April 6, 2016  by Greg Bohannan

I love to power fish as much as the next guy, but around the spawn and the immediate postspawn, when I need to put fish in the boat, I often turn to a dirt-simple – and somewhat gaudy – finesse-worm rig that excels in shallow water. It’s easy to set up and skips like a dream, which could help you reach shallow bass around wood cover and docks that you might otherwise be missing.

This rig helped me earn a $10,000 check at the Walmart FLW Tour event on Lake Hartwell and a top-25 finish at the Costa FLW Series event on Lake Dardanelle. Whether or not you fish for tournament checks, consider giving it a shot in the coming weeks.

THE RIG

Around the spawn, I always start with a brightly colored Gambler Floating Worm – yellow, pink or orange. Yeah, it’s pretty loud. If I’m not getting bites on a bright worm I go to something natural, such as green pumpkin.

I rig the worm Texas style with an offset worm hook and fish with a 7-foot, medium-heavy Denali Lithium spinning rod and a Lew’s Speed Spin reel. Braided line makes the rig easy to skip, so I spool up 10-pound-test Lew’s APT-8 Braid Speed Line and connect it to a 2-foot-long leader of 10-pound-test Lew’s APT Fluorocarbon Speed Line.

A key is to connect the leader to the braid with a small barrel swivel. The swivel isn’t there to avoid line twist as much as it is a way to add a little extra weight for easier casts and just a hair faster sink rate.

HOW TO FISH IT

If the water is clear enough to see a bass on bed, the bright color of the worm certainly helps with sight-fishing, but that’s not really the point. Bright worms just seem to work this time of year. Maybe the color aggravates them a little bit, whether they’re spawning or guarding fry.

And that’s the prime time of year to fish it – during the spawn and postspawn, when bass are shallow and set up on shoreline cover. Given their location and activity, the best target areas are overhanging trees, shallow vegetation such as hydrilla or pad stems, docks, and shallow wood cover such as laydowns and stumps.

I like to make direct casts to targets or skip the worm under or past obstructions. If I think there’s a fish on a bed somewhere, even if I can’t see the bed, or if there’s an obvious piece of cover that might attract a bass to spawn next to it, I’ll let it sink right there.

Otherwise, I twitch it out from the cover, just like fishing a soft-plastic jerkbait. I’ll work it really fast, and then I’ll kill it when it gets out to the end of the cover – around the last branches of a laydown, for instance. At Dardanelle, a lot of times I’d get to the end of the log and I’d watch those fish come up and eat it. When it was sinking, it would bring them up off that bed.

To cover more water, I don’t waste too much time fishing the worm all the way back. Rather, I keep my Old Spice boat moving at a pretty good clip along the bank as I pick apart the cover. If they don’t bite within a couple seconds of me letting the worm sink, I’ll reel up and repeat. If one swirls and misses, I cast right back to the spot. That’s probably a fish on bed.

Yeah, this is a finesse presentation, but I’m often able to cover a good amount of water with it in the same kinds of places where other anglers fish a spinnerbait or a soft jerkbait. And since bass can’t resist that subtle Floating Worm in their face, it’s a good way to get a lot of bites.

I'm very fortunate to be able to live my dream by fishing professionally. Today, I ask for your help in making someone else's dream come true. I would like to auction off a one day fishing trip with me on any of the following lakes: Beaver Lake, Swepco or any of the Bella Vista Lakes.   All the proceeds benefiting the Cast for Kids Foundation. C.A.S.T. is a non-profit foundation that provides fishing and outdoor activities for special needs, disabled, and disadvantaged children through their Cast for Kids program as well as for military personnel through the Take A Warrior Fishing program. Learn more about the Foundation at www.castforkids.org

Please submit all bids via Facebook message. The auction will conclude at 5:00 PM CST on Friday, March 10th. At that time I will contact the winner and set up a time that works best for us both. The high bidder will pay the full amount directly to the C.A.S.T. Foundation.  The C.A.S.T for Kids Foundation in a non-profit 501(c)3 and the winner will receive a receipt for their tax deductible contribution to the Foundation.

We'll have a great day on the water and your money will be well spent. Please be generous for this great cause.

Let the bidding begin!

