Boom Boom Makes a Splash with His Swimbait
BRANSON, Mo. – MLF pro Fred Roumbanis moved on to the Championship Round in the Bad Boy Mowers Stage Seven Presented by Covercraft on Table Rock Lake, thanks in large part to his effective use of his Boom Boom Swimbait. Roumbanis is competing in his second Championship Round of the season after finishing in seventh place in the Knockout Round with 43 bass for 72 pounds, 8 ounces.
Swell Time for a Swimbait
Roumbanis made the comment during the MLF NOW! live stream that the conditions on Table Rock Lake were absolutely perfect for him to throw his Sexy Shad colored Boom Boom Swimbait.
“With the breeze we had today and the fact that the sky wasn’t too dark, it makes for perfect conditions to use it,” Roumbanis detailed. “It works so well in clear water and the Sexy Shad bait color matches those shad perfectly. The bait I was using was 4-inches long, which was the perfect size because I saw the bass throwing shad out of the water at that identical size.”
The Arkansas pro says that the one of the best attributes of the bait is its ability to be effective at many different depths.
“When the water is so clear like it was Tuesday, you can throw that swimbait in 6 feet of water or 30 feet,” Roumbanis explained. “It doesn’t matter because the fish are going to see it and they’re going to grab it. I threw that swimbait a bunch over the tops of trees and stuff. When they would stop biting, I would go up and investigate to see where the fish were with my Garmin Livescope, drop down on them and catch them.”
Betting on Booking it
Roumbanis was in a favorable position after the first period, ending the opening 150 minutes of fishing at the top of SCORETRACKER® with 38-10. But you can never trust a lead on the Bass Pro Tour, and Roumbanis quickly found himself flirting with the Elimination Line in the second and third periods. The Mercury pro was running out of time and needed to catch some fish in a bad way, so he took a chance.
“I had a gamble and I ran up-lake about 15 to 20 minutes and I hit one last stretch I found in practice and it paid off in a big way,” Roumbanis recapped. “They were more on a crawfish bite in that area and I was lucky enough to get them to bite. In these low-light conditions, it seems like the crawfish really start to come out on this lake.”
He was able to reel in seven bass for 11-14 in the final hour of competition to move on to his second Championship Round appearance of the season. Roumbanis finished in 10th place at Stage Five in Cullman, Alabama, and he took away a valuable lesson from that experience that he didn’t really follow in the Knockout Round.
“I learned don’t make a long run during fishing time,” Roumbanis said. “Today I did that, but luckily it paid off for me. I’m going to try to stay in one general area all day in the Championship Round and try to keep my line wet as long as possible.”