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What began as a prespawn bite for staging bass ended as a shoreline slugfest for spawners. No secret baits ruled the week, just a textbook lineup of springtime favorites used by winner Kevin VanDam and the top finishers.
All captions by Craig Lamb
Photo: Garrick Dixon
To finish 12th Cliff Crochet relied on a 3/8-ounce Santone Lures Spinnerbait with double Colorado blades. A 4.5-inch Luck-E-Strike Ringmaster Creature with 5/0 straight shank hook and 1/4-ounce weight was another choice.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
To finish 11th Fred Roumbanis chose a 4.5-inch Gene Larew Hoodaddy Jr. with 4/0 flipping hook and 1/2-ounce tungsten weight. A 7/16-ounce Gene Larew Biffle Hardhead with 4/0 hook and 4.25-inch Gene Larew Biffle Bug was another choice.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
To finish 10th Jordan Lee relied primarily on jigs and soft plastic lures. A 3/16-ounce Strike King Tour Grade Shakey Head with 4-inch Strike King KVD Perfect Plastic Game Hawg was a top choice. So was a 3/8-ounce Strike King Tour Grade Finesse Football Jig paired with Strike King 4-inch Strike King Rage Twin Menace Grub.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
To finish ninth Randall Tharp fished a spinnerbait, crankbait and jig for varying moods of spawning phase bass. A 3/8-ounce War Eagle Nickel Spinnerbait with Colorado-Indiana blade combination and Zoom Split Tail Trailer was a choice for slow rolling.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
For slower presentations he used a 7/16-ounce V&M Pacemaker Skipping Jig with 2-inch Zoom Super Chunk Jr.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
For intercepting migrating fish he chose a Rapala DT6 crankbait.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
To finish eight Paul Mueller relied on this 1/2-ounce Shooter Lures Jig with unnamed chunk-style trailer that he dipped in Spike-It for strike appeal.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
To finish seventh Greg Vinson used this 3.5-inch NetBait Paca Slim with 4/0 Owner 4x Jungle Flippin’ Hook and 1/4-ounce Flat Out Tungsten Flipping Weight.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
To finish sixth Brandon Lester relied primarily on a 6-inch Xzone Lures Pro Series Muscle Back Hawg Hunter Creature Bait, with 4/0 Mustad Denny Brauer Grip-Pin Max Flippin Hook and 5/16-ounce tungsten weight.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
To finish fifth Seth Feider relied primary on a trio of lures to cover the water column. For deeper fish he used a Rapala DT6 crankbait. For bedding bass he used a 4-inch BioSpawn Lure Company Vile Craw with 4/0 VMC Heavy Duty Wide Gap Hook and 3/8-ounce WOO! Tungsten Weight.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
For topwater action he chose a Storm Arashi Cover Pop.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
To finish fourth Bradley Roy primarily used a 4.25-inch Cabin Creek Bait Company Express Bug with 4/0 hook and 1/4-ounce weight.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
To finish third Roy Hawk primarily relied on a spinnerbait. A 3/4-ounce Pepper Custom Baits Double Willow Spinnerbait was the choice. To the stock silicone skirt he added a “down skirt” made of finer silicone for a unique action.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
To finish second Tommy Biffle chose lures of his design. A 7/16-ounce Gene Larew Biffle Hardhead with 4/0 hook and 4.25-inch Gene Larew Biffle Bug was a top choice. So was a 4.5-inch Gene Larew Fat Tail Tube with 4/0 hook and 3/16-ounce weight.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
A 3/8-ounce River2Sea Biffle Junkyard Jig was another choice.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
The champ fished a variety of lures with these at the top of the lineup.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
A 1/2-ounce Strike King Denny Brauer Structure Jig and 4-inch Strike King Rage Twin Tail Menace Grub, green pumpkin for both, was a top choice.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
So was a 1.5 Strike King KVD HC Shallow Squarebill Crankbait, Brown Craw.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
