Tog Gun Winning Pattern
Chapman Put Down Tube, Went With The Jig Instead

Photo: BassFan Brent Chapman picked up the jig late in practice, then committed himself to it.

At the recent Cabela's Top Gun Championship, docks were the dominant pattern. No surprise there. What was a surprise were the relatively light bags. The majority of the field had trouble catching a limit of 14-inch keepers, and an even tougher time catching a kicker.

Before the tournament began, many predicted that consistency, rather than the big bite, would decide the tournament. That's just how things played out. Winner Brent Chapman never weighed the Tru-Tungsten Big Bass, but he weighed the best average over all 3 days.

He edged out runner-up Toshinari Namiki by a narrow 11 ounces. It was the first tour-level victory of his solid career, and an affirmation that he's one of pro fishing's true elites.

Here's how he became 2005 Top Gun champion.

Practice

Top Gun anglers were allowed 2 days of official practice, with no-info rules in effect. Chapman started from scratch and began picking the lake apart.

"When I saw the lake, and what it was like, I became excited," he said. "It had a lot of shallow cover, and docks, which is the way I like to fish."

He started practice with a tube, and could catch a limit, but he couldn't get any big bites. He knew it was a "winner-take-all tournament" (1st place payout was $100,000), so on the final day of practice, he changed strategies.

"I went out to shoot some photos with Alan McGuckin from Terminator Lures," Chapman said. "I had three decent bites in the last hour of practice. I decided to commit myself to it, and everything fell into place from there."

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 11.62
> Day 2: 5, 12.25
> Day 3: 5, 11.09
= Total 15, 34.96

The jig was Chapman's main tool, but he started each morning with a topwater bait. "My main pattern was going out in the morning and throwing a chugger-type topwater bait."

Photo: BassFan According to Chapman, confidence made all the difference.

After the topwater window closed, he threw the jig. "All the rest of my fish were all on a 5/8-ounce Terminator Pro's Top Secret Jig with a Zoom Super Chunk Jr. trailer."

Weather changed slightly each day – sometimes sunnier, sometimes cloudier. That changed the way the fish positioned on docks, but it wasn't a problem for him. He just threw at anything around the dock that looked good.

"Some of the docks had brush around them, but the main thing was trying to hit as many targets around the docks as I possibly could," he said. "Poles, brush, ladders – anything down in the water could hold a fish."

He also noted: "I fished pretty much the same area. But on day 3, I went and fished a bank I'd been running by all week. I only had three fish at that time. I went and fished that bank and caught two off it."

One of the bank-fish weighed about 3 3/4 pounds, and the other about 3 1/2. They were both jig fish.

All the fish he caught "were in 5 feet of water or less."

Winning Mindset

Chapman's pattern wasn't unique. Most of the field concentrated exclusively on docks, and many threw a jig. Instead, his mindset is what likely made the difference. That, plus execution: he landed his big bites when other couldn't.

About his bait choice, he noted: "I just had confidence in the jig. Usually if you can catch them on a jig, you can outweigh other people catching them on other things.

"I had enough confidence to stick with it and go an hour or two without a bite, then get a decent fish. If I didn't have that confidence, there's no way I would have stuck with it."

On the winner-take-all mentality, he said: "Maybe that I had that in my head – that this is winner take all – made me keep the jig in my hand more. If not, I guess I maybe would have picked up a crank and just tried to catch keepers, as opposed to going for good fish. That (mindset) would pull me through the low periods."

Photo: Terminator Chapman threw a Terminator Pro's Top Secret Jig (shown), but swapped out the stock skirt to match the trailer.

> Topwater gear: 6'6" medium-action All Star rod, Pflueger President casting reel, 17-pound mono (unnamed), chugger topwater bait ("It was about 2 inches, Japanese, and they don't make it anymore. It had a blue back with chrome sides.")

> Jig gear: 7'6" heavy-action All Star Titanium flipping rod, Pflueger President, 24-pound Seaguar Fluorocarbon line, 5/8-ounce Terminator Pro's Top Secret Jig (blue), Zoom Super Chunk Jr. (sapphire blue).

> He tied a custom skirt on the jig to match the bright blue trailer.

Notable

> Main factor in his success – "Just confidence and perseverance. Just really being thorough on docks and having a lot of confidence."

> Although this is his first tour-level win, he did win the 2000 Louisiana Invitational at the Red River.

> He was one of only three Top Gun competitors to weigh a limit every day. The others were 3rd-place George Cochran and 5th-place Matt Herren.

> His next immediate goal is to "win the Busch Shootout."

> He said his career is at a crossroads and he's not sure if he'll be a two-tour pro next year. "The way things are right now, that's the way it's laying out (dropping one tour). But there's a lot still in discussion, and I'm not going to make a decision yet. I'll wait and see what's announced before I decide what I want to fish and what I don't want to fish."

> His plans for the $100,000? "I'm going to invest some, and I'm going to make a pretty major career purchase. We're going to buy a fifth-wheel for next year – that and a tractor. I don't think I've ever been more excited to buy a tractor."