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When Scroggins Says it’s Easter
Terry “Big Show” Scroggins is a character. The Florida pro painted cars for 16 years in the family auto body biz, loves to pour his own soft plastic lures, build his own fishing rods, and grill meat for his buddies. Plus, he’s filled with a Tundra full of timely one-liners that will make you howl with laughter.
One of his best: “If I tell you it’s Easter, you’d better hide your eggs.”
Well, it’s Easter time. And Scroggins is dishing out non-negotiable truths about how to catch spawning bass about the same time Peter Cottontail comes hopping down the bunny trail.
Be aware and buy good eyewear
“The first step to catching bass around the spawn is taking time to know if the fish in your area are pre-spawn, spawn, or post-spawn. Around my house in Florida, bass start spawning in late January and February, but in New York it could be June. So you have to pay attention, and know if bass are actually on the beds or not,” says Scroggins.
“If you know for certain fish are spawning, then buy the best pair of polarized sunglasses you can afford, and look for beds in super shallow water in the backs of creeks, flat bays, and shallow pockets. But you need to realize not all beds look the same, based on the bottom substrate and water clarity. Some spawning beds look almost orange, while others can look tan or white, and some look nearly black,” says Scroggins.
Learn to trust spinning tackle
“If you’re fortunate to spy a big bass on a spawning bed, don’t assume you need 20-pound line and a baitcasting reel to catch her,” says Scroggins. “I catch 90% of my spawners with a spinning reel spooled with light line, and a 7-foot medium action rod from Mud Hole. Not only can you finesse the lure better on spinning tackle, but lighter line is less detectable to finicky spawners.”
These three lures are all you need
“A lot of times you have to offer a single spawning bass a variety of lures to make her bite. It’s crazy how the same fish will snub their nose at one lure, but turn and attack a different lure on the next cast,” he says. “If you have a tube, a wacky rigged 5” Senko, and a skinny 6” straight tail worm, there’s a really strong chance that fish will eat one of those three,” says the Toyota pro.
Scroggins will also tell you it’s almost Easter. So you’d better hide your eggs.
VanDam Looks for Dogwoods, Mimics Nest Robbers
Unless your favorite fishery is clearer than Sprite, you probably can’t see for sure if bass are actually on spawning beds. But Kevin VanDam says if you see dogwood trees blooming along the shoreline, you better start casting ultra shallow, because there’s a super high chance your local largemouth are making babies.
“I don’t care if you’re in Michigan, Missouri, or somewhere in between, I’ve always said if the dogwoods are blooming, then you can pretty much bet the bass are spawning,” says the Team Toyota angler.
Moon phase and water temp matter too
“Dogwoods are an easy indicator, but you need to pay attention to the moon phase and water temperature too, especially the moon phase,” says VanDam. “Water temps can fool you a little, because I’ve seen bass build beds in a pretty wide range of water temps. But if you have either a new moon or a full moon, like we’ve got coming later this week, and the dogwoods are blooming, you can count on bass spawning.”
The ideal “nursery” for largemouth
“You need to do a little map study and focus first on the shallowest and flattest creeks, pockets, coves, and bays on the northern shorelines. Most people know bass build their nests shallow, but the importance of pockets and creeks on the north side of the lake gets overlooked. And those are really key because they get blitzed by warm sun, and they’re protected from cold north winds,” he explains.
Three lures that will get a spawner’s attention
“Just about every lure I use when I know bass are on beds mimics bluegill, because bluegill and other small species of sunfish love to eat the eggs of largemouth. I call them ‘nest robbers’ – and obviously bass are trying to protect their eggs and fry, so they try to eat the small sunfish,” he says.
“If I was going to choose three lures to cast when the dogwoods are blooming it’d be a Strike King Caffeine Shad, a 4” Texas rigged Strike King Game Hawg, and a swim jig – and every one of them would be the colors of a small sunfish,” says VanDam.
He says he also likes to add a bit of chartreuse dye to the tips of the lures to help them resemble the lighter-colored fins of a sunfish. But mostly, at this time of year, VanDam’s eyes are always searching for pink or white dogwood trees.
