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Lucky
Craft’s Kelly Jordon Finishes 5th at Sooner Run
Jordon found success with Lucky Craft Flat CB D-20
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2007 Bassmaster Elite Series - Day 3 standings
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05th
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Kelly Jordon
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61th
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Marty Stone
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67th
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Skeet Reese
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71th
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Takahiro Omori
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82th
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Gerald Swindle
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101th
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Rick Clunn  Presented
by Bass Pro Shops
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>>>Kelly Jordon
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Grove, Okla. (June 27, 2007) – With 1,300 miles of
shoreline and 46,500
acres of water, Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees (Grand
Lake) proved difficult for many of the world’s best anglers this week.
However, one of Lucky Craft’s pro staff members figured out how to catch
them.
Texas resident Kelly
Jordon was happy with his top-five finish, especially after the
unsuccessful first day he had on the lake, bringing in 11 pounds, 11 ounces.
“I had a
terrible first day and would have loved to be able to re-do that one,”
Jordon began. “But I adjusted and ended up making a pretty good run at it.
I’m tickled to death.”
Going into
the tournament, Jordon expected a deep bite. After practicing for several
days and seeing how muddy the water had become, he was crushed and lost all
confidence in the deep fish.
“I could
see a mud line on my graph down around 15 feet,” Jordon
explained. “I knew I couldn’t fish deeper than that, so I keyed in on water
around 10 to 15 feet
deep, and that was still muddy. Even the clear parts were muddy.”
Obviously
disappointed by the conditions of the lake, Jordon had a few decisions to
make. He wasn’t sure if the fish would be able to see his bait well enough
if he fished too deep, so he toyed with the decision to forego the deep
bite altogether and fish a different style.
“I knew the
fish were biting a jig and a Carolina
rig a little,” Jordon said. “I also knew there was some shallow fishing
going on, flipping the willows and bushes. So I figured I’d flip willows in
the morning and go deep in the afternoon. However, the first day I lost
some pretty good ones fishing shallow. I went out deeper and caught a bunch
of little ones. I was dumbfounded, so I finally decided to pull out the Lucky
Craft [Flat CB] D-20.”
According
to Jordon, on his first cast with the deep-diving crankbait, he caught a
3-pounder and knew he should have been fishing it all day. After veering
from his plan, Jordon had some ground to make up after day one. And make up
ground he did, bringing in a 22-pound, 5-ounce bag on day two and a
16-pound, 1-ounce sack on day three, putting him in the top 12 fishing on
Sunday.
Fishing on
the main lake, Jordon found a couple of ledges and had to fish uphill to
get the bass to bite the Lucky Craft crankbait.
“Most of
the fish I found were in 10 – 20 feet of water, with a couple actually
suspended in about 18
feet,” Jordon said. “I had to come up the ledge and
bang the inside of the drop to get them to bite. I would throw deep and
pull it up to the top, and as soon as I’d get close to the top end and make
contact with the bottom, they’d take it.”
After
another successful tournament, finishing 5th with a total four-day weight
of 70 pounds,
11 ounces,
Jordon is ready to tackle the next stop on the tournament trail – Lake Champlain.
“I think
it’s going to be fun,” Jordon concluded. “I imagine I’ll be fishing for
largemouths again, and I imagine I’ll get it done with a flipping stick in
my hand. I’ll definitely be swinging for the fences.”
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>>>Marty Stone
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Just a couple pounds outside the money was Lucky Craft’s Marty
Stone, finishing 61st with a two-day total of 26 pounds, 1 ounce.
Stone was
glad to see high water on Grand
Lake because it meant
he could use a style he enjoys – flipping willows and bushes.
“The water
was way up, and there was about 5 feet of water in the bushes,” Stone
began. “I grew up fishing flooded willows, and I still really like it. It’s
a fun way to fish. Everyday in practice I thought I could see more and more
fish coming into the bushes, and I’d run into a good-sized fish or two. I
did have a few spots out deeper, but I had decided to focus most of my
efforts on flipping for shallow fish.”
Flipping a
brush hog and a 5-inch tube for most of the tournament, Stone brought in 12 pounds, 13 ounces on day one.
According to the North Carolina
native, he probably caught 80 fish or more in two days.
“It was a
lot of fun because you were constantly catching fish,” Stone continued.
“That part worked out for me. But I didn’t expect to never have a big bite.
I thought, in practice, I would have a chance at two or three big bites,
but it didn’t happen for me this weekend.”
After
weighing in on day one and seeing big weights come across the stage, Stone
knew he would have to switch things up on day two.
“I knew I
needed to make an adjustment, but I have a rule: Never leave fish to go
find fish,” Stone said. “When you leave an area with fish in it, you better
make sure you know where you’re going to find them next. First thing in the
morning on Friday, I caught my limit flipping within 15 minutes. It seemed
like the deep bite got cranked up mid-morning, so at 10 am, I put my
flipping stick down and decided to go cranking.”
Stone tied
on the Lucky
Craft Flat CB D-12and Flat
CB MR (Chartreuse Rootbeer and Table Rock Shad), knowing he needed
to try the medium crankbait bite. He caught a 3- pound, 11-ounce fish on
the first point he pulled up on.
“I caught a
lot of fish cranking,” Stone said, “but most of them were short. By the
time I really figured it out, I had run out of time.”
Overall,
Stone was very pleased with the way he fished the tournament on Grand Lake.
“I caught
80 fish or more in two days and only lost one,” Stone added. “I’ll take
those odds any day of the week. I know now I wasn’t fishing the way to win
on day one, but I was fishing one of my strengths. I’m pleased with my
performance.”
