BassFan Winning Pattern
Closed-Minded Approach Paid Off For McClelland

Photo: ESPN Outdoors Consistency was the name of Mike McClelland's game at the Harris Chain Bassmaster Elite Series.

The Arkansan had missed more checks than he'd made over the years in Florida, and a lot of the guys he'd been looking up at in the standings had beaten him with finesse worms. He was determined to not let that happen again.

He threw a Zoom Trick Worm all through practice and all through the tournament and came away with his third Elite Series victory in three seasons. He started the final day trailing Brian Snowden by just about 10 pounds, but won by more than 5 when the latter blanked.

While the rest of the leaders were up one day and down the next in the constantly changing conditions, he was remarkably steady. His daily average was just a shade under 15 pounds – the exact weight of his final-day bag – and he never deviated from it by more than 2 pounds.

Here's how he did it.

Practice

McClelland and Jeff Kriet share information at each event, and both came to the season opener with the mindset that finesse worms around lily pads would be the way to go.

"We're always 100% honest with each other, and by the second morning of practice, we started pushing that pattern everywhere we could find pads on the lake," he said. "I was just fortunate to find the right ones that held up all week."

His primary area was in a canal between Lake Harris and Lake Eustis. It featured a hard bottom, it was deeper than most canal spots (the water in the chain was 2 to 3 feet below normal pool) and the fish it held were primarily post-spawners.

He also found four backup areas on the main bodies of either Harris or Eustis. Again, their main distinguishing feature was a solid bottom.

"It was almost like there could have been some shells around those pad areas. You could tell the bottom was much harder than a lot of other places, and even when I was dragging the worm real slow, I wouldn't pick up a lot of muck."

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 15-13
> Day 2: 5, 15-04
> Day 3: 5, 13-01
> Day 4: 5, 15-00
> Total = 20, 59-02

The first day of the tournament unfolded about as well as McClelland could have hoped for.

"The biggest thing about that day was that it went really smoothly," he said. "The first bite I got was a 4-pounder that got balled up in some pads, but I was able to get it to come out and swing it into the boat.

"There were still boats idling past me (on the way to their starting holes) and I felt like the monkey was off my back. And a little while later I had a limit, so a lot of the pressure was off."

He ended the day in 11th place, and then moved up six spots on day 2 with a similar bag. He got only six keeper bites after getting 15 the day before, but one of them was a 6-12.

"That day was kind of a struggle, but I caught that big one at about 9:30. It saved the day."

Day 3 saw the arrival of a cold front that sent air and water temperatures plummeting and brought wind that blew in excess of 40 mph at times. It wasn't a fun day for anybody, but he made the best of it.

The wind forced him to fish one of his backup areas, and even though he didn't have a fish in the well until noon, he was pleasantly surprised by what he found there.

"I realized the fish in that area were spawning. I increased my weight to 1/4-ounce (from 3/8) and made myself pull up to one clump of pads and make numerous casts.

"I was basically dead-sticking the worm, and finally one bit it."

And then another one bit, and another. He'd caught eight keepers by the time the day was over, all of them between 2 1/2 and 2 3/4 pounds, and he moved up to 2nd place.

There was only one more rung to gain after that, and he grabbed it on the final day when Snowden's freight train was derailed by the colder water and missed opportunities.

McClelland, meanwhile, caught more than a dozen keepers off of a single pad clump. "That one specific set of pads was pretty good to me."

Photo: BassFan Store McClelland threw Zoom Trick Worms in black (above) and 'Bama bug.

When he fished isolated pads, McClelland threw the worm on fluorocarbon line. When he was working clumps, he switched to 50-pound braid. In either case, he left his weight unpegged.

"I was pulling it up against the pad stalks and kind of shaking it at times, and I think the weight releasing from the hook and worm creates a little bit of sound. And I always feel that my hookup ratios are better that way."

The vast majority of fish came from water that was 3 1/2 to 4 feet deep.

Winning Gear Notes

> Worm gear: 7'4" medium-heavy Falcon Mike McClelland signature series rod, Quantum PT Tour Edition casting reel (6.3:1 ratio), 15-pound Seaguar InvisX fluorocarbon or 50-pound Spiderwire Ultracast braided line, 3/16- or 1/4-ounce unnamed lead weight, 4/0 Gamakatsu Round Bend hook, Zoom Trick Worm (black or 'Bama bug).

> 'Bama bug is junebug on one side, fading to green-pumpkin on the other.

> He said the fluorocarbon line was important due to its sensitivity. "I was able to feel a lot of light bites that I might have missed with any other line."

The Bottom Line

> Main factor in his success – "I'd probably have to say just the reassurance Jeff and I had that we were on a solid pattern. I knew I'd have to fish slow all week and methodically pick areas apart."

> Performance edge – "My Lowrance electronics were a big part of this thing. I was able to tell the bottom consistency and see the subtle depth changes."

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