Andy Morgan Claims Hometown Win on Lake Chickamauga at Bass Pro Tour Stage Four
total through the final 2 ½ hours of competition, eight of those were under 2 pounds; Morgan, meanwhile, connected with his two biggest fish of the day – a 5-7 and a 6-9 – and a 4-4 to gradually open up his lead.
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MLF pro Andy Morgan spent Championship Sunday in familiar waters – two sloughs that he knew well from years of fishing on home-lake Chickamauga – and it earned him the Bass Pro Tour Stage Four trophy. (Photo by Garrick Dixon.)
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For more information on the MLF Bass Pro Tour and its anglers, rules and schedule, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Upshaw Claims Title
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (April 14, 2019) – Pro Andrew Upshaw of Tulsa, Oklahoma, won the FLW Tour at the Cherokee Lake presented by Lowrance after catching five bass Sunday weighing 15 pounds, 6 ounces. Upshaw’s four-day cumulative total of 20 bass weighing 67 pounds, 10 ounces, was enough to edge second-place pro Grae Buck of Harleysville, Pennsylvania, by 1 pound, 2 ounces, at the event that featured 164 of the world’s top bass anglers. For his win – the first of his FLW Tour career – Upshaw earned $100,000.
“This week was phenomenal – there’s no other way to describe it,” a visibly emotional Upshaw said on the FLW Tour weigh-in stage Sunday afternoon. “Through practice, I knew I was on something special, but I didn’t know just how special.”
Upshaw’s week on the water primarily involved targeting spawning bass. Early on, he said he lured bites with a drop-shot rig, using a green-pumpkin-colored Strike King KVD Drop-Shot Half Shell with a 1/8-ounce weight, but ended up switching after breaking it off 30 minutes into day one of competition. He proceeded to pick up a 4-inch, wacky-rigged Strike King KVD Perfect Plastic Ocho of the same color and went to work putting together consistent limits around mid-lake islands. He said he preferred 10-pound-test Seaguar Smackdown braid line with a 6-pound InvisX fluorocarbon leader.
“These fish stay around these islands all year long – they don’t leave,” said Upshaw. “I caught some on banks, but all my big ones came on islands. I wanted to be around the deepest water and the steepest banks. It had to have boulders out in front, and more importantly, the bank had to have somewhat of a turn in it. It didn’t have to have a cove, but just a turn – those smallmouth were spawning in them. There was just enough [curve] to get them out of the current where they could spawn.
“I took the Ocho and pitched it behind those boulders because that’s where they were spawning,” continued Upshaw. “Everybody was casting out in front and in the cracks, but they were actually behind the boulders the entire time. Anybody throwing a weighted bait, whether it was a Ned rig or a shaky-head, wasn’t able to effectively fish it because it was dropping so fast. By pitching that very, very light-weight Ocho around, I was able to get the fish that no one else was fishing for.”
On Championship Sunday, Upshaw slipped and surrendered the lead for a significant period of time, but after a last-minute stop at a secondary area he’d been saving – two points a quarter-mile from takeoff – the Oklahoma pro made two culls that would end up putting him over the top.
“Off to the side of one of the points there was a rock pile – it had isolated boulders and only big ones were moving up on it,” said Upshaw. “I caught a 3½-pounder and one that weighed about 2½ pounds to cull out two small fish.”
Upshaw caught his final two fish using a 3.25-inch, Ghost Shad-colored Strike King Rage Swimmer on a ¼-ounce jighead.
The top 10 pros on Cherokee Lake finished:
1st: Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., 20 bass, 67-10, $100,000
2nd: Grae Buck, Harleysville, Pa., 20 bass, 66-8, $30,200
3rd: Dylan Hays, El Dorado, Ark., 20 bass, 65-12, $25,100
4th: Jason Reyes, Huffman, Texas, 20 bass, 65-11, $20,000
5th: Andy Young, Isle, Minn., 20 bass, 64-0, $19,000
6th: Yamamoto Baits pro Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Wis., 20 bass, 63-1, $18,000
7th: Tim Cales, Sandstone, W. Va., 20 bass, 62-8, $17,000
8th: Derrick Snavely, Piney Flats, Tenn., 20 bass, 61-9, $16,000
9th: Matt Becker, Finleyville, Pa., 20 bass, 61-4, $15,000
10th: Tim Frederick, Leesburg, Fla., 20 bass, 60-12, $14,000
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.