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

Courtesy of

Greg Bohannan thinks this is the year he finally figures out Lake Hartwell. He senses it, believes it. Now, he just has to go make it happen.

In 2011, 2012 and 2014, Hartwell has served as an early-season stop on the FLW Tour schedule. All three times, Bohannon was coming off a money finish in the previous event only to stumble at Hartwell and was unable to recover. This year, he’s hoping to break the trend when the FLW Tour visits the South Carolina fishery in mid March.

Last week, the Rogers, Ark., native posted an 11th-place finish at Lake Okeechobee to set a good tone in the season opener. If he’s to get back to the Forrest Wood Cup for the first time since 2010, he’s going to need to conquer Hartwell (translation: finish in the money) and carry that momentum over to Beaver Lake in his backyard in April before the schedule shifts to the Tennessee River for the fourth and fifth stops.

“I just want to be consistent,” he said. “If there’s one thing I want to do better going forward, it’s to be more consistent.”

This might be the year to do it, too. Bohannan landed Old Spice as a title sponsor – there’s no tie in to FLW or Walmart) in the offseason and it’s taken some of financial burden off of him.

“I’m real fired up this year,” he said. “I feel like I have a renewed vigor on and off the water. I’m just having fun this year.”

Hartwell Heartache

Bohannan’s best finish in three trips to Hartwell was the 71st he posted in 2011, roughly three weeks after kicking off the season at Beaver with a 41st.

The following year, he had a money finish in the opener at Okeechobee (51st), but a 116th at Hartwell followed by a 119th at Table Rock Lake short-circuited his Cup hopes. In 2014, it was similar scenario. Following a career-best 2nd at Okeechobee, three straight triple-digit outcomes, including a 115th at Hartwell, took him out of Cup contention. So what gives at the deep, clear impoundment that straddles the Georgia-South Carolina border?

“It’s a deep and clear lake and I should be very good there,” Bohannan said. “I’ve had a couple bombs there, but then I’ll go to the Tennessee River where I shouldn’t be any good and I’ll get checks there.”

He says he’s tried to approach lakes like Hartwell and Smith Lake, to some extent, the same way he breaks down Beaver, but he’s learned that isn’t working.

“They’re herring lakes and I should be smart enough to know how to fish them better,” he said. “Herring lakes are a lot different. I try to analyze all that stuff all the time. I’m going to try to do a better job in terms of finding better keeper patterns on those lakes.”

Followed His Instincts

At Okeechobee, Bohannan laid a good foundation with 13-09 on day 1 before calling an audible on day 2 that led to a 15-15 stringer that bumped him inside the Top 20.

“I followed my guy on day 2,” he said. “On day 1, I’d caught them on the East Wall like a lot of people, but we had a high north wind on day 2. I was out toward the outside and couldn’t fish so I ran up to the North Shore near Tent House Cove. I felt like I could get up there and get out of the wind.”

It turned out to be the right move. He caught a 5-pounder right away and added a couple 4s.

“I knew when I caught that first one it was a good move,” he said. “I had an earlier weigh-in that day so it was key that I made the decision when I did.”
He added 10-03 on Saturday and wound up 11th, just 5 ounces shy of making the Top-10 cut. He went back to the North Shore, but in hindsight he wishes he’d have gone elsewhere.
“Coming out of the lock, I was torn between going back to the North Shore or South Bay. I wish I’d gone to South Bay now.”

While it was a good start to the season, he badly to make the Top 10 in his first event with Old Spice as his new title sponsor. A Top-10 finish also would’ve pushed him past the $600,000 career earnings mark with FLW.

“I’ll get it at the next one,” he said. “I hope to capitalize on it. The last time we were at Hartwell, I was 34th after day 1, but only caught one on day 2. I hope I can learn from that and find some better keeper patterns and hopefully come out of it and go to Beaver in good standing for the Angler of the Year.”

Notable
> As part of his deal with Old Spice, Bohannan is doing appearances at Walmart stores throughout the season and speaking to youth groups and high school fishing teams at each tournament with Old Spice making a $1,000 donation at each stop as part of its Hook, Line and Leaders program.
“They came on board with me last year as an associate sponsor and wanted to feel it out,” Bohannan said. “They’re really excited about it and so am I. It’s a fun brand to be associated with.

