WACO, Texas — Lakes Whitney and Waco proved to be great first-time tour-level venues for Champion Teamwear Stage 3 Presented by MillerTech. Most of the bass were in spawning mode, and there were several ways to catch them at both lakes.
Figuring them out the best was Oklahoma’s Zack Birge. He lapped the field with 75 pounds, 1 ounce on the final day on Lake Waco, winning by well over 30 pounds. Here’s a deeper look at how Birge and the rest of the Top 10 anglers caught ’em in Texas.
1. Zack Birge – 75-1 (27)
The ultra-consistent Birge got his second Bass Pro Tour win, and he did it with three steady days until blowing it out on the final day. On Whitney, he had two solid days to finish fifth before moving on to Lake Waco.
“On Whitney, I used ActiveTarget to start each morning, then would come back later and catch a few on a ChatterBait and some on a wacky rig down the bluff walls,” Birge said. “Then at Waco, it was pretty much all a 3/8-ounce white swim jig the first day, as well as some flipping around a little creature bait. I caught my swim jig fish with a 7-3 Alpha Angler Zilla and went with 40-pound Yo-Zuri SuperBraid.”
Fishing a hard-to-reach backwater that he found on Google Earth, Birge knew the potential was there for something special.
“I looked at the images and knew it had pretty clean water back there that would be protected from the hard north wind that we had,” he said. “As soon as I got in there, I started getting bit, and then it was pretty much lights out after that.”
2. Edwin Evers – 44-12 (15)
Edwin Evers also found the winning area that Birge fished and secured a runner-up finish while sharing water with his fellow Oklahoman. But before that, he had to make the Knockout Round with success on Lake Whitney.
“At Whitney, I caught all of my fish the first days flipping a 3-inch Berkley Pit Boss in California 420,” he said. “The second day, I caught most of my fish on a drop-shot with a new Berkley Science Labs finesse worm that’s coming out. It’s got a really slimy, special scent that’s very good.”
During the Knockout Round on Lake Waco, Evers caught the bulk of his fish on the 3/8-ounce Berkley swim jig and Berkley Slobberknocker vibrating jig, both in white.
“The fish started feeling the pressure, and I had to slow down and fish a drop-shot and use more finesse the second day,” he added.
3. Dustin Connell – 43-10 (10)
Alabama’s Dustin Connell improved each day of the event, starting the first day on Whitney in 33rd place before rallying to make the Knockout Round and switching lakes.
“The first day was an absolute letdown; I hardly caught anything,” Connell recalled. “I thought I could rely on my ActiveTarget but didn’t catch a lot and decided to start fresh the second day and fish a new area. I fished all new stuff and caught them on a shaky head with a CrushCity Janitor worm and some pitching a CrushCity Cleanup Craw, mostly for fish on the bed.”
After moving to Lake Waco, Connell had the big bass dialed better than anyone and caught the four biggest fish weighed the last two days – an 8-0 and 8-8 during the Knockout Round, then an 8-5 and 9-1 during the Championship Round.
“I figured out real quick that the bass were not up in the shallows very good, so I started looking for fish relating to stumps and wood out off of the bank,” he said. “They were really finicky, so I’m pretty sure they were spawning, but you had to throw your bait in there and let it sit and shake it a bunch to make them mad. I don’t know why they were spawning so deep, around 6 feet, in that muddy water, but it probably had something to do with the angle of the bank.”
He went with the same Janitor worm in green pumpkin on a Neko rig and fished it on a 7-1, medium 13 Fishing Myth rod with 18-pound Seaguar PEX8 braid with a leader of 15-pound Seaguar InvizX. Another bait that secured a giant was a CrushCity Bronco Bug in green pumpkin, fished with a 3/8-ounce VMC tungsten weight and a 4/O VMC RedLine flipping hook.
4. Spencer Shuffield – 31-3 (11)
Although both Lakes Whitney and Waco are healthy bass fisheries, Spencer Shuffield found the fish grouped in small areas. Once he found the right zones, he was able to catch them quickly in both lakes.
“On Whitney, it was like the bass aren’t everywhere – and then when you found them, you found them, and they were everywhere,” he said. “I had one quarter-mile stretch in the back of the creek with laydowns, and I caught most of my fish on a green pumpkin Z-Man FattyZ worm with a 1/8-ounce Ark Tungsten weight. I fished it on a 7-3, medium-heavy Ark Reinforcer rod, 8.1:1 Ark G8 Gravity reel, and 30-pound Yo-Zuri SuperBraid with a leader of 25-pound Yo-Zuri T7 fluorocarbon.”
When the tournament switched lakes, Shuffield used the same approach and pitched the FattyZ around, but he saved his forward-facing sonar for the last period to close out the day strong. When using his electronics, he relied on an urchin-style bait and a drop-shot with a Z-Man SMH WormZ in sprayed grass and a 1/8-ounce Ark Tungsten weight.
