Alex Davis | Lake Okeechobee Details
John Johnson
Bassfan Senior Editor
2nd: Alex Davis
> Day 1: 5, 21-00
> Day 2: 5, 20-15
> Day 3: 5, 9-02
> Day 4: 5, 5-03
> Total = 20, 56-04
Alex Davis, a 4th-year pro who makes his primary living as a guide on Lake Guntersville, spent the entire tournament within a few miles of the launch ramp in Clewiston, Fla. He estimated that he burned less than 20 gallons of boat fuel over 4 days.
He had little to no company in the small pocket that he fished. He flipped to bushes and made longer casts to holes in lily-pad fields.
"The very first year I fished Okeechobee, one day I bet I had 60 bites throwing a (Reaction Innovations) Skinny Dipper in there," he said. "At that time I saw probably 200 beds in that area and I never forgot about it. I had the bites to get a check there 2 years ago, but they just wouldn't commit.
"I was still pretty green about fishing in Florida back then. Since then I've learned some new tactics and I'm not so stubborn."
His casts to the pad holes were lengthy – perhaps 20 or 25 yards on the average. Even while flipping, his best bet was to stay back as far as he could. At times he had to resort to flipping over obstacles such as tree branches, and then just taking his chances with landing the fish if he got bit.
He caught every fish he weighed on a Jackall Flick Shake worm in the junebug color. He Texas-rigged it for flipping (using any of three different weight sizes, depending on the wind) and threw it weightless to the pad holes.
> Weightless worm gear: 7'2" medium-heavy Shimano Zodias rod, Shimano Curado casting reel (7.2:1 ratio), 17-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon line, 5/0 Gamakatsu EWG SuperLine worm hook, Jackall Flick Shake 6.8 (junebug).
> Light flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Shimano Expride rod, Shimano Metanium casting reel (8.4:1 ratio), 50-pound PowerPro Maxcuatro braided line, 1/4-, 5/16- or 3/8-ounce tungsten weight, same hook and bait.
> Heavy flipping gear: 7'5" heavy-action G. Loomis E6X rod, same reel as light flipping, 80-pound Maxcuatro braid, same weights, hook and bait.
Main factor in his success – "Not doing what I've done every other year down here, which was run around the whole time. I picked two areas within 2 miles of each other that I thought had the most fish, and I figured if I went through enough of them I'd eventually get some big ones. I just spent a lot more time fishing than I ever had before."
Performance edge – "Definitely the Power-Poles and my MotorGuide trolling motor. The trolling motor took me through solid trees and without the Power-Poles, I wouldn't have caught anything in that wind."
Read more: http://www.bassfan.com/news_article/7470/flipping-was-king-but-winding-played-too#.Vr0ItVJkaSo#ixzz3zttXEZpU