 United Federal Credit Union (UFCU) has expanded its associate partnership with FLW Tour pro Greg Bohannan for 2016. Based in St. Joseph, Mich., UFCU has four branches in Bohannan’s home state of Arkansas and it was named the National Federal Credit Union of the Year in 2013 by the National Association of Federal Credit Unions.

“They were voted one of the top companies to work for in Arkansas and are extremely involved with the community,” says Bohannan. “They are extremely aggressive on truck and boat loans, to I feel like we are a perfect fit.”

“It’s not every day you find someone with the reputation and integrity of Greg Bohannan,” says Van Buren, Ark., Branch Manager Starlette Accurso-Owens. “United Federal Credit Union could not be more proud to partner with such a great athlete.”

As part of the partnership, Bohannan and his Old Spice truck and boat will appear for an “Outdoor Day” at the four UFCU locations in Arkansas. Though not yet scheduled, the “Outdoor Days” will include fishing seminars conducted by the FLW Tour veteran, a free lunch and drawings for fishing tackle.

May 28, 2015  by Greg Bohannnan

When I was 10 years old I could only dream about being a professional fisherman. I would spend all my time outdoors playing sports, hunting and fishing. Then, in high school, I competed in my first bass tournament and I was hooked.  From that moment, my goal was to become a professional angler some day. Now, almost three decades later, after much hard work and dedication I’m competing in the 2015 Walmart FLW Tour. And I’m more excited than ever.

Going into this year’s season, I added new sponsors to my team and one that I’m especially excited about is Old Spice at Walmart. Together we’ve teamed up to launch Old Spice at Walmart Hook, Line and Leaders. This initiative is aimed at helping young men become “reel” men. We intend to give boys a sense of connectedness to each other and to their communities. Hook, Line and Leaders incorporates an outrageous, muscle-clad mascot: Manny the Fish. Manny serves as a symbol for the program that teaches boys about being upstanding citizens in their communities.

As part of Hook, Line and Leaders I connect with teens during my competition stops. We launched  Hook, Line and Leaders  in my hometown area of northwest Arkansas during the Walmart FLW Tour  Beaver Lake tournament. I teamed up with Fayetteville High School’s Hooked on Fishing – Not on Drugs (HOFNOD) chapter at Hickory Creek Park. The boys and I cleaned up Hickory Creek Park, and I showed them how to become part of the Manny Movement. Afterward, we went fishing on the bank and enjoyed the great outdoors. The kids received Manny t-shirts and Old Spice samples to leave them smelling great every day, all day.

Our next community service event took place prior to the competition on Lake Eufaula. There I joined the kids from the Science Club at Admiral Moorer Middle School. I visited with them during their Science Club meeting and shared tips on how to be a “reel” leader in the community, like:

    Get smarter than a fox. Go to college or learn a trade
    Know what’s important in life, such as helping others
    Step up and become what you want to be, even if it’s a shark hunter in Australia. Nothing’s impossible.

On behalf of Old Spice and Walmart, we contributed $1,000 to HOFNOD and the Science Club. During my stops I also met shoppers at local Walmart stores. It’s fun to meet fishing enthusiasts, take photos with fans and share information about the Manny Movement. My next FLW Tour stops include Dayton, Tenn. (Lake Chickamauga) and La Plata, Md. (Potomac River).

With four competitions down and two left before the Forrest Wood Cup, the Walmart FLW Tour of 2015 has been one for the books. With the help of the Old Spice at Walmart team I’ve had the opportunity to reach the youth and connect with communities on a new level. It’s important to remember that it’s not always about the next big catch. I want the kids today to develop a positive passion in life, and  Hook, Line and Leaders is helping me do just that.

Courtesy Allie Gibbs / FLWOutdoors

On Wednesday, March 5, Walmart FLW Tour pro anglers held assemblies at four schools around Lake Hartwell. These schools included: James M. Brown Elementary, Westminster Elementary, Seneca High School and T.L. Hanna High School. Anglers included: Greg Bohannon, Bill Day, Koby Kreiger, James Watson, Jim Tutt, Dustin Grice, Jay Yelas, Tim Malone, Scott Martin and Vic Vatalaro

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

Excerpt from

> Day 1: 5, 27-02
> Day 2: 5, 13-11
> Day 3: 5, 18-04
> Day 4: 5, 23-07
> Total = 20, 82-08

Bohannan didn't have to knock off the rust from a lengthy offseason once he arrived at Okeechobee.

