HOT SPRINGS, Arkansas – It seemed like nothing more than a thinking-out-loud observation from Challenge Select pro Brandon Palaniuk as anglers left the ramp for Period 2 in this week’s episode of the 2018 Geico Challenge Select in Hot Springs, Arkansas, but it turned out to be the biggest difference-maker of Elimination Round 2.
“Where does Wesley think he’s going?” Palaniuk wondered as he watched Wesley Strader veer left after the first period break and motor toward the first major point adjacent to the day’s launch on the West Fork Ouachita River.
That quick left and Strader’s decision to fish isolated pieces of buck brush and willow near the ramp proved to be the most important decision the Tennessee pro made all day.
Anchored by a chunky 4-pound, 10-ounce largemouth that he caught in the first 40 minutes of the period, Strader added nearly 13 pounds to his SCORETRACKER total in Period 2 to take the lead over Todd Faircloth, and then weathered a last-minute charge by Palaniuk late in Period 3 to finish the day in first place, with 19-15 to Palaniuk’s 19-13.
“Anytime it’s flooded like it was on Ouachita, you don’t want to fight your way back through the jungle just to get to the bank to make your casts,” Strader said of the week’s high-water conditions. “You want to locate areas with more isolated bushes. It’s really hard to fish effectively when you’re fighting through a jungle, and it turned out that the best-looking area was right near the ramp. It was open, it didn’t have many trees in the water, and it had 20 or 30 feet between the buck bushes.”
Strader’s key baits
Strader targeted docks and buoys in a marina all of Period 1, fishing a 3/8-ounce white/chartreuse Zorro Bait Co. Wesley Strader Signature Series Bango Blade spinnerbait with a pearl white Zoom Split Tail Trailer, and a 3/8-ounce bladed jig with a pearl white Zoom Speed Craw trailer.
Once he made the move to the buck brush for Periods 2 and 3, he relied almost exclusively on a prototype ½-ounce W.’s Bango Flippin’ Jig with a green pumpkin Zoom Super Chunk trailer, fished on 20-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon spooled on a Team Lew’s Pro Magnesium Speed Spool in 6.8:1.
He also caught two scorable fish in Period 3 on a Zoom Z-Hog creature bait in California 420 (black/red-flake body, green-pumpkin/red-flake tail), fished on a 4/0 Trokar TK130 Flippin’ Hook and 3/8-ounce Reins tungsten TG Slip Sinker.
“Anytime the water is in the bushes, the fish are going to be up there in the bushes, and flipping is just the typical thing to do,” Strader said. “I knew it was post-spawn, and just from years of experience fishing Ouachita, I knew that it was going to be a real funky bite, just because of the time of year. Fish just don’t bite as well post-spawn, so soft plastics and a jig are good things to fish because you can be real methodical about where you put it.”
Strader no stranger to Ouachita
Although he had never fished the West Fork Ouachita River in the late spring before, Strader is no stranger to Lake Ouachita: he earned an FLW Tour victory here in 2002 and competed in two Forrest Wood Cups here (in 2011 and 2015).
“I’ve fished it maybe eight times total before this week,” Strader said. “I guess that just helps you understand what the lake has to offer. I’ve been there when it’s flooded, I’ve been there when it’s low, I just have a little sense about how it fishes.”