Tharp Succeeds with Same Strategy He’s Always Had: Find Big Bites
EUFAULA, Ala. – When you look at the four anglers at the top of SCORETRACKER® after Qualifying Round Day 2 of the B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One Presented by Power-Pole, the first thing you probably notice are the impressive weights that Jacob Wheeler, Wesley Strader, Randall Tharp and Bobby Lane accumulated throughout their day.
However, if you focus on the number of fish caught, and the quality of said fish, one pro sticks out above the rest.
Tharp put together 27 pounds, 13 ounces, but only needed six fish to do it. That’s an average of over 4 1/2 pounds per Lake Eufaula largemouth.
Tharp is the first to admit that his game has never been numbers of fish, but rather big bites. He wasn’t going to change it during his first season on the Bass Pro Tour and he’s certainly not going to do it now.
“I love to target big fish, I always have,” Tharp said. “In this game we’re playing now, I’m trying to generate bites like everyone else is, but to make them bigger than everyone else’s. Back when I was fishing in five-fish tournaments, I would always hunt for the bigger bites because you could win with only four fish as long as they were the biggest ones. I’m going to keep fishing that way.”
The Florida pro sits in third place behind Wheeler (15 bass for 42-5) and Strader (nine bass for 32-6). He started his morning with a 4-12, his first of four fish over the 4-pound mark. His smallest catch of the day came in the middle of the second period, a 3-14. Tharp said he only got six bites all day but he landed all six of them.
Thanks to his experience on Lake Eufaula, he knows that you have to make the bites you get count.
“You’re just not going to get 15 to 20 bites a day out on Lake Eufaula, it’s just not going to happen,” Tharp explained. “I think I got enough big bites to probably make the cut come Monday, but you never know what can happen. I’m trying to figure out a way to win this tournament because that’s the ultimate goal.”
Staying Shallow for Big Bites
Tharp spent most of his day shallow, working grass patches and a stretch of water that was clearer than most of rest of the lake. While the area he was in produced multiple big bites, he predicts it might be time to consider a plan B.
“I’m probably going to try and find a new area on Monday,” Tharp said. “I had a lot of stuff I wanted to run to today that I just didn’t get to. Luckily, that worked out for me staying in one spot. I may go try and practice a little bit to figure some more stuff out.”
Tharp got his first win on the national stage in 2008 on Lake Eufaula in the Stren Series. Since then, he says he’s competed on the lake at least five other times and has made the final-day cut in every single one.
He claims to know the 45,000-plus-acre reservoir like the back of his hand, from north to south. With the years of experience he has in hand, he knows what it’ll take to win in the Big Bass Capital of the World.
“I might have to roll the dice and change some things up if I want to win,” Tharp said. “These 79 other guys are the best in the world and they’re going to figure it out. Jacob Wheeler is one of the hottest guys in bass fishing over the past few years. He’s fishing his strength, I’m going to fish mine and we’ll see where it ends up.”