As for the
next tournament, Stone believes Lake Champlain
is a great fishery. In addition, most anglers probably agree it will take
big weights to get it done there.
“It’s a
very diverse, huge body of water,” Stone concluded. “You won’t be fine with
12 pounds
a day. In fact, you’ll be last. To win, an angler needs to figure out what
will win it for him – smallmouth, largemouth or a combination of both. I
had a good tournament there last year, and I’ll take what I learned and
apply it this year. I’m getting better and better every time I head north.”
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>>>Skeet Reese
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Finishing in 67th was Lucky Craft’s Skeet Reese. After
scrambling the first day of practice, the California native decided to commit the
second day to flipping bushes, a pattern with which he felt confident.
“Every time
I went shallow, I was getting bites,” Reese began. “With the conditions we
had – high water with good color – it was suppose to be a good flipping
tournament. On the third day of practice, I flipped some more and found a
few more areas. I was thinking flipping bushes and trees would be the ticket
because I never got on a crankbait bite at all when I tried it the first
day of practice. So I committed to staying shallow and finding flip fish.”
He stuck
with it on Thursday, but after weighing in 14 pounds, 4 ounces and finding
himself in 49th, Reese knew he would have to do something different on day
two if he wanted to stay in it.
“I got
lucky on the first day and caught a 5 pounder,” Reese explained. “I
switched it up on Friday and started throwing a crankbait, fishing a lot of
water and grinding it out. I was never able to catch a fish. I finally
moved back up on the banks and caught around 10 pounds. I jumped
off a 3-1/2 pounder and broke off another one. Those two fish would
probably have put me in the top 50 and could have given me a chance to
redeem myself on Saturday.”
Reese
wasn’t able to find much of a pattern on Grand Lake
and finished on Friday with a two-day total of 23 pounds, 3 ounces. With
frustration already set in, Reese tried to keep things in perspective.
“The places
I pulled up on for the crankbait bite were just the wrong locations,” Reese
said. “The fish weren’t positioned there. They were very area specific for
that bite. The flip bite was spread out all across the lake, and I caught
them, but they were the little ones.
“I am
extremely frustrated,” Reese continued. “I know I am still in good shape,
but by my standards and after the way I’ve been fishing, it was definitely
a let down.”
Although
disappointed, Reese plans to put the past in the past and look forward to Lake Champlain, his next stop on the tournament trail
and his chance to take over once again.
“You have
to commit to what you want to fish for on Lake
Champlain,” Reese concluded. “I know historically you have to
catch largemouth on this lake to win. I’m going to spend two days looking
for them and one day looking for smallmouth. I’m not going to fish
conservative. I feel like, to have a good tournament there, you have to
catch 17 to 18 pounds
or better.”
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>>>Takahiro Omori
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Just behind Reese was fellow Lucky Craft pro staff member
Takahiro Omori. After a good finish on Smith
Mountain Lake,
Omori struggled a bit to get something going on Grand Lake.
“I started
with topwater, but ended up throwing theLucky
Craft D-20,” Omori began. “It seems like any time I pick up something
that runs deeper than 10
feet, I have a bad week.”
Not sure
what to think of his tournament this weekend, Omori did mention how
different the lake was compared to last year.
“It was
high and muddy, and I was catching a lot of keeper fish, but never had
anything bigger than 3
pounds,” Omori said. I think people were catching
them both shallow and deep, and that’s what really frustrates me.”
When asked
what he would have done differently this time around, Omori didn’t miss a
beat. He knew exactly what it would be.
“I would
have stayed in water less than 5 feet deep all week,” Omori said. “Instead
of trying to fish both ends, I should have stayed in shallow water,
flipping around willow trees and bushes.”
Hindsight is
always 20-20, so instead of dwelling on the past, the Texas resident has to put this
tournament away and set his sights on the Northern Run.
“Lake Champlain is going to be cool,” Omori concluded.
“It’s a good lake, but it can go both ways, too. I know I need to forget
about Grand Lake and think positive going into
this next tournament.”
Omori
finished his week on Friday in 71st with a two-day total of 24 pounds, 15 ounces.
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>>>Gerald Swindle
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Tied for 82nd was Alabama
native Gerald Swindle, and he only had three words
to say… “I don’t know.”
“I’ve come
to Grove twice now, and I leave just as confused this time as I did last
time,” Swindle began. “I swore on my life if I ever came back to Grand Lake, I would never fish on the bank
again. But I sure did it again – I couldn’t stay away.”
After bringing
in 13 pounds,
6 ounces
on day one, Swindle knew that wasn’t good enough on this lake. He decided
to try to change it up on day two and leave those bushes alone.
“The
problem here is you can catch these fish too many different ways,” Swindle
explained. “I was catching them on the BDS
4,
the RC
1.5,
the G-Splash, the Gunfishand theD-20. It just didn’t
matter… The only problem was I couldn’t catch any of the big ones.”
After
throwing an array of Lucky Craft lures and bringing fish in on all of them,
Swindle knew it was possible, but couldn’t seem to land the big ones. He
brought in a 10-pound, 8-ounce bag on day two, leaving him tied for 82nd
with a two-day total of 23
pounds, 14 ounces. Swindle knows he has to go to Lake Champlain and fish hard, potentially using a
fishing style he will have to mentally prepare for beforehand.
“I have to
catch them there [Lake Champlain],”
Swindle concluded. “I’ve dug myself a hole and I have to fish hard. That’s
the bottom line. I think it’s going to be a good jerking tournament, but I
still think for me to go up there and win, I am going to have to fish slow. I might as well get that in my mind right now. I’m
going to have to drag a tube or dropshot. I risk losing too many fish
jerking. While fishing slow, I might not get as
many bites, but when they do come, they could be quality.”
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