Top 10 Baits from the Harris Chain
LEESBURG, Fla. – Jonathan Semento’s momentous rally from Lake Griffin to win the Toyota Series Presented by A.R.E. Southern Division event on the Harris Chain was a huge surprise. What wasn’t much of a surprise, however, were the baits used by the Top 10 as a whole. The usual lure suspects of Florida fishing included ChatterBaits, soft plastic stick worms, hollow-bodied frogs, prop topwaters and creature baits.
Here is a closer look at the baits used by the Top 10.
1. Semento fished Lake Griffin with a pair of Z-Man/Evergreen ChatterBait Jack Hammers: one was a 3/8-ounce golden shiner model for shallower 4-foot clumps of grass and the other was a 1/2-ounce chartreuse and white model for deeper clumps in 6 feet. He trailed both with Yamamoto Zako trailers in matching colors to the ChatterBaits. He fished both on 15-pound-test P-Line.
2. Andrew Ready leaned heavily on a SPRO Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog 60 in various colors tied to 50-pound braided line. He also caught fish from offshore eelgrass with a ½-ounce War Eagle double willow spinnerbait tied to 17-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon. Several keepers also came on a Texas-rigged soft plastic stick worm.
3. Flint Davis flipped two different soft plastics to eelgrass. One was a Z-Man ZinkerZ flipped on 20-pound-test fluorocarbon with a 3/8-ounce weight; the other was a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Creature Hawg with 1-ounce weight tied to 65-pound-test Sunline braid. He caught a couple of weigh fish on a Z-Man SlingBladeZ spinnerbait tied to 16-pound-test Sunline fluorocarbon as well.
4. Austin Baskette’s primary weapon was a black SPRO Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog 60 tied to 65-pound-test Fitzgerald Vursa braid and fished on a 13 Fishing Omen Black 3 heavy action rod with a 13 Fishing reel. His counterpunch was a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent General (green pumpkin) fished wacky rigged on an Omen Black spinning rod with a 13 Fishing spinning reel.
5. Kennie Steverson did his work with a 13 Fishing Dual Pitch Pencil 94 walking bait tied to 65-pound-test PowerPro on a Fitzgerald Fishing Bryan Schmitt swim jig rod. He also fished a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent General on a Fitzgerald Stunner HD rod.
6. Eric Conant stayed true to a SPRO Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog 60 (green tree) tied to 65-pound-test braided line and mixed in a Gambler Fat Ace topped with a 3/8-ounce weight.
7. Mike Surman preferred two tools for the week: casting a Yo-Zuri Rattl’n Vibe Lipless Crankbait (blue chrome) thrown on 15-pound-test Yo-Zuri T-7 Premium fluorocarbon and pitching a Gambler Fat Ace on 20-pound-test T-7 fluorocarbon.
8. Dustin Smith committed to just one lure: a Rapala X-Rap Prop thrown on 30-pound Fitzgerald Vursa braid with a 20-pound-test mono leader.
9. A Gambler Slim EZ and Fat Ace were the tickets for Val Osinski. He pitched the Fat Ace on either a 1/4-ounce or 3/8-ounce weight, depending on the cover, and tied it to 20-pound-test fluorocarbon.
10. Ben McCann covered water in Griffin with a swim jig paired with a Zoom Z Craw Jr. tied to 50-pound-test Seaguar Smackdown braid on a Powell Diesel 734 with a Daiwa Tatula Elite reel. But he did his real damage with giant worms. A YUM Mighty Worm and 10-inch Strike King Bullworm fished weightless with big 6/0 and 7/0 EWG hooks did the trick. He tied those to 20-pound-test Seaguar Red Label fluorocarbon and threw them on a Powell Endurance rod with a Daiwa Tatula SV TWS reel. He also mixed in a 6.5-inch Missile Baits Quiver Worm, too.