For this Elite Series season, for about half the events, chosen preseason by random drawing, no forward facing sonar may be used. Tenn-Tom was one of those. Add a dirty, cover-laden river system with volatile conditions, and the situation dictated working trees, stumps and weeds with spinnerbaits, swim jigs, frogs and flipping baits. And old-school fish finding and patterning.
I should note up front that I am not an FFS hater. I’ve done a bit of it, mostly for crappie, and think it’s a lot of fun. And I’m not one who thinks it’s cheating and should be disallowed in every tournament. Success doesn’t require less skill. It’s just a different skill set. And I enjoy watching pros who understand what they are looking at read the fish’s mood and figure out how to catch the biggest ones.
That said, watching top pros make decisions about similar looking backwaters, strategize long runs vs extra fishing time, adjust for changing conditions and meticulously pick apart mostly-visible cover in dirty water was just plain fun.
Jason Christie is one of the most intuitive fish patterners on tour. He quickly figures out which cover to go right past and which to hit and the ideal angle and presentation for every piece of cover. He’s also a master with a spinnerbait and supremely confident when he’s throwing a BOOYAH Covert Spinnerbait (a series he designed).
Winning last weekend took more than cast and retrieve execution, though. Decisions about locations and adjustments were paramount, and Christie made several key decisions that helped him finish on top.
Interestingly, Christie commented some point that the Tenn-Tom felt familiar because it looked just like the Oklahoma section of the Arkansas River, which is about 20 miles from where Christie lives and where he largely honed his spinnerbait skills. Guess where the Elite Series is headed next!
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