Entry 201-4

Wake-Up Bass with Mark Davis

Part 4: Day 3 – The Day I Won the Tournament

Question: Mark, what happened on day three of the tournament?

Davis: I really won the tournament on day three, when the field was cut to me and nine other finalists. When the field was cut, all the finalists’ weights were reset to zero. When I got up that morning, I knew I would have a great day of fishing, because the skies were overcast, and the water was calm.I was in 3rd place before the cut, but after the cut, all 10 of the competitors were beginning again from zero. We had a whole-new tournament. That morning, I caught 8 bass that weighed from 4- to 6-pounds each, using the two wake baits – the Strike King King Shad and the old Bomber Long A. I was doing a milk-run, running a pattern and hitting a lot of spots and points. I ran new water each day, because I’ve learned that once I catch one or two bass off a point, I generally can’t return to that same point the next day and catch any fish.

Question: So, Mark, you’d run from spot to spot, and when you’d find a place you wanted to fish, you’d have to fish really slowly. This tactic would drive most fishermen nuts.

Davis: You’re right, and it pretty-much drove me nuts. I’ve learned over the years that I don’t have to like the way I need to fish to catch bass. Some days I fish are fun. Other days, if I’m going to catch bass, I have to listen to the fish and let them tell me how to fish that day. Because I was fishing slowly and patiently and using a technique no one else was using, I caught 19 pounds, 15 ounces of bass that day and took over the lead. I probably caught 10 keepers during the day. Late in the day, after I had my limit in the live well, I went to the bank to look for bedding fish, when the majority of the competitors already had gone home. I caught a 5-pound bass on my Strike King Lizard, which really helped anchor my stringer.

Question: What pound-test line were you using, Mark?

Davis: On my King Shad, I was using 15-pound-test line. On the Bomber Long A, I was using 8-pound-test monofilament line, and when I was flipping the Iguana, I was using 15-pound-test fluorocarbon line. Another lure I haven’t mentioned but that I did catch a lot of bass on was the Strike King Zero. When I was fishing it, I was using 10-pound-test fluorocarbon line.

Question: Where were you fishing the Zero?

Davis: As I was looking for bedding bass, I’d fish the Zero until I found one. I caught numbers of bass on the third day of the tournament on the Zero. I had several keeper bass I caught on the Zero, but I was able to cull those bass with the bass I caught on the wake baits.

Question: What style rigging and what color were you using for the Zero?

Davis: I was rigging it wacky style, and I was using the green-pumpkin color.

Question: Why do you believe so much in the Zero and the green-pumpkin color?

Davis: Green pumpkin is a hard color to beat in any condition. It’s a good-dark color that I also used when I was bed fishing with the Strike King Lizard.For the third day, I weighed in a total of 19 pounds and 15 ounces, which put me at the top with an 8-pound lead. I knew when I went to bed that night that this tournament was mine to win or to lose.

Question: By day three, had the other competitors figured out how you were catching your bass?

Davis: Oh, yes. They all knew what I was doing. In fact, I gave Jay Yelas, who was my roommate, some of the lures I was using. He was also in the top 10. After day three, Jay was in second place and the closest pro to beating me with about 12 pounds on that third day.

Next: The Final Weigh-In

Contents:

• Part 1: How Davis Found the Winning Pattern
• Part 2: Day 1 of the Competition
• Part 3: Day 2 of the Competition
• Part 4: Day 3 – The Day I Won the Tournament
• Part 5: The Final Weigh-In