Overall, there were 50 bass weighing 146 pounds, 14 ounces, caught by pros Sunday. All of the final 10 pros were able to bring five-bass limits to the scale.
Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Cherokee Lake presented by Lowrance will premiere in 2019. The exact air-date will be announced soon. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs each Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST and is broadcast to more than 63 million cable, satellite and telecommunications households in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean on the World Fishing Network (WFN), the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.
The total purse for the FLW Tour at Cherokee Lake presented by Lowrance is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by the Economic Development Alliance, Jefferson County. The next event for FLW Tour anglers will be the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude, in Dayton, Tennessee, May 2-5. The tournament will be hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic & Tourism Council.
In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 164 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continued competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.
Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2019 FLW Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2019 FLW Cup will be on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 9-11 and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2019 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Blaylock Holds On To Win Bassmaster Elite Series Event At Winyah Bay
GEORGETOWN, S.C. — Stetson Blaylock came to the Bassmaster Elite at Winyah Bay with one goal in mind: don’t finish last.
He accomplished that goal — and then some.
| Stetson Blaylock celebrates winning the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Elite at Winyah Bay with his family after weighing a four-day total of 50 pounds, 15 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
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The third-year Elite Series pro from Arkansas tallied a four-day total of 50 pounds, 15 ounces and earned a victory that was unexpected, to say the least. He capped the win with a Championship Sunday limit of five bass that weighed 9-3.
“I came here with the intentions of ‘Don’t ruin your season; don’t come here and finish dead last,’” said Blaylock, who earned $100,000 for the victory. “When I found my area, I knew it had fish, so I thought I’d get out of here with a Top 35 and roll on to the next one. I didn’t know it had winning potential at all.
“I look back at every bass I lost this week and think ‘Gosh, I should’ve caught that one.’ Today, I had one good one that jumped off that would have been another 2 pounds. When that kind of stuff happens, you’re not supposed to win, but when it’s your time, you can’t do anything wrong.”
Time management was essential throughout the week. While many of his competitors ran 100-plus miles to fish various areas of the Cooper River, Blaylock earned his first blue trophy by staying in a pond off the Waccamaw River, about 18 minutes from takeoff at Georgetown’s Carroll Ashmore Campbell Marine Complex.
Lined with overhanging trees, the area held deeper water and sprouted a few tributary canals. Here, Blaylock placed 11th on Day 1 with 11-6, rose to sixth the next day with 12-7 and surged into the Day 3 lead by sacking up a limit of 17-15, the tournament’s heaviest bag.
Today, Blaylock faced a tougher bite, but his 9-3 was enough to hold off a dramatic charge by second-place angler Scott Canterbury, who finished just 9 ounces behind Blaylock.
“I’ve never been here before, so I went to where I knew there were some fish,” Blaylock said. “That gave me the entire day to fish.”
Coming off a second-place finish in last week’s Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Elite at Lake Hartwell, Blaylock not only carried over the positive momentum, he also stuck with the same selection of lures. His primary bait was a 5-inch green pumpkin YUM Dinger stickworm with a 1/32-ounce nail weight and a Gamakatsu G-Finesse Dropshot Hook tucked under an O-ring.
Blaylock used this rig for skipping under tree limbs, a technique that accounted for most of his bites. He also caught a keeper on a P-70 Pop-R — and when he found bed fish, he pitched a white YUM Christie Craw on a 3/0 hook and a 7/16-ounce weight.
“Going out this morning with the chance to win, all day it seemed like I had given it away,” Blaylock said. “I figured I’d finish sixth or seventh with the way I lost so many and fished so poorly today. But it all comes down to those key fish you get in the box.
“Winning an event like this is everything to a fisherman. The money’s nice, but the trophy is what it’s all about.”
In second place, Canterbury’s ambitious venture was pure Bassmaster LIVE gold, as a long run up the Cooper yielded a limit of 16-2 — the day’s heaviest catch — and gave him a total weight of 50-6. Motoring well past where other competitors fished, the Alabama angler, who started the day in eighth place, made a key bait change that produced 10 pounds in two bites — a 6- and a 4-pounder — within 30 minutes.
“I went up there yesterday and I was only going to fish about an hour just to get away from everybody, because I struggled so bad the second day,” Canterbury said. “When I got up there yesterday I caught a 2-pounder and then a 5-pounder 10-minutes later, so I ended up staying in that area.
