BRANSON, Mo. – Fool me once, Table Rock Lake, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. That’s the mantra for a couple of MLF pros who had a tough time in southwest Missouri in Stage Six, but have put themselves in a position of redemption after Shotgun Round 1.
Jared Lintner and Dean Rojas are two anglers who are having impressive seasons. Lintner currently sits in 20th place in the REDCREST point standings while Rojas took home the Stage Five championship in Cullman, Alabama last month. However, both pros struggled mightily in Stage Six—Lintner finished 65th while Rojas finished in 72nd—and missed out on the Knockout Round.
When the announcement was made that the Bass Pro Tour would return to Table Rock Lake for the Bad Boy Mowers Stage Seven Presented by Covercraft, the analytical gears immediately began to turn in Lintner’s head. He already had a notion about how he could improve.
“In Stage Six I really wanted to try and catch the fish the way I wanted to catch them,” Lintner said. “I was using a frog and a buzzbait, but when the conditions in the area I was in started to change, I was too stubborn and didn’t adapt. In a perfect world, if I would have hooked everything that bit me I would have been just fine.”
The California pro had a much better Shotgun Round this go-around, finishing in 16th place with 30 bass for 48 pounds. That’s a steep improvement from the 32-pound, 6-ounce day he had in his Stage Six Shotgun Round. Lintner thinks his rising numbers have to do with a key change in the baits he was throwing.
“With the water level falling this week, I told myself that I’m not even going to make a cast with a frog or a buzzbait unless all the wheels come off and it’s the only thing I have left to throw,” Lintner explained. “I’m happy with where I’m fishing offshore because I know more fish are coming out to where I am than they are heading to the shallow water.”
Dean Rojas was coming off of a Stage Five championship but was only able to muster 53-2 in two days of fishing during Stage Six. The biggest problem Rojas ran into on Table Rock Lake the first time around was his pace of play.
“I just wasn’t catching them quick enough in Stage Six,” Rojas recapped. “I had to really adjust what I was doing and figure out how to bring a lot more fish in the boat in a shorter amount of time. Better late than never I guess.”
The Arizona pro could be onto something, because he finished his Shotgun Round in 20th place with 46-9. While his day was good enough to position himself into the Top 20 heading into the Elimination Round, he knows where, but more importantly when, he needs to improve.
“I really need to be more efficient in the first and second period,” Rojas said. “I need to make some adjustments in what tackle I’m using to get me there. I feel good heading into Sunday and having a fresh game plan.”
The location remains the same for Stage Seven, but there are some important changes, most notably the time shift of the start of competition from 6:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Lintner is a big proponent of the later start time.
“I’ve always thought that the perfect tournament circuit starts at 10 a.m.,” Lintner explained. “I like to sleep too much. I think it was all those years of delivering milk that just burned me out getting up early. It’s weird when you are getting your rods ready because you kind of steer away from all of the reactionary baits. I really like it though.”
As for Rojas, the later start time is just one change that he’s having to adjust to. Table Rock Lake is a completely different lake than two weeks ago, according to Rojas.
“There’s a lot of different variables this week as compared to Stage Six,” Rojas detailed. “The water temperature is warmer, the fish are acting different and there’s more boat traffic. Even though the lake is full of fish, you have to change your tactics.”
Rojas, Lintner and the rest of Group A return to the water for Elimination Round 1 today at noon. Only the Top 20 pros advance to the Knockout Round, where they will meet the Top 20 pros from Group B.