"One thing I did this winter was I fished all winter long at home," he said. "I was on the water a bunch and I normally don't do that. I killed two big deer with my bow, then I got on the water. I guided some, but mostly I fished a lot."

He pointed to a decision in practice that ultimately led him to the area he camped in during the tournament.

"I felt like I could catch them on a spinnerbait on the outside at a spot I had a in the Monkey Box," he said. "But I fished through there a couple hours without a bite.

"I moved to my secondary spot where I thought it was going to be more of a numbers deal, but the big ones just came to me. It had extremely hard bottom and there were a lot of bass beds. I felt like they were coming to me every day."

While he never had to share water, there were plenty of other competitors in the vicinity.

"There must've been 200 pounds of bass caught there over the 4 days," he added.

When he got around gator grass he would gurgle a swimbait across the surface and flip reed clumps. It was a 1-2 punch that resulted in his career-best Tour finish.

"I've never had a tournament where I went somewhere and just sat there," he said. "The last 3 days of the tournament, I spent all 8 hours each day in there. My graph looked like spaghetti from going back and forth in that small area."

> Flipping gear: 7'9" extra-heavy Denali Kovert casting rod, casting reel (7.3:1 ratio), 65-pound Sufix 832 braided fishing line, 1-oz. unnamed tungsten weight, 4/0 VMC Heavy Duty flipping hook, Missile Baits D-Bomb (bruiser flash).

> Swimbait gear: Same rod, casting reel (6.5:1 ratio), same line, Paycheck Baits Nose Job, 6/0 Gamakatsu EWG Superline worm hook, 5" Gambler Big EZ (McMillan magic).

> The key to getting bites on the Big EZ was fishing it along the surface like a buzzbait.

> Main factor in his success – "Just finding the right area. There's no doubt that area was key."

> Performance edge – "My MinnKota Talons and trolling motor. I cut through some of the thickest stuff you could imagine. My Ranger and Evinrude were great, too, but those Talons were crucial there."

Read more on Bassfan.com

Courtesy

11.Feb.2014 by Brett Carlson

After competing in regional tournaments at a high level for many years, Greg Bohannan fished his first Walmart FLW Tour season in 2008. Each of his first three years on Tour was productive and concluded with trips to the Forrest Wood Cup. But instead of continuing that progression, Bohannan’s last three seasons have largely been substandard.

When Bohannan quit his job in 2007 as a plant manager at Tyson Foods to pursue pro fishing full time, most believed the transition would be an easy one. In addition to being affable, Bohannan was known as a fierce competitor in the Ozarks – dominating on rocky, clear lakes such as Table Rock, Beaver and Lake of the Ozarks. The FLW Tour schedule features more diverse fisheries and Bohannan quickly learned he needed to improve his grass game.

“All of my success, with the exception of my Rayovac win on the Columbus Pool, was Ozark related,” said Bohannan. “And even the Columbus win came on a buzzbait so I was real comfortable there. When I started fishing the Tour I was lost as a grass fisherman. I couldn’t tell coontail moss from duckweed. I couldn’t identify hydrilla or eelgrass. I didn’t know what any of that stuff was. My first FLW Tour event was on Toho and it was very intimidating. Everything out there looked the same to me; it was tough to distinguish anything in terms of cover. I think I finished third from last; it was basically disastrous.

“By no means am I a grass expert, but I understand the environment now – things like edges and mats. For the last several years I’ve been picking the minds of guys like Rose, Tharp and Tutt.”

While Okeechobee is one grass lake that has been kind to him over the years, this season’s second-place finish was an impressive performance. After catching 27-2 on day one, the largest tournament stringer of his career, Bohannan brought in an average 13-pound, 11-ounce bag on day two. After he and other competitors pounded his area hard for two days, the Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts pro was thinking it was time to call a mid-tournament audible.

Bohannan’s area was located at the mouth of Uncle Joe’s Cut and the vast majority of the top 10 was fishing up around the North Shore and Harney Pond. He was about to jump ship and join the party.

