Published: April 19, 2008 08:16 pm            

Good baits helped Miller win tournament

By Jerry Miller

Outdoor Columnist

A Nichols 3/8 oz. blue shad Hologram spinner bait helped me win a fishing tournament on Lake Winnsboro last weekend.

It was a tough tournament. The bass were already stuffed with shad due to a recent shad spawn, and they were very reluctant to bite.

When faced with a situation like this I go to my favorite Nichols spinner bait.

This one spinner bait has helped me catch a lot of bass. It’s my “go-to bait” when the fishing is tough.

About noontime I didn’t have a keeper bass. Due to the tea-stained water I thought a chartreuse spinner with bright colors would work.

As soon as I switched to the Nichols Hologram spinner bait I started catching bass. I caught eight bass in about two hours and only two were keepers, but it was enough to win the tournament.

Several of the bass came off of a newly constructed retainer wall and a four-pound bass was caught when I cast down the side of a boathouse and I fished the spinner extremely close to the pier pilings.

It was one of the toughest tournaments I have fished. All of the other Jacksonville Bass club fishermen struggled to bring in one fish.

Lake Winnsboro was about two feet high and there was plenty of flooded vegetation to fish in.

That was part of the problem.

With so much cover the bass were scattered and in a negative mood. Also the water was dingy. It looked tea-colored to me and visibility was from about three inches to six inches.

It is my understanding that when the shad spawn is in full swing that bass often feed heavily just before daylight and then simply shut down and are very reluctant to bite.

Most of the bass I caught weren’t hungry because their mouth was stuffed with shad.

In the bright sunlight the Nichols 3/8 oz. Hologram spinner closely resembled the shad size and color. That bait has caught a ton of fish for me over the last few years. When I’m around larger bass I prefer fishing the 1?2 ounce size. It can be awesome on a windy bank even on a sunny day.

Second place went to Jody Key. Key caught his bass by pitching a redbug, trick worm with a 1/32 Finicky hook into small openings behind flooded timber.

Robby Goodman caught the largest bass of the tournament on a Brush Hawg bait in the edge of grass.

The results of the tournament are as follows:

Fourteen fishermen caught a total of 12 bass.

First place - Jerry Miller two bass, 6.34 pounds; Second place - Jody Ken two bass, 5.51 pounds.

Big bass -Robby Goodman, 4.35 pounds.

The club’s next tournament is on Lake Quitman, May 10 and 11. Hours are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is an individual tournament.

Miller can be reached at:gonefishing813@peoplepc.com

        

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