Grand Lake Top 10 Baits
The baits (mostly jigs) that got it done for the best finishers
The Costa FLW Series Southwestern Division event presented by Evinrude and hosted by the City of Grove didn’t showcase the best that Grand Lake has to offer, but it produced some big weights and fish nonetheless. If you’re faced with an Ozark impoundment during a tough spring bite, the baits that the top 10 pros relied on might be good starting points.
1. Zack Birge earned the win with a 6th Sense Crush 50X and a Crush Mini 25X in bluegill colors. He cranked them with 10-pound-test Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon and a 7-foot Falcon cranking rod.
2. Toby Hartsell used 3/8- and 1/2-ounce War Eagle Heavy Finesse Jigs with Strike King Rage Craw trailers.
3. For third, Sammy Burks relied on a 1/2-ounce Bass Pro Shops spinnerbait and a hematoma-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver on a 1/2-ounce Texas rig.
4. Quaker State pro Matt Arey caught most of his fish on a homemade jig and a Lunkerhunt Revealer Tube with chartreuse in the tentacles. For tackle, Arey used Okuma Helios rods – a 7-6, heavy-action rod for the jig and a 7-3, heavy-action rod for the tube – with an 8.1:1 gear ratio Okuma Helios TCS reel and 20-pound-test P-Line Fluorocarbon.
5. Chad Warren stuck to the basics with a 5/16-ounce ball-head jig trailered with a Zoom UV Speed Craw.
6. A trio of baits produced for Jesse Wolfe: a Reaction Innovations Smallie Beaver on a shaky head, a War Eagle Spinnerbait and a Super K Football Head Jig tipped with a Smallie Beaver.
7. Always a threat on Grand, Bill Tervin used a sprayed grass-colored Reaction Innovations Little Dipper on a 1/8-ounce Texas rig and a 1/2-ounce Buckeye Lures Flat Top Finesse Jig with a Strike King Rage Craw trailer.
8. Matt Cooper also joined the jig brigade, tossing a 5/16-ounce Jewel Finesse Jig with a green pumpkin Berkley Havoc Rocket Craw for the trailer.
9. Making his fourth Costa FLW Series top 10 in a row, Russell Cecil relied primarily on 6th Sense Movement 80X and 6th Sense Crush Flat 75X crankbaits in shad colors.
10. Striking out on the final day, Earl Hoskins worked a 7/16-ounce Jewel Finesse Jig and an 8-inch lizard made by New Wave Soft Plastics and sold by Basskwondo for his weight on days one and two.