The Wind to Win
Patrick Walters — Winner of the Bassmaster Elite Series event on Lake Murray
On May 13, 2024, Patrick Walters of Summerville, South Carolina, won his third Bassmaster Elite Series tournament and fifth B.A.S.S. tournament, this time on Lake Murray in South Carolina. His 93-pound, 15-ounce total outpaced his closest competitor by more than 12 pounds, and he closed out the victory with the heaviest catch of the tournament, a five-bass limit weighing 26-12. The following is his account of how he prepares for every fishing trip.
Columbia, South Carolina — Before I go fishing — whether it’s a major tournament or just fun fishing with family or friends — I’m learning all I can about the conditions on the water from Omnia PRO. It’s an amazing platform that shows me the weather, temperature, mapping, topography, clarity, and lots more.
It played an important role in my winning the recent Elite Series tournament on Lake Murray. I was able to create a game plan before I left home, and it led to a very productive practice, and a strong start. I took the lead on the first day and never let go.
Water temperature is a key data point for making a decision on predicting fish patterns, helping me choose techniques and informing my strategy for catching big bass. That’s especially true leading up to the spawn. After the spawn, though, a lot of my attention goes to the wind, and Omnia PRO’s wind tracking capabilities were a big factor at Lake Murray.
I caught a lot of fish shallow and on top. Without knowing where I could find the right wind and current, I might have struggled. But with Omnia PRO, I was able to stay one step ahead, and it led to my third Elite Series win.
Omnia PRO is available from OmniaFishing.com, and I think the app is truly underappreciated. For a little bit of money, you get an amazing tool. In one app I get what would ordinarily require four or more apps, and they work together seamlessly.
The weather components of Omnia PRO were huge for me this week. The various layers show me wind speed and direction, air temperature, rain, and any storm cells out there. Wind moves plankton, which can trigger feeding. It also helps to mask my presence as an angler and make fish more aggressive.
Being in the right places to take advantage of the wind was a huge component of my success.
Fishing — especially tournament fishing — can be all about efficiency. How much water, how many patterns, how many baits can you eliminate before you ever get to the water? With Omnia PRO, I can drill down to just a few key places and methods that I feel sure will pay off. Without Omnia PRO, it’s easy to waste a lot of time, energy, and gas. I’m a big believer in Omnia PRO!
About Omnia Fishing and Omnia PRO
OmniaFishing.com is the first e-commerce store that allows anglers to find, buy, and organize their fishing gear based on the specific bodies of water they fish. We make finding the right tackle easy by presenting a refined list of relevant tackle based on the relationships between species, style, lake characteristics, season, community fishing reports, patterns, and products. We make sure you only see the products that make sense for you, on the lakes you fish, at the right time of year. Omnia is the most personalized tackle shopping on earth!
Omnia PRO is our premium service. It was created with serious anglers in mind. Members earn 10% back and free shipping on each of their gear purchases. Plus, they can use the Omnia Fishing app to access map layers with crucial fishing information, including depth contours, bottom composition, water clarity and temperature, weather info like wind, cloud cover and barometric pressure, and lots more.
