2008 Championship

By Ben Hanes, Writer

Northwest Bass Pro Staff

For anglers fishing the 2008 Northwest Bass Championship, catching fish proved to be an extremely difficult feat for some, and a big success for others.  An October Championship is unusual for Northwest Bass; in fact, it has never happened.  Many anglers attributed the difficulty in catching fish to the large FLW tournament that occurred two weeks prior, while others considered it a blessing, because it afforded them much-needed pre-fishing time.  Either way, the top weights were impressive, and the anglers who did well managed to find those fish that were feeding aggressively in preparation for their winter resting period.

1^st   Cousins Capture Championship Crown…Again

            Like the other anglers in the top of the field, Robert Flowers and Jeff Abbott spent a significant amount of time on the water prior to the tournament.  “The FLW tournament helped out a lot in our success,” said Rob Flowers.  In fact, the angler took second in the large tournament as a co-angler, along with experiencing great success in other tournaments throughout the year.  The cousins also handedly won the Northwest Bass Championship at Banks Lake in 2007.  After performing so well, they had to be feeling lucky.  However, the team undoubtedly demonstrated a measure of skill on a regular basis.  They have won thousands of dollars by fishing slow, and one could argue it’s their bread and butter for bringing quality fish to the scales.  This proved to be the case at the NWB Championship at Tri-Cities.  By using super-light drop shot weights, and letting current maneuver their baits, the team was able to land an impressive two day total of 31.84 pounds, including a 4.46 pound bruiser.  They primarily relied on 3” green pumpkin Sniper Snubs to land their fish.

“The first day was easier, I think because of the nicer, warmer weather,” said Flowers.  “We boated a couple three and a half pounders in the 1^st five minutes that our baits were in the water, and we had a solid limit by 11 a.m.  In the last five minutes on the first day, we managed to get a solid three and a half right near the launch.”  Continued the angler, “On the 2^nd day, fishing got tougher.  The weather was a lot cooler, and the sunlight might have pushed the fish deeper.”  The pair lost two solid fish early, and could not find any other takers until the early afternoon.  “We really had to bounce around.  We would work long current seams and make small runs, targeting little areas here and there.  It was hit and miss, but when we found one we could usually get a couple.” 

Again, at the end of the second day, the cousins managed to squeak out another solid fish, securing their second Northwest Bass Championship victory and the ultimate prize:  a 2008 Triton TR-196 with a 200 HP Mercury, along with $12,200 in cash, $10,000 of which was Skeeter Reel Money.  Their combined tournament payout amounted to $52,200.00, the largest payout in Northwest Bass history.    

            2^nd   Hall and Turner Tackle the Bald Spots

            For Paul Hall and Jarrid Turner, a solid game-plan was already in place before pre-fishing even began.  Both anglers performed extremely well at the previous FLW tournament, and during a short pre-fish on the official practice day, the pair determined that their pattern that worked so well two weeks prior was still in existence.  Therefore, on Saturday morning, the team was all business and went to work quickly and effectively, netting two solid smallies, one at four and half pounds.  They primarily relied on white spinnerbaits and crawdad-colored deep diving crankbaits for their reaction fish in the morning. 

Later in the day, when the sky brightened, they moved out slightly deeper and spent a significant amount of time dragging Carolina-rigged green pumpkin lizards on a ¼ ounce weight, tied to St. Croix Legend Tournament Series rods  “We fished a lot in ten to twelve feet of water, and had a lot of success on weedlines,” explained Jarrid Turner.  These weren’t just ordinary weedlines, however.  The key was to find the ‘sweet spots,’ where the fish were concentrated on a long stretch of weeds.  “There were breaks in the weedlines that stopped the weeds from growing,” said Turner, “Like a bald spot on a weed point, and we could visually see these spots by sight fishing.  We would drift over the spot and then let our baits drift over the area as slow as possible.  Ideally, we wanted only the current to move us, but sometimes that wasn’t possible with all of the wind.”   

Several times, the team went two hours or more without a bite, but in the end, confidence paid off, and by rotating within their sweet bald spots, they were able to land 31.34 pounds of bass in two days.  They were a mere 8 ounces from capturing the title.  Second place did not prove to be all that bad however, as the team brought home an extra $2,765 plus $2,000 in Triton Gold money.