“I’m beginning to think I’ve exhausted the area,” recalled Bohannan. “I only had 13 pounds and there are boats everywhere and I can see everyone catching them. I’m wondering if the big fish are going to keep coming. I started there the third morning and by 10 a.m. I only had three little ones that basically weighed nothing. At this point I’m battling if it’s exhausted or not. I really thought about going up north. I actually started the tournament up there around the mouth of the Monkey Box. I had a spinnerbait bite going but I had zero in the first couple hours so I quickly ran back south. As I was debating leaving in my mind, I missed one on a Gambler Big EZ. I was upset I missed the fish, but more importantly it told me I would be dumb to leave. Staying there was the difference between being second or finishing somewhere down in the lower teens.”

Bohannan’s second-place finish wasn’t about lures or presentation at all really. He fan-casted the Big EZ almost exclusively, which is perhaps the most common soft plastic used on Okeechobee other than the Beaver. His success was tied to that little sweet spot in Uncle Joe’s – but more so about his decision making not to leave it.

“I only caught one 4-pounder there in practice, but I caught a ton of little 14-inch males. The one thing I’ve learned over the years in Florida is that if you get that many bites, there are big ones there too.”

Exhibiting that kind of decision making over the course of a season is the next step Bohannan wants to take.

“The last three years have been tough on me as a competitor. I used to think I could close my eyes and cash a check. Then I went through a stretch where I couldn’t catch five if you put them in a bathtub. I don’t like excuses, but I think part of my slump had to with my son Brock. I felt really guilty leaving home after he was born. Now he’s in school so I feel a little better about it, but being away still pulls at me. Through it all, my wife has been a rock. No matter what happens, she’s always positive.”

Bohannan doesn’t view his second-place finish as any sort of breakthrough, instead simply a promising performance.

“I need to continue to just stay relaxed and have fun. I’m so competitive I’ve thought a lot about why I can catch them so well in the Rayovacs but I struggle on Tour. To me, slumps in fishing are a lot like hitting a baseball. When you’re seeing it, you’re hitting it; it’s normal. When you start thinking about it you go down a bad road. That extra thinking made me so uptight.”

Equipment wise, Bohannan is pleased with the performance of his reels and Denali Kovert rods – two new sponsors. In the past, he thought he understood the power needed to pull Okeechobee giants out of the thick vegetation, but in hindsight he was “bringing a knife to a gun fight.”

In addition, Bohannan credits a renewed commitment to time spent on the water.

“I now realize I wasn’t fishing enough. I’m a guy that needs to fish more at home to feel confident. You’re just more in tune with the conditions and that helps you make those critical decisions. I don’t want this to sound like some sort of milestone. Finishing second is a great way to start the season, but my goal is to stay consistent and make the Forrest Wood Cup. Missing the championship the last three years has been so painful.”

Notes:

Bohannan thanked Al and Rosemary Purvis, a Missouri couple who retired to south Florida, for their hospitality.

“Mark (Rose) and I have been staying with them the past few years and they’ve become like family. In fact, two years ago Al took me out on Okeechobee and really taught me the lake. We didn’t fish, but we rode around and he showed me all the different areas. It’s easy to be intimidated on a lake that vast. Al really helped me dissect it.

Excerpt Courtesy

Greg Bohannan had the best Tour event of his career this week and he went out with a 23-07 bag that gave moved him up three spots to 2nd with 82-08. James Watson held onto 3rd behind a 20-15 sack that pushed his total to 81-01.

Bohannan knew Hite would have to seriously stumble today for the door to open wide enough for him to have a shot at the win, but he was perfectly satisfied collecting the runner-up check. After opening the event in 2nd after a 27-pound day 1, he nicely bookended the week with a 23-07 effort today.

"It was like a dream week for me," he said "I was afraid my alarm clock was going to go off and I'd wake up. It was just incredible. I was really blessed that I found that area and it kept replenishing every day."

The morning swimbait bite wasn't as hot as it had been so he switched to flipping reed heads and immediately started gaining momentum with two solid keepers.

"It was cooler this morning and they were actually perfect conditions with the overcast skies and a little bit of wind, but they didn't the (Gambler) Big EZ this morning," he said. "Those shallow fish just don't seem to want to come to the top after a cool night."