“Today, I went up there and threw the same Dirty Jigs swim jig I threw yesterday and couldn’t get them to bite it. I hadn’t thrown a buzzbait all week. But today, with muddy water and overcast weather, it just felt like a buzzbait day. I caught every one of my fish on that bait.”
Earlier in the day, Canterbury took advantage of the morning’s high water to fish around spawning areas. When the outgoing tide started draining the areas, he moved outside to the main creek channel and caught his fish on points of vegetation out of the main current.
“It’s all about making those adjustments and today, I made some good ones,” he said.
In third place, Canadian Cory Johnston also fished the Cooper River, but he focused on the expansive flats that once served as rice fields. In practice, he had marked several key areas with hydrilla clumps and isolated hard-bottom spots.
Targeting these spawning sites was his plan, but the day’s conditions were not favorable.
“The water was clear, but with cloudy skies, I couldn’t see the beds and the clear spots and that hurt me,” Johnston said. “I could get my bait in the area, but I wasn’t able to specifically throw it on a bed, so I had to blind cast.”
Johnston added a limit of 9-1 and finished with 49-5. He caught his fish on a wacky-rigged green pumpkin stickbait and a homemade swim jig with a Strike King Rage Craw trailer.
Rounding out the Top 5 were Jason Williamson with 46-3 and John Crews with 46-2.
Williamson won the $1,500 Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award with a 6-10 largemouth.
Williamson and Crews were also the two highest finishing anglers eligible for Toyota Bonus Bucks. Williamson finished fourth and added $3,000 to his purse, while Crews finished fifth earning a $2,000 bonus.
South Carolina rookie Patrick Walters claimed the lead in both the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year and the DICK`S Sporting Goods Rookie of Year race, after four events, earning $1,000 for AOY and $500 for ROY.
2019 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2019 Bassmaster Elite At Winyah Bay Title Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops
2019 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Skeeter Boats, Talon, Triton Boats, Yamaha, Abu Garcia, Berkley
2019 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Carhartt, Lowrance, Mossy Oak Fishing, T-H Marine, Academy Sports + Outdoors
Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Elite at Winyah Bay Host Sponsor: Georgetown County
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 510,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), radio show (Bassmaster Radio), social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, BassPro.com Bassmaster Open Series, TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Series, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
2019 Bassmaster Elite at Winyah Bay 4/11-4/14
Winyah Bay, Georgetown SC.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 20 50-15 100 $100,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-06 Day 2: 5 12-07 Day 3: 5 17-15 Day 4: 5 09-03
2. Scott Canterbury Odenville, AL 20 50-06 99 $25,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-15 Day 2: 5 07-01 Day 3: 5 15-04 Day 4: 5 16-02
3. Cory Johnston Cavan CANADA 20 49-05 98 $20,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-02 Day 2: 5 11-12 Day 3: 5 17-06 Day 4: 5 09-01
4. Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 20 46-03 97 $16,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-11 Day 2: 5 08-11 Day 3: 5 10-13 Day 4: 5 11-00
5. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 20 46-02 96 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-13 Day 2: 5 08-15 Day 3: 5 15-09 Day 4: 5 09-13
6. Koby Kreiger Alva, FL 20 45-03 95 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 08-11 Day 2: 5 12-11 Day 3: 5 15-04 Day 4: 5 08-09
7. Patrick Walters Summerville, SC 20 44-00 94 $16,500.00
Day 1: 5 11-04 Day 2: 5 10-00 Day 3: 5 12-08 Day 4: 5 10-04
8. Luke Palmer Coalgate, OK 20 42-09 93 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-02 Day 2: 5 12-06 Day 3: 5 09-05 Day 4: 5 06-12
9. Jesse Tacoronte Kissimmee, FL 20 41-04 92 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 10-14 Day 2: 5 13-07 Day 3: 5 09-09 Day 4: 5 07-06
10. Clent Davis Montevallo, AL 17 40-13 91 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 09-02 Day 3: 5 16-06 Day 4: 2 02-07
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 06-10 $1,500.00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 62 342 631-04
2 60 347 674-12
3 28 159 349-12
4 9 47 90-09
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159 895 1746-05