A fistful of dollars

Professional anglers go fishing at Wal-Mart to stock up on their favorite tackle

A hundred-dollar bill doesn’t go very far these days. You could buy a couple of tanks of gas, a decent dinner for a family of four at a local restaurant or maybe a week’s worth of groceries, and before you know it, you’re back at the ATM, punching in another withdrawal. Take that C-Note to Wal-Mart, however, and you can stock up on a pile of fishing tackle. Who needs food, anyway?

FLW Outdoors sent five professional anglers to the fishing department of their neighborhood Wal-Mart with a hundred-dollar bill in their wallet and asked them to stock up on their favorite lures and any other necessary tackle to get them (or you) started down that long road to bass-fishing nirvana. Okay, they really didn’t spend that hundred dollars; they simply shopped for items they think no serious bass angler should be without, wrote down their choices and told us what they could get for their money. Here’s a look at what they selected:

Rick Lillegard

The 48-year-old Atkinson, N.H., resident has fished the Wal-Mart FLW Tour for six seasons, qualifying for two championships. Although he guides on the crystal-clear waters of Lake Winnipesaukee, Lillegard is just as comfortable fishing the dingy waters typical of Southern reservoirs as he is on the pristine waters of New England.

“I chose a selection that is well-suited for all types of fishing, from a neighborhood pond to a large lake,” Lillegard said. “With the lures I chose, you could fish all over the country and have something that will catch bass, no matter what the conditions or the season.”

Lillegard bought 33 items for a total of $99.44, including four spools of line from 8- to 14-pound-test. He included a good selection of surface baits, plenty of hooks and lots of lead for fishing soft plastics either Texas-rigged or Carolina-rigged, one of his favorite techniques.

“A Carolina rig will work just about all year and in every situation you might be faced with,” he said. “They catch fish in deep water, and they can work really well as a finesse tactic in shallow or really clear water. Even better, Carolina rigs are really easy to fish, so there’s no excuse for not having some egg sinkers and barrel swivels in your tackle box.”

John Crews

After only three seasons on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Jetersville, Va., resident John Crews is making quite a splash in the world of professional bass fishing. He finished third at the Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Lake Murray this season and finished eight at the championship.

Crews didn’t hold back when he spent some time at the Farmville, Va., Wal-Mart. His selection includes some conservative lures that no bass angler should be without – a Rebel Pop-R, a couple of Rat-L-Traps, some jigs, a Super Spook Jr. and a few crankbaits. But he also bought a selection of baits that some anglers either refuse to try or just haven’t figured out that they really work. His baits also allow him to fish four seasons in all types of water and weather conditions. Tough bite? He’ll break out the Kinamis or he’ll flip a Strike King jig to thick cover. Active fish? He’s got that covered, too. He’ll tie on a Super Spook Jr. or a Rat-L-Trap and cover some water.

“Kinamis are good baits for a variety of purposes and conditions,” Crews said. “I fish them unweighted, Carolina-rigged and on a light Texas rig. They are awesome baits. The Storm Wild Eye Swim Shads are also great lures that can be fished anywhere from 1 foot deep to 25 feet deep. I like them in either clear water or slightly stained water, particularly around some cover. You can burn them over the tops of emerging grass, or you can fish them like you would a bucktail jig over deeper points. Very few other anglers use them, so it’s something the bass have probably never seen.”

Crews ended up with 32 items, including two Shimano storage boxes to keep his tackle organized, and spent $82.65.

Sam Swett

Like Crews and Lillegard, Louisiana pro Sam Swett chose a fairly diverse selection of lures and tackle. One thing that does stand out is his color choice for his soft-plastic lures. All are green pumpkin.

“It’s a great color that works for all types of water conditions,” Swett said. “It’s also a good color for smallmouths and spotted bass as well as largemouths. You can’t go wrong with green pumpkin. I do fish other colors, but without a doubt, green pumpkin is a good all-purpose choice.”

He did, however, buy one pack of black and blue Yum Craw Bugs, which he uses as a trailer for his jigs. Swett’s top-water selections, a Baby Torpedo, a Super Spook Jr. and a Pop-R, allow him to cover the surface under a variety of conditions, from slick calm to a pretty good chop.