Once the sun burned through and the water began warming up, he picked the swimbait up again and stuck three 5-pounders in a 10-minute span.

Read the rest of the story on Bassfan.com

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Get Outdoors. Go Fish! at Cordova High School

Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Time: 10:40 – 11:20 a.m.
Students: Cordova Seniors & Fishing Team

FLW Pro anglers will visit Cordova High School and talk to the students about the various aspects of science and technology that apply to the world of professional fishing.  Topics will include: Mathematics, biology on the water, advance sonar technology and also the business side of fishing.  Anglers will talk to the seniors and fishing team for 40 minutes.

Leading up to the visit, (now until Friday, March 1, 2013), Cordova seniors and the Fishing Team are encouraged to write and submit an essay (500 words or less) on the following topic: “How does science, technology, engineering and math apply to the sport of fishing?”.

All students who submit an essay to Allie Gibbs at FLW, by 3 p.m. CST, Friday, March 1, will receive an FLW hat.  The essays will be judged by members of the FLW Foundation Board of Directors and two winners will be announced at the angler visit on March 6.  The two winners will each receive an autographed FLW team fishing jersey as well as a half day of fishing with an FLW pro on Lewis Smith Lake on Sunday, March 10 along with a parent or guardian.

Pro Lessons: Greg Bohannan's adaptations for big water

FLW Tour pro Greg Bohannan has learned a few tricks about big-water bass fishing.

Courtesy FLW Outdoors

29.Nov.2011 by Paul Strege

Editor's note: This article is from FLW Bass Fishing magazine, offering tips, techniques and tackle reviews for anglers of all skill levels plus in-depth features on the pros of the sport.

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Pop-Tarts pro Greg Bohannan of Rogers, Ark., has enjoyed remarkable success on the Walmart FLW Tour, having scored 13 top-10s. In July, I shared a picturesque summer day with him as he prepared for the EverStart Series Central Division tournament on Detroit River/Lake St. Clair and collected several pointers. Among other things, I also learned that Bohannan isn't just a threat on the lakes of the Ozarks.

Angler: Greg Bohannan, Rogers, Ark.

Fishery: Detroit River and Lake St. Clair, Mich.

Month: July

Where to start?

Considering Lake St. Clair's reputation for producing lots of trophy-class smallmouths, the task of finding quality fish hardly seems a challenge. Wrong. Virtually all of St. Clair's 430 square miles of water is fishable, with a natural maximum depth of 21 feet. Finding "better" fish among millions of "good" ones often intimidates even the most experienced anglers.

We depart the Elizabeth Park boat ramp at 5 a.m. and make the half-hour run up the Detroit River toward Lake St. Clair. The view of the GM Renaissance Center against the backdrop of a crimson dawn is worth the early wakeup call.

Don't overlook the obvious

Shortly after entering the main lake, Bohannan shuts down his Ranger Z520 in a channel leading toward a west shore boat harbor. Seconds later, he's rhythmically dancing a MegaBass Vision 110 jerkbait off the edge of a 10- to 20-foot break.

"Although some places like this are obvious, they can still hold a 3- to 4-pounder," Bohannan says. "If I find myself struggling or needing a fish in the tournament, I might stop here. It's also on the way back to the launch."

Bohannan crisscrosses the drop-off, up onto the flat and back. We catch and release several fish, but none of the size he hoped for. He works toward the northeastern edge of the riprap harbor break wall where he lays down his jerkbait rig and grabs his drop-shot rod. The current is noticeably pulling Pop-Tarts pro Greg Bohannan boats a smallie.around the corner of the break wall, and with his first toss of a 3-inch black Berkley Gulp Leech he connects with a smallmouth. Over the next 10 minutes, he catches a half-dozen fish up to 2 pounds in size, seemingly on every cast.

"Lots of fish, but no big ones here this morning," he quips. "Let's make a move."

Drop-shot drifting

By 8 a.m., a northwest breeze gains strength. Bohannan drives us out to a 15-foot-deep main-lake flat. He starts one of several drifts with his drop-shot Gulp Leech, occasionally alternating among a drop-shot, deep-diving crankbait and jerkbait.

