Top 10 Baits from Sam Rayburn Reservoir
Combination of moving baits and flipping tactics prevailed
1. Ricky Guy caught his fish on a 1/2-ounce 6th Sense Snatch lipless crankbait and a black/blue Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver Texas-rigged on a 3/0 hook with either a 3/16- or 1/2-ounce weight.
2. Flipping a black/blue Yamamoto Flappin’ Hog with 5/16-ounce weight and a 1/2-ounce jig with a black/blue Zoom Super Chunk trailer was the plan for Lendell Martin Jr.
3. Third-place pro Cory Rambo fished a green pumpkin Big Bite Baits lizard on a Carolina rig and backed it up with a 3/4-ounce Missile Baits football head jig and a green pumpkin Big Bite craw. He also worked a 6th Sense Snatch lipless crankbait (Rambo Red color) into his days.
4. Kris Wilson, who nabbed the tournament’s heaviest sack — 27-10 — on day one, caught about 95 percent of his fish on a Carolina-rigged Big Bite lizard. His other fish came on a 1/2-ounce football jig with a craw worm trailer.
5. Walmart FLW Tour pro Chris McCall caught fish on a 1/2-ounce Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap in the Bleeding Shad color, a 7/16-ounce Santone swim jig with a white Gambler Burner Craw and a chartreuse/blue Strike King 6XD crankbait.
6. Joel Baker cranked a Rapala DT16 crankbait and pitched a Reactions Innovations Sweet Beaver with a 1-ounce weight. He occasionally subbed a Zoom Lizard with its tail dipped in chartreuse.
7. James Caldemeyer relied heavily on a peanut butter and jelly Santone swim jig for prespawners. He fished a 5/8-ounce jig when the wind was calm and a 3/4-ounce jig during breezier times.
8. Russell Cecil split his time between a Big Bite Baits Swimming Mama (Confusion colored) and a Carolina rig sporting a Big Bite Baits finesse worm.
9. Brandon Mosley stuck with flipping all week and caught the majority of his fish on a Texas-rigged Net Baits Paca Craw with 5/16- and 3/8-ounce weights, depending on depth.
10. Kyle Cortiana has no punching opportunities in his home state of Oklahoma, but he enjoyed driving a Gene Larew Punch Out Craw through Rayburn’s shallow cover.
Follow FLW