Reel Chat Live transcript with RANDALL THARP
Tharp discusses what it was like to get his first FLW Tour win, the particulars of his winning flipping techniques and the general impact of the Alabama Rig
– MODERATOR COMMENT –
Welcome to FLW Live Reel Chat. Today we’re joined by bass pro Randall Tharp of Gardendale, Ala., who recently took home the top prize of $125,000 after winning the 2012 FLW Tour Open on Lake Okeechobee.
– MODERATOR COMMENT –
Tharp boasts nearly $630,000 in FLW winnings and an amazing 35 top-10 finishes since he began his career with FLW in 1997. Tharp recently recorded his first-ever FLW Tour victory during the Feb. 9-12 FLW Tour Open at Lake Okeechobee. During that event, Tharp turned in a performance for the ages, winning the event by a whopping 23 pounds, 9 ounces after recording a near-record four-day weight of 101 pounds, 12 ounces. For his efforts, Tharp walked away with a first-place prize of $125,000. In addition to his Lake Okeechobee win, Tharp also boasts an EverStart Series victory in 2008, four BFL wins and four top-10 finishes on the FLW Tour.
– MODERATOR COMMENT –
Today, Tharp is here to take questions from you, the fans. So, without further delay, let’s get started.
Q (MODERATOR): What did it feel like to get your very first FLW Tour win?
A: I mean it still really hasn’t sunk in. I have a lot of history on that lake and it’s really an overwhelming feeling.
Q (MODERATOR): At what point in the tournament did you think you had a real shot of winning the title? Also, were you nervous heading back to weigh-in on that final day?
A: I knew I was going to have a real shot before it started. On the final day, I was pretty nervous the entire time because there are no guarantees – especially no guarantees that you can return safely on time. But I felt good once I got to the (check-in) boat. I knew once I caught the second big fish of that day, I thought I was going to win. It’s a feeling you usually don’t get during tournaments and I’ve only had that feeling a couple times before. But again, after I caught that second fish I knew I had a good chance to win as long as I got back to the check-in on time.
Q (MODERATOR): Do you have your sights set on trying to win the angler of the year title on the FLW Tour? If so, what do you think your chances are?
A: Yeah, of course. That’s what drives me. I’ve won an AOY title in almost every trail except the Tour. But you have to fish six perfect events to even have a chance. But that being said, I definitely think I have a good chance at it this year.
Q (MODERATOR): What other lakes are you looking forward to fishing on the FLW Tour this year? I’d like to know for fantasy fishing purposes?
A: Of all the majors, I’m most looking forward to the Potomac River tournament. I really enjoy all of our events; they each present unique challenges. And that’s what I love the most about fishing. But there are some places that are special: the Potomac, Lake Champlain and those Ozark Mountain lakes – those are all enjoyable places to fish.
Q: How do you prepare for water that you have never fished before?
— Titus Song (New York, N.Y., )
A: The first thing I look at is: What seasonal pattern are the fish going to be in? Then I look at the type of water: reservoir, natural lake, river, etc. All of that goes into trying to figure stuff out. I also try to draw off of past experiences but in the end, a bass is a bass.
Q: Congratulations on your win! From the article, “The right place at the right time,” it stated that the best bite was an hour or so later each day. My question to you is this: How do you figure out the best timing while flipping those mats?
— Dow Cox (Jonesborough, Tenn.)
A: I ran around and fished a lot of different places during that event. It’s basically an instinctual type of thing. But I could sense what was going on based on the bites I was getting. And the places I really saved, I didn’t go to until I thought it was the very peak feeding time for them that day. For me, during the tournament it was a little later every day. It took me longer every day to start getting bites so I’d save those spots, those places I had all to myself, until I knew they were going to bite.
Q: Great win Randall, congratulations! I would like to know your choice of fishing rod and fishing line when flipping into mats or into heavy cover? Any advice?
— Dave (, )
A: I would recommend a 7-foot, 11-inch extra-heavy action Halo rod. The rod not only needs to be light but it needs to be really strong and have a lot of power. It really is just physics. You’re tryiing to pull a 7- or 8-pound bass out of thick cover and you’re just not going to do it with light line or a short rod. Just about all of the braids out there are good – I use 70-pound, braided line by Daiwa. And the reason I prefer that line is that it’s really soft and really smooth. I don’t want my line making a lot of noise when I’m yo-yo-ing my bait while punching through the mat. That line is constantly rubbing the cover and you don’t want to make too much noise and spook the fish.