"Back home, the best smallmouth fishing days are cloudy and rainy," Bohannan explains. "Up north, I find just the opposite. In my experience, cranks and jerkbaits work best on sunny, calm days. Light penetrates better under those conditions, and reaction lures are most effective. When the wind is strong or the skies are overcast, it seems like the fish need to be finessed into biting."

We drift with the drop-shot, the goal being to cover large distances of water until specific fish-holding areas are located.

Big water, small signs

After combing the flat for nearly an hour without much success, Bohannan stows his Minn Kota Fortrex, fires up his engine and heads a short distance to a similar area. With sporadic weed clumps and baitfish scattered throughout the lake, he believes that his main objective is merely finding where the fish are at that moment in time. Shortly into his second drift, Bohannan connects with a 4-pound smallmouth, but loses it boatside while attempting to lip the frolicking fish. He observes that the surface is clouded with the shucks of mayfly nymphs.

"I've noticed throughout the week that some of my better fish have come from flats with a bunch of these mayfly sheds on the surface," he says.

Bohannan picks up the pace, limiting each drift to about 20 minutes in duration. Now that a good-sized smallmouth has been revealed, he's refining his search to locate additional fish and identify any subtle structural differences in the area.

"On these drifts, I'm really looking for one of three things: [depth finder] readings of fish, thicker pods of grass or any change in the bottom," Bohannan says. "When you have a lake that is so consistent like St. Clair, even the slightest bottom change or isolated weed clump will have fish on it."

Great Lakes electronics

Electronics can speed up searches for big bass in big water.

For big-water, big-bass exploration, Bohannan relies heavily on his electronics to expedite the search. His Pop-Tarts wrapped Ranger is equipped with three Humminbird 998 color side-imaging graphs, two at the bow and one at the helm. One graph up front is dedicated solely to GPS display and provides ample room for detailed small- and large-scale electronic base maps, while the second graph is utilized simply for 2-D, downward sonar.

"Many successful offshore anglers, guys like Mark Rose, Shin Fukae and Brent Ehrler, rig their boats this way," he says. "You have so much more detail with multiple screens than you have with splitting the screen on a single unit. This is my first boat rigged this way, and I really like it."

I quickly buy into his electronics rigging theory as we drift over a 1-foot bottom rise and connect with a 3-pounder. When peering over at his helm GPS, I notice the flat is littered with waypoints of differing symbols.

"I like to group waypoints from past trips with a common symbol," he explains about the system. "That way, I can quickly identify what locations are best from one year to the next."

Change of pace

While the majority of anglers would be satisfied with our midmorning results, Bohannan is restless and heads north to the Metro Beach Metropark to explore some shallow water.

He uses a spinnerbait and Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap to work a channel, rocky shoreline and nearby offshore weed flat. With the exception of the boat channel, most of the water he fishes is less than 5 feet deep. He catches several bass, but none are of competitive tournament quality.

If in doubt, try it again

Shortly before noon, we head back out to the main-lake flats, this time a little deeper in 17 to 18 feet of water. The wind has increased in strength, and waves have started to build. We begin another drift a few hundred yards off of a prominent breakline. Within five minutes, he connects with a 4-pound smallmouth on a drop-shot Gulp Leech. He marks the spot with a waypoint, re-rigs and continues with the directional drift.

"When you are drifting and see fish on the graph, don't just reel up and try to drop on top of them," Bohannan explains. "You will eventually drift through them like we did for the last fish, and you will get bit. "ll definitely come back here during the tournament. I marked a bunch of fish."

The pro decides this is a potential tournament spot, with the caveat that an angler has to be willing to drift it all day.

I can only agree. Bites are not coming fast and furious, but recur steadily. We go on to catch four more smallmouths, most weighing more than 3 pounds, until deciding to call it a day at 2 p.m. Though Lake St. Clair doesn't match up in characteristics to his regular Ozark haunts, Bohannan has demonstrated he knows how to find fish here.

Bass anglers traverse the Detroit River on their way back from Lake St. Clair.

