Top 10 Baits: Sam Rayburn
Tools of the trade for the Costa FLW Series Southwestern Division’s top sticks
Sight-fishing and targeting prespawn bass around grass were the primary patterns used by the top finishers at the Costa FLW Series Southwestern Division event presented by YETI at Sam Rayburn. If you encounter bass on a grass lake and they’re fixin’ to move up or are already there, some of these baits might be worth a shot.
1. Tournament winner Todd Castledine (shown above) cranked shallow grass with a Strike King KVD square-bill, sight-fished with a Strike King Rage Bug and caught his biggest fish in 18 feet of water with a Strike King Rage Tail Anaconda.
2. Finishing second, Jason Bonds caught his early fish on a Strike King Popping Perch in the ghost gill color and then bed-fished with a Strike King Rage Bug in the blue craw color.
3. With silence his main strategy point, third-place pro Ray Hanselman fished Strike King Rage Swimmers on 1/8- and 1/4-ounce belly-weighted hooks.
4. Cranking produced all of Casey Sobczak’s day three fish. His selection of 6th Sense baits included the Cloud 9 C15 and C25, along with the Movement 80.
5. Kris Wilson, who placed fifth, spent most of his time in The Canyons and caught all of his final-round fish on swimbaits. A 6th Sense crankbait and Strike King Rage Bug also played.
6. Targeting prespawn fish with a 3/4-ounce Rat-L-Trap and an umbrella rig led Ken Smith to a sixth-place finish.
7. Seventh place went to Jeff Reynolds, who alternated between a 5/16-ounce Santone swim jig with a Strike King Rage Craw trailer and a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver Texas-rigged on a 3/0 Trokar flipping hook and a 3/16-ounce weight.
8. Although ’trapping was his primary game plan, eighth-place pro Andrew Upshaw returned to bed-fishing with a Gene Larew Biffle Bug when his reaction bite failed to materialize.
9. Slow-rolling a vibrating jig over shallow grass led Billy Billeaud to a ninth-place finish. He added a jig and swimbait to the mix, too.
10. Texas legend Tommy Martin caught his fish on swim jigs and ChatterBaits.