locate and catch bass on a lake he'd never seen before.

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<i>Bassmaster</i>’s reality series challenges Bassmaster Elite Series Randall Tharp to locate and catch bass on a small lake he’s never seen before within a seven-hour time frame. The 45-year-old Port St. Joe, Fla., angler (<a href=www.randytharp.com>www.randytharp.com</a>) has fished professionally since 2008, when he capped his freshman year by winning two Bassmaster Open events. Since then, Tharp has won another Open on Ross Barnett Reservoir in 2013, qualified for the Classic three times and won the 2013 FLW Forrest Wood Cup championship. Here’s what happened May 21, 2014, when we put Tharp on Lake L, a small, remote reservoir. <br> <br><b>6:40 a.m.</b> - Tharp begins his day on Lake L.
Bassmaster’s reality series challenges Bassmaster Elite Series Randall Tharp to locate and catch bass on a small lake he’s never seen before within a seven-hour time frame. The 45-year-old Port St. Joe, Fla., angler (www.randytharp.com) has fished professionally since 2008, when he capped his freshman year by winning two Bassmaster Open events. Since then, Tharp has won another Open on Ross Barnett Reservoir in 2013, qualified for the Classic three times and won the 2013 FLW Forrest Wood Cup championship. Here’s what happened May 21, 2014, when we put Tharp on Lake L, a small, remote reservoir.
6:40 a.m. – Tharp begins his day on Lake L.
<b>6:43 a.m.</b> - Tharp starts off by throwing a buzzbait.
6:43 a.m. – Tharp starts off by throwing a buzzbait.
<b>7:23 a.m.</b> - Tharp hangs a big bass near a boat dock on a bladed jig.
7:23 a.m. – Tharp hangs a big bass near a boat dock on a bladed jig.
<b>7:23 a.m.</b> - Tharp’s first bass of the day, a 5-1 largemouth, whacked his bladed jig near a boat dock.
7:23 a.m. – Tharp’s first bass of the day, a 5-1 largemouth, whacked his bladed jig near a boat dock.
<b>7:30 a.m.</b> - Tharp tries his signature jig around a concrete retaining wall.
7:30 a.m. – Tharp tries his signature jig around a concrete retaining wall.
<b>8:35 a.m.</b> - Tharp prepares to release a 6 1/2-pound largemouth that he accidentally foul hooked on its spawning bed.
8:35 a.m. – Tharp prepares to release a 6 1/2-pound largemouth that he accidentally foul hooked on its spawning bed.
<b>8:43 a.m.</b> - Tharp moves uplake to fish some lily pads in a tributary arm.
8:43 a.m. – Tharp moves uplake to fish some lily pads in a tributary arm.
<b>9:09 a.m.</b> - Tharp bags keeper No. 2, 3 pounds, 4 ounces, in lily pads on a Texas rigged craw.
9:09 a.m. – Tharp bags keeper No. 2, 3 pounds, 4 ounces, in lily pads on a Texas rigged craw.
<b>9:25 a.m.</b> - Tharp bags his third keeper, 1-4, off a solitary pad on a Texas rigged craw.
9:25 a.m. – Tharp bags his third keeper, 1-4, off a solitary pad on a Texas rigged craw.
<b>10:04 a.m.</b> - Tharp hangs a bass in a laydown tree on a bladed jig.
10:04 a.m. – Tharp hangs a bass in a laydown tree on a bladed jig.
<b>10:04 a.m.</b> - Tharp catches a 3-6 largemouth from a laydown tree on a bladed jig.
10:04 a.m. – Tharp catches a 3-6 largemouth from a laydown tree on a bladed jig.
Tharp’s punch craw rig, consisting of a Strike King Rage Craw with a heavy sinker and punch skirt, proved to be effective on Lake L.
Tharp’s punch craw rig, consisting of a Strike King Rage Craw with a heavy sinker and punch skirt, proved to be effective on Lake L.
<b>10:35 a.m.</b> - Tharp fishes a shallow pocket with a swim jig.
10:35 a.m. – Tharp fishes a shallow pocket with a swim jig.
<b>11:15 a.m.</b> - Tharp bags a 3-pound bass off a laydown on a jig.
11:15 a.m. – Tharp bags a 3-pound bass off a laydown on a jig.
<b>11:38 a.m.</b> - Tharp hammers a lunker bass that ate his punch craw in thick pad cover.
11:38 a.m. – Tharp hammers a lunker bass that ate his punch craw in thick pad cover.
<b>11:38 a.m.</b> - Tharp’s biggest bass of the day, 5 pounds, 10 ounces, hit a punch craw in dense pad cover.
11:38 a.m. – Tharp’s biggest bass of the day, 5 pounds, 10 ounces, hit a punch craw in dense pad cover.
Tharp caught his biggest bass of the day while using a punch craw in thick pad cover.
Tharp caught his biggest bass of the day while using a punch craw in thick pad cover.
<b>12:37 p.m.</b> - Tharp tries a jig around isolated wood cover on Lake L.
12:37 p.m. – Tharp tries a jig around isolated wood cover on Lake L.
Tharp’s two biggest bass of the day weighed 5-1 and 5-10.
Tharp’s two biggest bass of the day weighed 5-1 and 5-10.
Tharp caught his 5-1 on a 3/8-ounce green pumpkin Z-Man ChatterBait Elite bladed jig with bluegill Lake Fork Live Magic Shad trailer and the 5-10 on an Okeechobee craw Strike King Rage Craw on 4/0 VMC hook with 3/4-ounce Reins tungsten sinker and punch skirt. <br><br> “I think the majority of the bass in this lake have already spawned, and the ones I caught were still pretty shallow,” Tharp told Bassmaster. “After seeing all those bluegill beds up shallow early, I really expected to catch some big fish on topwaters, but the surface bite never materialized. By far the best thing I had going once the sun got higher was flipping that Rage Craw into the pads with a heavy sinker; this is a super-deadly postspawn tactic, and it accounted for my biggest fish of the day.”
Tharp caught his 5-1 on a 3/8-ounce green pumpkin Z-Man ChatterBait Elite bladed jig with bluegill Lake Fork Live Magic Shad trailer and the 5-10 on an Okeechobee craw Strike King Rage Craw on 4/0 VMC hook with 3/4-ounce Reins tungsten sinker and punch skirt.

“I think the majority of the bass in this lake have already spawned, and the ones I caught were still pretty shallow,” Tharp told Bassmaster. “After seeing all those bluegill beds up shallow early, I really expected to catch some big fish on topwaters, but the surface bite never materialized. By far the best thing I had going once the sun got higher was flipping that Rage Craw into the pads with a heavy sinker; this is a super-deadly postspawn tactic, and it accounted for my biggest fish of the day.”