Sprague, Neal Make Most of High-Water Opportunities in Elimination Round 1

Michael Neal utilized a drop-shot rig to catch all but one fish during Elimination Round 1 of the 2020 Challenge Cup. Photo by Josh Gassmann

January 7, 2020 • Tyler Brinks • Cup Events

MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. – When the 30 anglers arrived for the 2020 Lucas Oil Challenge Cup Presented by B&W Trailer Hitches in Mountain Home, Arkansas, most of the field had a history on the surrounding lakes and an idea on how they were going to attack it.

Jeff Sprague was an exception, as he had never fished Bull Shoals Lake, the site of Elimination Round 1. Still, he quickly dialed in a pattern and dominated the round with 18 bass for 38 pounds, 8 ounces.

When the field launched, they found the water to be extremely high and exceptionally clear. This gave Sprague a hint and helped him formulate his plan.

“I had never seen Bull Shoals, but I have plenty of experience with rising and falling water,” Sprague said. “When I first saw all of the vegetation and sawdust mats, I thought flipping would be the deal. But I ended up catching all of my fish on topwater baits because the fish stayed shallow and actively feeding all day long.”

Sprague Figures It Out

When the day started, Sprague found schooling fish and tried to capitalize on the morning bite, but he realized that the topwater bite wasn’t going away.

“Once the shade went away, they kept eating it, and that was because the fish were in ‘wolf packs’ feeding in shallow water,” he said. “They were around bream beds, isolated cover and rocks.”

Since Bull Shoals has many steep banks, Sprague said finding the right areas was a challenge, but when he found them, he could catch multiple fish in one location.

“The key was to find tapered banks with cleaner water,” Sprague observed. “You would find a point that wasn’t as steep as everything else and catch two or three fish from the same area,” he shared and said that his fish came from water 6 feet and shallower.

Sprague said two lures accounted for all of his bass during the round: a Strike King KVD Toad Buzz, and the toad fished solo on a weighted hook. Both of them were black.

He fished them on a 7-foot medium-heavy Lew’s Custom Speed Stick Lite rod paired with a 7.5:1 Team Lew’s Pro-Ti SLP Speed Spool baitcast reel. He opted for 20-pound Strike King Tour Grade Fluorocarbon for the buzzbait and 65-pound Tour Grade Braid for the toad fished on a weighted hook.

Jeff Sprague relied on topwater baits during Elimination Round 1. Photo by Josh Gassmann

Neal Fishes the “Old Bank”

With the water being approximately 20 feet higher than usual, Michael Neal started the day by shallow running the bank in the newly flooded vegetation with a buzzbait before backing off to deeper water.

Neal and the rest of the field had just left Table Rock for Stage Six of 2019 Bass Pro Tour, and that clued him into what he should be doing.

“I was targeting rock and bluffs, and once I figured out that the fish were in 20 feet of water, it all came together,” Neal said. “It makes sense that they were there because the high water created a new path for the fish to travel along the old bank where the shoreline usually is.

“The bushes that were on the bank were now in 20 feet of water, and I would pitch my drop-shot to anything I could see on my electronics.”

All but one of Neal’s fish came on a drop-shot rig with a 6-inch Green Pumpkin Big Bite Baits Finesse Worm rigged with a 1/4-ounce weight and a 2/O Gamakatsu G-Finesse Worm Light Hook w/ Tin Keeper.

He fished his drop-shot on a 7-foot medium Denali N3 rod with a 2500 size Daiwa Tatula LT. He spooled his reel with a 10-pound Sunline SX1 Braid with a 7-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon leader.