“I caught them throwing that worm on a 7-3, medium light Ark Reinforcer rod with 15-pound white Yo-Zuri SuperBraid with a 12-pound T7 fluorocarbon leader,” he added.
5. Drew Gill – 27-13 (14)
Drew Gill notched another Top 10 finish on Whitney and Waco. He approached both venues similarly even though they were very different fisheries. The same bait, a Big Bite Baits Nekorama in green pumpkin, produced at both lakes, and he rigged it several different ways.
“My whole game plan was to commit all my practice time to Whitney just to make it through, and I was fishing for suspended bass with a Neko rig and a little on a jerkbait, then I’d go fish for bed fish after I shut off my ‘Scope,” he said. “I would pitch that Nekorama on a Neko rig to fish I saw, but I’d also go down the bank with a search bait to get them to show themselves and come back later and catch them with the Neko.”
When he went to Waco, he used the same worm on a shaky head or drop-shot rig.
“I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when we came to Lake Waco, but since it was shallower and dirtier, I thought the fish would be further along in the spawn,” he said. “I went and looked for bed fish with ‘Scope in little pockets with clean banks. I caught them on chunk rock banks, pieces of timber and places where they would make a bed.”
6. Chris Lane – 23-12 (9)
Chris Lane had Lake Whitney figured out better than anyone else, winning the automatic berth into the Championship Round. At both lakes, he caught fish on several lures, but soft plastics were key.
“It was a simple game plan for me – a 7-inch red shad Bass Pro Shops ribbontail worm with a 1/8-ounce weight and 5/0 hook, pitching and casting to cover,” recapped Lane. “I also caught some on the Bass Pro Shops XPS Rattle Shad there at the end of the day on Whitney.”
In addition to the baits, Lane credited his Power-Pole VISION for helping him find fishing areas on the fly via Google Earth.
“I’ve never been to these lakes before, and to have it on the boat, it really dialed me in and helped me navigate these waters,” he shared.
7. Nick LeBrun – 22-4 (7)
The two lakes proved to be polar opposites for Louisiana’s Nick LeBrun, who caught them primarily with a finesse approach on Whitney and straight power on Waco.
“The main deal that punched my ticket to the Knockout Round was a strong forward-facing sonar period on Whitney the second day,” he said. “I was fishing a 3/16-ounce jighead with a 3-inch Yamamoto Scope Shad in Sexy Shad. I fished it on a 7-3, medium-light-plus TFO Resolve rod and used 16-pound Sunline SX1 braid with a 12-pound Sunline FC Sniper leader.”
After shifting to the dirtier Lake Waco, LeBrun stuck around the banks and pitched shallow wood.
“With that cold front, I had to slow way down and flip creature baits,” he said. “The main one was a Big Bite Baits YoMama in sapphire blue with a 3/8-ounce Elite Tungsten weight and 4/O FPP Hayabusa straight-shank hook.”
8. Mark Davis – 20-13 (8)
Fishing slowly as he often does, this event was all about soft plastics for veteran pro Mark Davis. He threw a 3.5-inch Yamamoto Nuki Bug in blue craw at both lakes but adjusted his rigging based on the fishery.
“I caught them all on a Carolina rig with a 1/2-ounce weight on Whitney in creeks around bass that were around a lot of baitfish,” he said. “On Waco, I never did find anything out besides one creek that had fish. I struggled the rest of the time. I caught them on the same bait, just on a Texas rig with a 3/8-ounce weight casting to shallow cover.”
9. Jesse Wiggins – 17-3 (6)
Even though Whitney and Waco had unique characteristics, Jesse Wiggins approached each in the same way. He mixed in several tactics, but a drop-shot rig for spawning bass worked best at both venues.
“It was really easy for me all week; I drop-shotted a little Jackall Flick Shake worm,” he said. “I used both the green pumpkin and cola colors and just went down the banks where I thought fish were spawning. Most of it was on 45-degree banks, and both lakes were set up the same way.”
He fished a standard 12-inch leader on his rig and mostly used a 3/16-ounce weight, though he had multiple setups with different lines.
“I had one with a 12-pound Seaguar Tatsu leader and another with a 15-pound and would pick one up depending on how thick the cover was,” he said.
10. Justin Lucas – 12-3 (6)
To get to the Knockout Round, Justin Lucas spent a lot of time bed fishing on Whitney and then mixed it up on Waco. While the lakes looked different, his bait was primarily the same.
“I caught most of my fish on a 4-inch Berkley Power Hawg in sprayed grass,” he said. “That’s my go-to bait for sight fishing. I did also catch some on a little 3-inch swimbait and a drop-shot, but it was mainly the Power Hawg.
“It was the same thing at both lakes, just different areas. On Whitney, I was looking for small spawning pockets with protected water, and on Waco, I caught most of them in a marina, and also caught some fish on a Berkley CullShad swimbait.”