After being DQ'd for showing up late to the weigh-in at the Hardy Dam tournament, Scott Rice knew his chances of winning the Angler of the Year title were done. Most guys would have thrown in the towel on the season but all Scott did was win three out of the next four club events including day one at Wixom last Saturday. Here's how he did it.
Practice: When the current stops flowing at Wixom, the water will rise and coupled with heavy rains on Thursday Scott figured the higher water would drive the fish shallow. "I caught fish in two to three foot of water on topwaters and crankbaits on Friday and thought that would be the pattern for Saturday" claimed Rice. "The fish were not eating the baits very good, just nosing them but that was fine for practice."
Tourney Day: As the tournament unfolded, Scotts shallow pattern did not hold up and he decided that a change was needed. "I just moved out a little deeper on the edge and started catching fish again". Rice re-connected with his fish by throwing a wacky-rigged senko bait and caught eight keepers and culled up to 11.71 pounds by the end of the day. "You would think with the rising water that the fish would stay shallow but it was just the opposite", exclaimed Rice whos limit was anchored by a 3.02 pounder. He claimed that the bite was a little slow and he didn't catch a ton of fish but his was the biggest limit of the six that were brought to the scales Saturday. He fished the edge of a big weed flat near the Dams, a community spot he thought but none of the other anglers were able to adjust as quickly as he did and that was the key to his win.
Gear: Scott uses spinning gear to fish his cinnamon colored senkos. He wacky-rigs the worms and uses a split ring to hold the hook in place. He fishes this rig on 12 pound Berkley Big Game mono spooled onto Shimano reels.
Tourney Notes:
-There were six limits weighed-in out of 17 fishermen.
-Bill Maurer had the events big fish at 3.48 pounds
-Jim Rice weighed in his 5th limit of the year in 6 events.
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