May 3, 2015 by David Brown & Jesse Schultz
1. Tournament winner Ray Hanselman owes his success to a Strike King Sexy Frog with a yellow belly.
Read about his winning pattern here.
2. The topwater look of a hollow frog proved effective for second-place pro Bradley Hallman.
3. Third-place pro Nick Lebrun caught his fish on a V&M Cliff’s Wild Craw in the Bama bug color. He rigged the bait on a 3/0 Gamakatsu hook and a 1/2-ounce Elite Tungsten weight.
4. Joe Don Setina fished a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver and Little Dipper, both in the sun gill color. He dipped the tip of the Sweet Beaver in chartreuse dye and used a 3/0 hook.
5. Jeff Reynolds relied on pitching a Zoom Z-Hog on a 4/0 Trokar hook and a 3/8-ounce Strike King tungsten weight.
6. Cody Bird caught all of his fish on a Kicker Fish Kicker Kraw Jr. rigged with a 3/0 Gamakatsu wide-gap hook and a 1/8-ounce weight.
7. A Kopper’s LIVETARGET Frog (leopard frog pattern) produced all of Brian Ankrum’s fish.
8. Opting for a more active apprach, Robert Brown fished a 3/8-ounce spinnerbait – a sexy shad color pattern with one willow-leaf blade and one Indiana blade.
9. Focusing on bed-fishing, Russell Cecil presented the fish with a Big Bite Baits WarMouth rigged on a 4/0 hook with a 1/4-ounce weight and the Big Bite Baits YoMama with the same hook but a 5/16-ounce weight.
10. Craig Frilot committed to throwing a white ChatterBait throughout the event.