Lake St. Clair conditions

Weather conditions preceding the outing on Lake St. Clair are relatively stable. A midweek thunderstorm breaks up the monotony of several consecutive days of typical summer weather. The wind is light to moderate, the skies are generally sunny and the surface water temperature hovers around 80 degrees. One variable that Bohannan identifies as unusual is the late spring, which might be preventing bass from congregating in substantial numbers on their favorite summertime haunts. A clue: the recent mayfly hatch, occurring two weeks later than most years.

Forage and cover

Lake St. Clair's primary form of cover is weed growth. Weedbeds range in size from small clumps to large fields, and host many varieties of baitfish, smallmouth bass and other predatory species. Perch and gobies populate the weed clumps that Bohannan targets and mayfly nymphs likely attract baitfish to the area.

Postscript: Bohannan's Lake St. Clair results

Greg Bohannan caught nearly matching limits of 14-10 and 14-7 to finish 57th. Mark Modrak of China Township, Mich., won with a three-day weight of 58-15.

Lessons learned

• Utilize your electronics. Technological advancements in GPS mapping in addition to sonar imaging can assist in locating productive areas, especially on large and unfamiliar waters.
• Fish-holding structure, especially on lakes devoid of bottom contour, is relative. Pay close attention to subtle depth and bottom composition changes.
• Fish with courage. On days that catch rates might be down, the most successful approach might be simply to cover large areas of water.
• Look for surface water signs. Insect hatches, such as mayflies, often reveal productive sections of water.

by Brett Carlson

Stop me if you've heard this tune before. The weather recently in Branson, Mo., the host city for the upcoming FLW Tour event, has been unseasonably cold, so cold that water temperatures are in the upper 30s. That's the bad news. The good news is that Table Rock Lake has a hydro-electric dam, which prevents dangerous flooding.

By no means is the Table Rock tournament in jeopardy, but the cold water will certainly affect the fishing. The 2009 qualifier, which was held March 12-15, featured an unbelievable largemouth bite. And the first few days of the event were frigid. But leading up to the tournament the weather was surprisingly warm.

"Last year we had a pretty mild winter and the fish stayed relatively shallow," said pro Greg Bohannan. "When we have those types of winters the fishing is easy because they don't move very far off the bank. Basically the warmer water kept them shallow and then the cold air during the tournament made them more aggressive."

Bohannan says 2010 has been anything but mild in the Ozarks. And he would know; he's experienced the conditions firsthand. Bohannan lives in nearby Rogers, Ark., and spent time practicing on Table Rock before it went off-limits Feb. 15.

"The fish are still fat and healthy, but they're much more difficult to find. We won't see as many limits this year, but there will be a couple giants caught on a jerkbait. And when you do find them, they can be grouped up pretty good. So we're still going to see some heavyweight bags,  just not as many. I am guessing 15 or 16 pounds a day will be enough to make the cut."

Bohannan's pre-practice wasn't stellar, but he hasn"t lost confidence. After all, he top-10d last year on Table Rock and finished second at the 2008 American Fishing Series Championship.

"I like fishing in the Ozarks when its nasty, but I would really like to see the water temperature rise a little bit."

Bohannan blasts into third

Greg Bohannan of Roger, Ark., was Captain Comeback at Table Rock. On day one, he found only two keepers for 5 pounds, 10 ounces and landed in 26th place. A day later, the Kellogg's Pop-Tarts pro came charging back with 11-13 and earned a final-round berth in ninth place. On day three, Bohannan put the exclamation point on his statement by sacking up 13-9 the day's heaviest catch and jumping up to third place with a total of 31 pounds worth $6,895.

"I really shot myself in the foot the first day," he said. "But after having trouble the first day, I decided I'm going to fish my strength, so I put a crankbait in my hand. I love throwing a hand-painted Fall Creek Wiggle Wart."

A motor problem handicapped Bohannan today, but he made the most of what he could do and obviously fared well.

"I had a spark plug go bad in my engine, and I couldn't run very fast, so I just chased the wind today. Wherever the wind was, that's where I fished. It didn't matter if it was a bluff or a flat point; I just burned up the trolling motor today. I had that Minn Kota on 70 to 80 percent all day and just covered a lot of water."

Bohannan fished his crankbait on a 7-foot medium-action rod with a 6.3:1 Abu-Garcia reel carrying 10-pound 100-percent Berkley fluorocarbon.