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Norman, Okla.
– Streaks in professional sports are the stuff of legends. Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak, Cal Ripken’s 2632 games played, Lance Armstrong’s seven Tour de France victories and Coach John Wooden’s 88 game winning streak with UCLA Basketball are among the great streaks of all time.
Streaks in bass fishing are a different breed; the nature of the sport lends itself to wild swings in performances, even from the cagiest of competitors. So many factors contribute to an angler’s performance that riding a hot streak can be an extremely difficult situation.
Considering that an angler has to compete with competitors, both human and piscatorial, he must do so under vast extremes in environmental conditions and the potential for mechanical failure of equipment; it’s no wonder an angler can win one tournament, and fall hard on his face in the next.
There are six Elite Series pros that have cashed a paycheck in every 2008 event, Alton Jones, Todd Faircloth, Mike McClelland, Skeet Reese, Dean Rojas and Bryan Hudgins. The BASS ZONE covered the topic of earnings in our mid-season wrap up (to read that article, click here).
Hidden in that story are three Elite Series pros that started the season off at Harris Chain with less than desirable performances. Three anglers that have taken what could have been a depressing start to the 2008 season and turned it into a great season to this point.
Bernie Schultz finished 58th at Harris Chain, while Brent Chapman and Ish Monroe wound up in 93rd and 102nd place; not exactly the jumpstart each of them wanted. However difficult the start to their season was, each of them has been extremely consistent since, and in fact are having very good seasons.
Schultz has earned $50, 500 and is in 22nd place in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Points Standings, while Chapman has earned $62,700 and is ranked 37th and Monroe has deposited $63,000 and at 17th place in the standings has an outside shot at The Angler of the Year Title.
The BASS ZONE talked to each of them about their steadiness, and while it would be easy to think that each man has been fishing lights out at each event, we found that it sometimes has more to do with being flexible and allowing the flow of the tournament to help them make the right moves. However, they all have one thing in common, making adjustments.
Schultz: Survival Fishing
“I’d love to say that it has been one great move after another,” exclaimed the Gainesville, Fla. pro. “But the truth is, I don’t feel like I’ve been fishing at my highest level, but I have been keeping an open mind and fishing with a fair amount of versatility.”
Schultz reported that he had to make some decisions to ‘salvage’ in the money finishes at both Clarks Hill and Lake Murray. “It’s been that kind of year for me,” he said. “I had a very low confidence level at Clarks Hill to start with, there were too many anglers doing what I had found, so I ended up scrambling.” Being from Florida, Schultz turned to sightfishing on day one to compete, then turned to the points the rest of the tournament.
“I fished a lot of different ways in Georgia,” he said. “I used Yamamoto Lizards and tubes on the beds, Rapala SkitterWalk and XRaps for schooling fish until they settled down, then turned to a 4-inch Senko; I basically junk fished my way through those days.”
Unlike Clarks Hill, Schultz had a high confidence level at Lake Murray thanks to a 1000-yard area that had three points converging in it, and after drawing out as the sixth boat, figured he was good to go. “I had so many quality fish follow my Hildebrandt Tin Roller spinnerbait in there during practice that I started there on day one,” however, once he got there he found that it had been overrun with undesirables. “The striper had taken over, and where I had been catching largemouth, I couldn’t get one to come up.”
So once again, he turned to bed fishing in the afternoon, and after the disappointing letdown of his spot he didn’t have a keeper fish by 11:00. “I caught for off the beds on the Senko and the Lizards, then turned to a small size 8 XRap and Carolina rig with a Yamamoto Cut Tail and blind casting the Senko for the rest of the day.”
Despite a late boat number on day two, he had a great day of fishing throwing Sebile Magic Swimmers, SkitterWalks, swimbaits and Tin Roller spinnerbaits in the wind. “Day two at Murray was a lot of fun, I caught a bunch of fish, and moved into solid check cashing position,” he said.
The reason he has been able to keep his streak going is because he has remained versatile, and has allowed the conditions help him make decisions. “I have just been trying to remain open-minded and respond,” he said. “I just want to carry it on so that I can solidify my place in the Classic before the final event.”
Chapman: Listen and Apply with an Open Mind
Similar to Schultz, Lake Quivira, Kan. pro Brent Chapman said that he has had a couple of events that he feels fortunate to have gotten through with cashing a paycheck. “Let’s just say that I am really glad that Clarks Hill and Lake Murray are behind us,” said Chapman.
Despite his less than stellar outlook on the past two events, Chapman realizes that he has put himself in good position, and he has done so by keeping an open mind, and listening to another Elite Series pro who has helped him when things were not looking so good.
