Entry 224-4
Mark Rose Wins the FLW Pickwick Lake Tournament
Editor’s Note: On October 13, 2007, Mark Rose of Marion, Arkansas, a longtime Strike King pro, won $125,000 for fishing in the 4-day Wal-Mart FLW BP Eastern Division Tournament held on Pickwick Lake in northwest Alabama. This is Rose’s first, 1st-place finish in his 9-year career as a tournament pro. This week, Rose will tell us how he won, what lures he won with, and what techniques gave him this career-high check.
Part 4: The Third Day of the Tournament
Question: Mark, what happened on the third day of the tournament?
Rose: The world changed. We didn’t have overcast skies. Instead it was a bluebird day. We had no wind, and the water was slick and calm. I still threw the spoon first thing in the morning and caught one, 2-1/2-pound bass. I caught the rest of the bass on the Football Jig with the Rage Tail Craw and the Spike-It-dyed pincers. I had to work all four of my hot spots to get a limit. I was really struggling. I’d spend 1 hour on each one of my four mussel beds and then let it rest and go to the next mussel bed. I was rotating between all four sites.
Question: Why did you decide on using a green-pumpkin Rage Tail Craw.?
Rose: Green-pumpkin is a clear-water color and it matches the crawfish. I’ve seen crawfish that color in bass’s mouths, and I’ve seen pincers that color on the bottom of my live well after I’ve put bass in it. At this time of year, green-pumpkin is the color of a crawfish, so I stuck with it. 
I put the Spike-It dye on that bait because when you’re fishing that deep, the dye glows. The Spike It dye adds a bright color the fish can see easier, and it encourages the bass to bite better.
Question: When did you get a limit on the third day?
Rose: It was about 2:30 pm before I got a limit. I was sweating bullets. The bass weren’t biting, there was no current, and this was really my toughest day. That third day is when I lost all my confidence. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t win this tournament.
Question: Why? What happened?
Rose: The second and third place contestants really had great days. I only had 12 pounds, 1 ounce on the third day, and my biggest fish was only about 3 pounds. At the end of the third day, I’d just about lost my 6-pound lead. I was only ahead by about 13 ounces. Terry Bolton, who was in second place, had caught 17 pounds that day, and Jim Moynagh in third place had 19 pounds.
Question: What were you thinking the night before the last day of the tournament?
Rose: I was thinking I’d probably lost the tournament and needed to catch as many bass as I could possibly catch to have a hope of getting a second or a third place check. If I could make second place, I could make $50,000, and third place paid $35,000. Those would still be respectable checks. I also knew I’d made the year-end fish-off.
Contents:
- Part 1: Having Good Feelings
- Part 2: The First Day of the Tournament
- Part 3: The Second Day of the Tournament
- Part 4: The Third Day of the Tournament
- Part 5: The Last Day of the Tournament