He also selected some of the most expensive spinner baits, FLW Premium spinner baits, with the basic philosophy that you get what you pay for. High-quality lures, no matter what they are, last longer, run true and are built with better parts than cheap ones.

Andy Morgan

“When I first added everything up, I spent $247, so I really had to narrow down my selection in order to keep it under a hundred dollars,” said Andy Morgan, a six-time FLW Tour Championship qualifier.

A brief glimpse at his selection of lures indicates a strong affinity for soft plastics. Morgan selected tubes, Brush Hogs, lizards and soft jerkbaits, and he also stocked up on jigs and plastic trailers. He bought a couple of hard jerkbaits, three crankbaits, four premium spinner baits – all white and chartreuse – and a good selection of slip-sinkers and premium hooks.

What was surprising, however, was his complete lack of surface baits. Not a single popper, walking bait or buzzbait.

“I’m just not a huge fan of top-water baits,” he said. “I tend to catch my biggest fish underwater, but if I had a few extra dollars to spend, I’d probably buy a Zara Spook.”

The 31-year-old Dayton, Tenn., angler ended up with 35 items for a total cost of $102.77. Although he exceeded $100, we decided to allow him to fish in this year’s FLW Tour Championship anyway.

John Sappington

Oklahoma pro John Sappington takes the prize for the most items for the least amount of money. He purchased 39 items and still came in under $100. Perhaps most surprising, Sappington didn’t purchase a single lipped crankbait. Instead, he stocked up on a wide variety of soft plastics. Trick Worms, curly-tailed grubs, lizards, Ring Frys and jig trailers made up the largest portion of his purchase.

“I can use the grubs as trailers for my spinner baits, buzzbaits and jigs, or I will fish them rigged on the jig heads,” Sappington said. “I also use those 1/8-ounce jig heads when I’m finesse-fishing the Trick Worms in deep, clear water, and I’ll fish the Trick Worms wacky-rigged as well. I really try to keep my soft plastics simple, but in the world of soft plastics, that’s impossible.”

If he had to choose a couple of colors, Sappington would select either watermelon or green pumpkin and black/blue or June bug. He also likes plastics with some action – lizards and worms – and some without.

Sappington took a walk out of the fishing aisle to look for plastic beads, which he uses for Carolina rigs. Instead of purchasing beads marketed toward bass anglers, he bought a bulk pack of 8-millimeter beads in assorted colors in Wal-Mart’s craft section. Nobody says you can’t be creative when buying tackle.

Aside from a single Norman crankbait, he bought two Rat-L-Traps in both 1/2- and 1/4-ounce models.

“Rat-L-Traps are by far the most versatile crankbait available,” Sappington said. “You can fish them from 1 foot to 10 feet, depending on line diameter and retrieve. No tackle box is complete without them. I feel confident I can compete under most conditions with the selection of tackle I bought at Wal-Mart.”

Based on the tackle selections of these anglers, a few things are obvious. First, a hundred dollars goes a pretty long way at your neighborhood Wal-Mart.

A few common themes ran through all the pros’ choices. Soft-plastic baits, whether worms, lizards or tubes, were quite popular. Everybody selected at least one bag of soft-plastic lures that were green pumpkin. Sam Swett selected nothing but green pumpkin baits.

“It’s just a good, natural, all-purpose color that works in just about every type of water color you can find,” Swett said. “I do use other colors, but when I’m forced to make a choice, I’ll go with green pumpkin.”

Black-and-blue jigs were popular as well, and so were chrome crankbaits and jerkbaits. Equally important in their selection were Carolina rigs. Crews, Lillegard and Swett selected barrel swivels, egg sinkers and soft plastics suitable for these standby rigs. Sappington, however, says he would use the standard bullet sinkers on a Carolina rig, which is why he didn’t purchase egg sinkers.

All of the pros admitted that limiting their selections to a hundred dollars was a tough assignment. Remember, these guys bring enough lures and tackle on the road to stock their own Wal-Mart fishing aisle.

“It was a good mental experience for me,” Sappington said. “I haul hundreds of pounds of tackle across the country, and I buy more at every lake I stop at. Now excuse me while I go take most everything out of my boat.”