Alton (Jones) has been a big help to me,” Chapman reported. “He has given me little clues that have helped me see the whole picture on a body of water that have helped put me into the right frame of mind to go out there and read the fish.”
At Toho, The GE Silicone pro applied his years of Florida fishing education and focused on areas until he found the right concentration of fish. “Once I found the right areas, I worked them over pretty well with a Zoom Speed Worm and Horny Toad,” he said. “The key to that event was to just keep fishing and putting the bait in the right areas.”
At Flacon he turned to a Terminator jig and a Magnum Speed worm to post his three-day weight of 79 pounds, 11 ounces, but then suffered something of a down mood heading into Amistad. “It was like a big fish hangover,” Chapman said. “I focused on flipping the Terminator jig, and Alton keyed me into the swimbait bite, so I was able to get through there.”
Clarks hill came, and Chapman, like so many others do on blue back herring lakes, decided to run the points with a swimbait while backing it up with a jig. “I have never fully dialed in to these blue back herring lakes,” he said. “But, I practiced by moving around a lot, and kept doing that in the tournament.”
Armed with his Clarks Hill experience, Chapman decided to run points with a swimbait and topwater at lake Murray, but after seeing how many other anglers keyed into those same patterns, he decided to make a switch to his backup plan. “I had caught some fish upriver flipping the Terminator jig,” Chapman said. “So I decided to go after the quick limit, and ran upstream.”
After getting there, his jig produced a five pounder, and a four and a half pounder on the first day, so he stayed up river. When the same grass patch produced a five and a half pounder on the second day, he was in position to collect a paycheck; he wound up finishing 47th.
“The key has been keeping an open mind and being willing to do different things,” Chapman explained. “I am looking forward to the next tournaments, because I think they really suit my style, I really want to make a couple of top 12’s and have a chance to win one, that would make the ultimate goal of qualifying for the Classic easier.”
Monroe: Focus on Fishing
The 33-year-old California pro said that his first tournament results were largely a result of nerves. “I know I’ve been doing this for a long time, and the start of the season should be more subdued, but I still get jacked up for the start of the year,” said Monroe. “I had butterflies in my stomach all the way through the last practice day at Toho, and then I got on a frog bite that settled me down.”
Known for his ability to wing a Snag Proof frog around with much skill, Monroe said that his comfort level with his eventual pattern at Toho helped sharpen his mental focus. “I didn’t have to think my way through it so much, and that helped me settle down.”
His focus carried him through Toho, and all the way through practice at Falcon, where he ended the first day in third place, and then something happened that Monroe said has added to his focus. “I was on the winning fish and the winning spot at Falcon,” he stated. “I caught all of my fish on one little sweet spot there, and when Paul (Elias, the eventual winner at Falcon Lake) got an earlier boat draw the next day, he ran to my spot and set the record; it made me mad and I realized I needed to apply more of a killer instinct.”
As far as how his drive and focus has been applied, Monroe said it has been all over the place. “I haven’t done any one thing,” he revealed. “I have used a bunch of different techniques this year.”
“At Toho it was the Snag Proof frog and a Chatterbait, which I had never really thrown until that tournament,” he said. “Then at Falcon, I used a Carolina Rig with a Reaction Innovations Big Unit, another technique I’d never had a lot of confidence in.”
At Amistad, he turned to confidence techniques, throwing a Tru-Tungsten Tru-Life Silver Tilapia swimbait (a bait he worked on along with fellow Californian Matt Newman) and flipping a Sweet Beaver. Then at Clarks Hill and Murray, Monroe opened the toolbox and the rod locker and used anything and everything to get bites.
“I threw a Hollow Belly swimbait on a Revenge swimbait head, I sight fished, dropshot, threw a Vixen topwater and a Flirt worm on a Screwed up Jig head,” he revealed. “I was all over the map at those two events.”
Monroe also said that he is becoming more comfortable with is Daiwa Steez equipment, and that is allowing him to focus on the bait. “The rods and reels are becoming like a part of me, and that is allowing me to think about the fish, and fish the moment; instead of what my rods are doing,” he said. “Now I can focus on keeping my head clear, fishing to win, and climbing into contention for the Angler of the Year crown.”
As the Bassmaster Elite Series heads to Alabama’s Lake Wheeler this week, each of them will have opportunity to put their plans and approaches to the test one more time. Stay Tuned as The BASS ZONE will bring you all of the details as our on location coverage of the Bassmaster Elite Series continues with Live Chat, photo galleries, stories and Wide Open video coverage.
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