The Techniques Behind Lintner’s Solid Start on Bass Pro Tour
TULSA, Okla. – Major League Fishing pro Jared Lintner is new to the MLF format, but if you look at his finishes through the first three stages of the Bass Pro Tour, you wouldn’t think it. Lintner has finished …
“Hold on, dude. I just got a giant. Oh my god,” Lintner exclaimed during our interview while he got some fishing in on Guntersville Lake in Alabama. “I got it hooked good, so we’re good.”
Adjusting to a New Format
Lintner caught that 6-pounder on a wacky worm, by the way.
As I was saying, Lintner has notched two Top 10 finishes in the first three stages of the season and has made it to the Knockout Round in all three. The California pro is very pleased with his season thus far, but there are still some things he wishes he could do over.
“The only thing I wish I could improve is during Stage Three I didn’t do the ride around on Shearon Harris because I had such a poor practice on Falls Lake,” Lintner recapped. “I didn’t get a look at the lake until Championship Sunday and that hurt me. The area where all the guys were catching the fish were areas I hadn’t even seen.”
That’s an adjustment that Lintner has had to make as a newcomer to the MLF format. Through the first two months of competition, he’s picked up on a few tactics that are helping him improve his game every day.
“With the new format I didn’t know how I was going to adapt to it,” Lintner explained. “I don’t go out there searching for the most 1-pounders I can find. Getting bites is very important in MLF and there have been times where I have picked up a bait that I normally wouldn’t just because I need to get a bite. Whether it’s a 1-pounder or a 9-pounder I don’t really care, as long as I’m putting fish in the boat.”
Lintner has excelled in doing just that, earning enough points in the first two stages to make the first cup event, followed up by a ninth-place finish in Stage Three.
West Coast Quirks
As a proud West Coast angler, Lintner has fit into the stereotype of using some unique styles to catch his bass.
“In Florida I caught the majority of my fish on a lipless crankbait,” Lintner recapped. “I was pitching and flipping it through pads, which normally people would throw a swim jig or a spinnerbait. Being from the west coast, you’re always trying to figure out a way to catch fish that isn’t traditional. I wouldn’t call it doing the weird things, but more so doing the non-obvious things.”
One of those non-obvious things involved a technique that he perfected during his time out west that he pulled out in Stage Two and Three.
“I used a power-shot technique to catch a majority of my bass in Texas and North Carolina,” Lintner detailed. “It was working for me on 14-pound Sunline Shooter Fluorocarbon with a big worm and a big hook. I picked up a lot of key fish on that power-sho while other guys were pitching and flipping these past two stages. I don’t think I would have caught the fish that I did without that technique.”
Never Cocky, Just Confident
Lintner has definitely made a name for himself on tour this season, but he’s not resting on his laurels.
“You never want to be cocky, and I don’t think any of the anglers are cocky,” Lintner warned. “But, if you don’t believe in yourself you shouldn’t be out here. Everyone expects to excel including
He also admits it doesn’t hurt to have a little bit of luck sometimes.
“There was a fish during the Elimination Round at Falls Lake that I hooked on a crankbait,” Lintner remembered. “The fish ate it, she rolled, the hook came out, and I somehow ended up snagging her in the tail and I landed that fish. It was a 6-7, and without that bass I don’t make it to the Championship Round. It was a godsend honestly.”
Linter and the rest of the Bass Pro Tour anglers return to action on April 9-14 for the Econo Lodge Stage Four Presented by Winn Grips on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee.