June 19, 2016 by David A. Brown and Jody White
From ChatterBaits to Senkos, all the Potomac River staples made an appearance in the Costa FLW Series presented by Plano, but some of the pros caught ‘em on oddball baits as well. If you’re headed to fish some grass or tides then you’d better at least consider bringing some of the below.
1. Tournament winner Casey Smith most threw a 4.8-inch Keitech Swing Impact FAT in bluegill flash rigged on a 6/0 wide gap hook with a 1/4-ounce belly weight. He also caught fish on a 7/16-ounce Gambler Southern Swim Jig with a purple Yamamoto Swim Senko and 1/2-ounce watermelon Z-Man ChatterBait with a Keitech Swing Impact FAT trailer.
2. In second place, Charlie Machek fished Texas-rigged Yamamoto Senkos on 5/0 Gamakatsu EWG SuperLine hooks and a pegged 1/8-ounce sinker. He also fished a Zoom UV Speed Worm with an unpegged 3/16-ounce weight and a 3/8 Bait Buffet Swim Jig with a craw trailer. He threw all his baits on a variety of JB Custom Rods.
3. Fishing wacky-rigged Yamamoto Senkos lifted Ron Nelson to a third-place finish. Nelson also caught a few on a frog during the off times of his pattern.
4. Aaron Hastings moved up to fourth place after catching a solid limit with 3/8-ounce swim jig with a Zoom Swimmin’ Chunk trailer and a chartreuse/white spinnerbait with double Colorado blades and a 1/0 trailer hook.
5. Tidal ace Bryan Schmitt says he fished a Riot Baits Recon Vibrating Jig with a Riot Baits Fuzzy Beaver trailer in a variety of colors. He also says he flipped a black and blue Fuzzy Beaver when he wasn’t winding. Regardless, Schmitt used 15-pound-test P-Line Ultimate Fluorocarbon and Ardent Apex Grand reels for his presentations.
6. Gregory Wilder says he caught his fish on weightless finesse worms, ranging from a Yamamoto Senko to a floating worm.
7. A Zoom Horny Toad and a Z-Man ChatterBait were the top choices for seventh-place Chris Baumgardner.
8. Joseph Wood placed eighth with a 1/4-ounce black/blue Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover Swim Jig with a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper trailer. Like many, Wood says he also caught a few on a Senko.
9. Jeff Coble put in a lot of casts with his Rico Rico popper this week and it excelled on the first two days.
10. Targeting mostly spatterdock, Bill Chapman flipped a Missile Baits D Bomb in the bruiser flash color.
