Heritage Cup Elimination Round 3 Patterns and Gear

Todd Faircloth found success using a drop-shot to target smallmouth. Photo by Garrick Dixon

March 4, 2020 • Tyler Brinks • Cup Events

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Elimination Round 3 of the Bass Pro Shops Heritage Cup Presented by Berkley was again held on Henderson Bay on Lake Ontario. Just like the groups before them, 10 anglers set out on the big water with hopes of advancing.

It was a smallmouth beat down lead by Texas pro Todd Faircloth, who outpaced the rest of the field by over 20 pounds. He caught them early and often and had several trophy smallmouths in his total of 21 bass for 65-02.

Faircloth Clobbers ‘Em

Todd Faircloth had never been to this area of Lake Ontario, but he immediately had a plan when they launched their boats.

“With Great Lakes, you immediately have to think smallmouth. Even though there are good populations of largemouth, smallmouth are more plentiful and give you the best chance to win,” he said.

Due to the time of year, he knew he wanted to get as close to the big lake as possible.

“In my experience, the smallmouth generally want to be as close to deep water as they can during the summer months, so I ran to the furthest part of our boundary and started looking,” Faircloth recalled. “I found two points with rock, grass, and sand, which are all of the best elements you need for smallmouth bass.”

He caught a few bass on a Strike King KVD Jerkbait in the Chrome Ayu color, but a drop-shot rig was easily his best producer.

He fished a Strike King Dream Shot in the Magic color on a 2/O Gamakatsu G-Finesse Worm Light Hook w/ Tin Keeper and utilized a 1/4-ounce Strike King Tour Grade Tungsten Drop Shot Weight.

His rod of choice was a 7-4 Denali spinning rod paired with a spinning reel spooled with 10-pound Sunline SX1 braid and a 6-pound Sunline FC Sniper fluorocarbon leader.

Part of his catch was a 6-4 smallmouth, as well as others over five pounds. When asked about this, he said it had to do with his area. “Part of landing on bigger fish with no practice is the ‘luck factor,’ but I feel that picking that area close to deeper water helped me catch better than average fish,” he explained.

Aaron Martens utilized a drop-shot on Henderson Bay. Photo by Garrick Dixon

Martens Qualifies in Second

With no practice period for Cup events, Aaron Martens knew he would have to begin the day covering water until he located fish before he could slow down and fish more thoroughly.

“I started shallow, just to locate some fish, and a swimbait is one of the best ways to get a feel of what the fish are doing,” he said and added that he fished quickly with a 1/2-ounce jighead and 6-inch Keitech Easy Shiner.

The swimbait accounted for some fish, but the drop-shot was responsible for the majority of them for Martens. He utilized a variety of Roboworm plastics, including the FX Sculpin and 4.5-inch straight tail worm. Martens rigged it on a Size 1 hook and used a 3/8-ounce tungsten weight.

He fished the drop-shot on a 7-foot medium spinning rod paired with a 2500-sized Shimano Stella that he spooled with 10-pound Sunline SX1 braid with a leader of 8-pound Sunline FC Sniper fluorocarbon.

“With smallmouth, you always want to find groups of fish, so I was constantly watching my graphs and moving my boat around pretty fast until I saw them,” Martens added.