Q: When fishing the spawn in March, how do you think the Alabama rig will do? Also, do you think that the fish will get used to it just like the buzzbait? Do you see the A-Rig losing it’s effectiveness over time?
— Daniel Cohoon (Evansville, Ind.)
A: I definitely think there will be times in certain lakes where it won’t be a factor at all. But I think in Alabama (waterways), I think it will work year round, especially with all of the shad and current. I’m sure the fish will get conditioned to that lure at some point. They have with every new lure that’s come out since I’ve been fishing. And people have taken that lure, modified it and taken it to the next level already. Bass fishermen are always going to push the envelope.
Q: How do you catch all of those big fish? I have used almost everything in my tackle box and my biggest fish is only 3 pounds, 13 ounces – which I caught on a buzzbait. Basically, if you could give me any advice on how to catch fish at least in the 5- or 6-pound range I’d really appreciate it.
— Thomas Huffman (San Angelo, Texas)
A: My first advice is to make sure you’re on a body of water with fish that size in there to begin with. Texas has some of the biggest bass in the country. Obviously time on the water is important. And there are also some techniques that lend themselves to catching bigger fish than others. Obviously if I’m hunting big bass I won’t go out there with 6-pound line and a finesse worm. I would recommend using lures and techniques that are conducive to catching big bass. You’ll sacrifice the total number of bites, but you should get better quality of bites. When you go out fishing for big bass, you have to specifically target big bass. Probably the most-known technique for catching big bass is the big-bait swimbait. Techniques like fishing a jig to shallow wood is also effective.
Q: What types of baits do you like to use on Pickwick Lake during March and early spring?
— Thomas Lee (Starkville, Miss.)
A: During that time of year I really love fishing your favorite type of soft plastics. For me, a tube usually works pretty well. I’ll also target fish with a jig.
Q: During the Lake Okeechobee event, how could you tell which mats were the best? Was it the look of them, what was under them or how deep the water was surrounding those mats? Or was it something else completely?
— anonymous (, )
A: As far as depth, Lake Okeechobee is pretty consistent depth-wise and most of the mats I fished were in 2 to 3 feet of water. Obviously, the better ones for me were the areas where I thought the fish were funneling through. I feel like most of the fish on Lake Okeechobee live on the main lake and come into the shallows to spawn. And I was trying to target areas where I could catch fish coming and going. I was actually catching pre-spawn and post-spawn bass as well.
Q: Could you please coach us through your now famous “punching” presentation? Please describe what a “soft entry” is and how exactly to best work the bait? How far from one pitch to the next (ie. how many feet, yards, etc.)? Thank you for the help.
— anonymous (, )
A: Every mat I fished was different with regard to how close my pitches were. On the prime mats, I tried to keep my pitches around 2 feet apart. If they were good mats, I’d saturate them with pitches until I caught a fish or ruled out that there weren’t any bass there. With the lesser quality mats, I wouldn’t spend more than a flip or two at them. Although I didn’t overlook anything, I definitely caught some key fish in the tournament in places where I didn’t think I was going to get a bite. There were a few fish I caught where I had left my bait in the water for a really long time – like 20 or 25 seconds. And if you don’t have the confidence in that area, you never would do something like that.
Q: How did it feel to catch 101 pounds, 12 ounces in a tournament? Did you expect that would happen and did you feel that your spot would hold that many quality fish?
— David De Jesus (Ashland City, Tenn.)
A: Yes I expected it to happen. That weight was pretty close to where I thought you needed to be at to win. And the areas I fished I was pretty confident that they would be holding high quality fish.
Q: Congrats Randall! I hope you enjoyed your win! What was the key to fishing around so many other anglers? Did most of your damage came from the same spot or did you move around to other places?
— David De Jesus (Ashland City, Tenn.)
A: It’s really just the subtle differences. I think I felt better than anyone else there who was fishing similar water. I fished a lot of key little spots that a lot of the anglers overlooked. One huge factor was that there were certain stretches of water that never got a rest. But I would hang around long enough to see which areas weren’t getting fished as heavily. And if I saw a mat that I didn’t think had been fished in two hours, I’d go and target that. To answer your other questions, I moved around quite a bit every day.
Q: What advice, if any, did you give your co-anglers at the Lake Okeechobee tournament?
— David De Jesus (Ashland City, Tenn.)
A: I felt like their best opportunity to catch a big bag was not to fish mats behind me. My first co-angler fished a swimbait out of the back in open water and he wound up catching the biggest bag of all of my co-anglers. Most of the best co-anglers that I’ve fished with throughout my career have all done their own thing, something different than what I was doing.
