Montgomery Simplifies, Sprague Sticks to What Brought Him to Advance to Sudden Death
MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. – After the three Elimination Rounds of the 2020 Lucas Oil Challenge Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches concluded, Sudden Death Round 1 was next up. The nine anglers in the field found Bull Shoals Lake to still be quite high and were given a SIG SAUER Target Weight of 25 pounds.
The first to hit this Target Weight was Andy Montgomery, who did what he always does during high water conditions: went as far back into the creeks as he could.
Following Montgomery was Jeff Sprague, who was the second angler to reach the day’s target number.
Montgomery Simplifies Approach
When faced with extremely high water, Montgomery likes to get as shallow as he can. When the water is over 20 feet high, for him, that means moving into the backs of creeks to newly underwater terrain.
“I’m looking for the least flooded areas if that makes sense, and I ran way up the creek to get to the bank,” said Montgomery, who opted for this route instead of the main lake that features many steep banks and bluff walls. “It makes things less complicated for me to get to the bank as far up the creeks as I can go.”
When Montgomery made it to the back, he targeted depths of 4 feet and less and caught fish on a buzzbait and plopping topwater, and by flipping a creature bait. He focused on green bushes that are usually high and dry, and also caught key fish by flipping undercut banks in 2 feet of water.
For all three of these approaches, Montgomery utilized the same rod and reel: an 8.3:1 Team Lew’s HyperMag reel with a 7-foot-3 medium-heavy Lew’s Team Custom Pro rod.
His buzzbait was a homemade version that he fished without a skirt, instead adding a white buzzing toad. He fished it on 20-pound Strike King Tour Grade Fluorocarbon line.
The topwater of the day was a River2Sea Whopper Plopper 130 in the Bone color that he fished with 50-pound Strike King Tour Grade braided line.
When flipping and pitching to undercut banks, he relied on a green pumpkin Strike King Game Hawg with a 3/0 straight-shank flipping hook and a 3/8-ounce Strike King Tour Grade Tungsten weight. He opted for 20-pound fluorocarbon for this setup.
Sprague Second to 25
Sprague continued his hot streak and was the second angler to advance. He dominated Elimination Round 1 but was anxious going into the Sudden Death Round.
“I was a little nervous going into the day because of the length between rounds and if the pattern would hold up,” Sprague admitted. “When we started the day, it seemed like the water had not risen anymore and had crested. When the water stops rising like that, the bass normally are not as aggressive.”
He started the day with the same combo that got him this far at Bull Shoals: a Strike King KVD Toad Buzz, and a solo toad, which helped him catch several bass. But another bait was what sealed his advancement.
“Once it got cloudy, the fishing up shallow slowed down, and I had to make some adjustments,” Sprague said. “I switched to a Strike King Thunder Cricket and immediately caught one at the end of Period 2.”
Sprague resumed this approach in the final period and was able to reach the Target Weight.
He was fishing submerged bushes and making contact with them to trigger bites.
“They had to be green bushes with some water on top of them, and I would try to smack the bait into them during the retrieve to get a reaction,” Sprague added.
Sprague fished a 3/8-ounce Green Pumpkin Thunder Cricket with a matching Strike King Blade Minnow as the trailer to imitate bluegill. His rod of choice was a 7-6 medium-heavy Lew’s Custom Speed Stick “Magnum Trap” rod that he paired with a 7.5:1 Lew’s HyperMag reel spooled with 15-pound fluorocarbon line.
The 2020 Challenge Cup continues on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. ET with Sudden Death Round 2 on Outdoor Channel.