3^rd   Kreston and Garret Go Green in the Weeds

            Like other top competitors, Jim Garret and Brian Kreston caught the majority of their fish on ‘a spot.’  They didn’t plan it that way, though.  During pre-fishing, they located several different areas downriver that contained solid fish.  Feeling confident on the day of the tournament, they immediately headed to their honey holes, but instead came up nearly empty handed.  By 10:15 a.m. on day one, the team had only landed two rats.  At that point, it was time to re-think their game plan, and they did so by focusing their time on a previously located ‘spot’ that consisted of the following ingredients:  rough rock, weed patches, and taller weeds that tapered off into thinner weeds.  Interestingly, the team didn’t catch their fish on the very edge of the thinner weeds.  Instead, they caught most of their fish on the edge of the inside taller weeds that were mixed in with rock.  “We landed some fish in other areas, but most of our fish were brought in off of this spot in about fifteen to sixteen feet of water.  The actual edge of the weedline was in eighteen feet of water,” explained Jim Garrett. 

            On the first day, the team hooked the majority of their fish on a drop shot, with Sniper Snubs on the business end.  On the second day, however, Carolina-rigged Clearwater gripper worms and Zoom Brush Hogs were more productive.  “We still caught fish on the Snub, but we were getting more on the Carolina-rigged baits the second day,” said the angler.  Ultimately, the team’s presentation is what really made the difference.  “We would let our baits soak for twenty seconds or more, twitch them, and then let them sit another twenty seconds.  With the Carolina rigs, we would drag the baits two feet, and then let them sit.  It was a painfully slow technique.”  The little Snubs and Grippers did the trick, though, and at the end of two days, Jim Garrett and Brian Kreston weighed in an impressive 29.84 pounds of bronzebacks.  They walked away with $2,325 in cash.

Big Bass

“The Reach isn’t quite the same as it used be,” said Ryan Brown, “But on Sunday, we wacked them on a rock hump we had located years prior.  We probably landed twenty-- two to seven pound fish on this one spot!”  In case the reader didn’t catch the previous sentence, Mr. Brown did say seven pounds.  7.88 pounds to be exact.  “We had a double going, my dad and I, and at one point I was like ‘If I have a smallmouth on, I’ve got you beat dad!’”  It was at that point that the fish got angry and headed straight for the middle of the river, with the anglers following.  In the fray, Dad Brown lost his fish, but no matter.  After several minutes of intense head jerks and a screaming drag rigged with McCoy Line, Ryan and Bill Brown landed the biggest fish of the Northwest Bass Championship.  It was also the biggest fish of the year, and one of the largest smallmouth ever caught in Washington State tournament history.  For the record, it was a mere 13 ounces from the state record. 

“We didn’t want to weigh it.  A few months earlier I overestimated the weight of a seven pounder I caught, and I didn’t want to jinx the moment.  So, we just put it in its own livewell and checked on it frequently!”

The behemoth bronzeback was caught on, believe it or not, a tiny Jerry’s four inch, sand colored ringworm.  “I couldn’t believe a fish that big would bite something that small!”  For such a tiny offering, it sure did pay off big.  The father and son team took fifth place overall and cashed a check for 1,575.00, along with receiving $300 from Sniper Lures and a premier Lamiglas Rod.

Northwest Bass is the largest fishing circuit in the Northwest, and in the 2009 year, will feature 5 qualifying tournaments.  All of these tournaments lead up to the Northwest Bass Challenge Circuit Championship, with the top prize being a fully-rigged, tournament level Triton TR-196/200 HP Mercury boat package sponsored by Nixon’s Marine.

Northwest Bass is sponsored by Nixon’s Marine, Inc., Mercury, Triton Boats, Lamiglas Rods, Tony Lind Paving, White’s Boots, Solar Bat Sunglasses, VIP Studios, Princess Pickled Foods, and Clearwater Custom Tackle.

Angler’s Sponsors

• Paul Hall and Jarrid Turner are sponsored by St. Croix Rods and McCoy Line

• Ryan Brown is sponsored by McCoy Line, St. Croix Rods, and Yakima Baits

~Ben Hanes, the author, currently lives in the Tri-Cities area.  Ben is an avid bass fisherman, and has been tournament fishing for 11 years.  He is currently sponsored by Columbia River Bank, Cascade Sign and Design, and writes articles for Northwest Bass and Nixon’s Marine.