Q: Now that you have finally broken through on Okeechobee, how do you feel about your chances on Lake Hartwell?
— GERALD PETRY (BRONX, NY)
A: I like Lake Hartwell. I pre-fished for three days. Obviously I’m not going to find any matted vegetation but I know a few other ways to catch bass there…
Q: Who will be the frontrunners in that Lake Hartwell event? Will you be one?
— anonymous (, )
A: I certainly hope so. I think the frontrunners will be someone like Bryan Thrift. I also like Brent Ehrler. And I’d also have to say Stetson Blaylock and Justin Lucas as well.
Q: Hi Randall, my question is this: When you were pre-fishing Lake Okeechobee did you hook bass on spots to see what size bass the were in a certain areas or did you just go by the total number of bites?
— Dave (, )
A: I only caught one fish during practice. Prior to the cutoff I knew which areas of the lake were holding the big fish.
Q: Randall, congrats on your victory. Good to see you win after coming so close several times last year. What is your favorite lake that is close to the Birmingham area to fish and why?
— Vance Traffanstedt (Hoover, AL)
A: I would have said Lake Guntersville, but the fishing pressure is so intense there that I would now probably saw Wheeler, Wilson or Pickwick. They’re not getting nearly the fishing pressure that Lake Guntersville is getting. The lower Coosa River chain – Mitchell and Jordan lakes – are really good as well.
Q: When you are with a co-angler, how much or how little tackle do you like them to bring? How many rods?
— Jim Scott (Burlington, Iowa)
A: To me, it doesn’t matter. Obviously, if there is too much equipment in the boat it can get a little chaotic. But really, I usually don’t pay too much attention to what they bring.
Q: When you came in with that 14-pound bag on the third day of the Lake Okeechobee event, what was going through your mind?
— Gregory Flax (Overland Park, KS)
A: I was a little disappointed but wasn’t that concerned, because I had the big bites that day but wasn’t able to get them in the boat. I would have been a lot more concerned if I didn’t get the big bites. I knew the ball was still in my court as I went into the final day with like a 9-pound lead.
Q: How often did you catch more than one fish off a mat….and did you catch any back-to-back fish off one mat?
— Dave Lindsay (Kenora, Ontario)
A: On day one, I caught consecutive big fish on two straight casts on one mat. On day two I caught three fish on back-to-back-to-back flips. On day four, I caught a lot of fish on little flurries – not necessarily one cast directly after another but I’d catch a bunch of fish in like a 30-minute period.
Q: Randall, congratulations. How often did you need the 2-ounce weight to punch through the mats?
— Anonymous (, )
A: On the final day, I fished the 2-ounce weight for three straight hours because the wind was blowing so hard. I actually should have fished that same weight on day three. On that day I only used a 1 1/2-ounce weight and wasn’t as efficient as I needed to be.
Q: During pre-fishing do you hook your fish … or do you turn your hooks in?
— Dave Lindsay (Kenora, Ontarios)
A: I don’t turn my hooks in, but down in Okeechobee I use something called a hitchhiker – it’s basically like a small spring and at the end of the spring you tie your line on. I don’t use a hook at all while pre-fishing.
Q: Nice job, nice win. How do you stay focused and stay with your areas when they start out slow on a critical day? I always seem to give up and move and it never works out they way you think it will.
— KENNETH RAMSIER (Girard, PA)
A: Without a doubt I knew I was in the best area of the lake. I knew if I just stayed patient I could catch a big bag. But confidence is the main thing.
Q: When you flip, do you snell tie your hooks? If not what knot do you use for braid.
— Duane Imlay (Mechanicsville, Md.)
A: I tie a snell knot all the time.
Q: What effect do you think the Alabama Rig will have on FLW events this year if any? Have you had any success throwing it yet? Do you personally think its good for the sport?
— Joe McClary (Richmond Heights, Mo.)
A: Without a doubt it’s going to affect our events this year. It will be a major factor in several events and it’s going to catch bass at every event. I have thrown it and have caught fish on it.
– MODERATOR COMMENT –
Unfortunately, that’s all the time we have to chat with Randall Tharp today. Thanks, once again, to all the fans who tuned in and participated in today’s Reel Chat. And a special thanks to Randall Tharp, the recent FLW Tour winner on Lake Okeechobee, for giving us his time and insights into bass fishing. Check back shortly for a complete transcript of today’s FLW Live Reel Chat.