Mother Nature didn't do Brett Hite any favors on day 1 of the Bassmaster Classic at Lake Conroe, and he didn't help himself much, either.
Hite brought a three-fish stringer that weighed just 8-11 to the stage at Minute Maid Park during the opening round, which put him in 36th place in the 52-angler field. He lost two quality bites that day, and by the time he got to his primary area, the wind was blowing too hard for him to fish it effectively.
The picture brightened considerably when the wind eased up on day 2 and he capitalized on his best opportunities. He came in nearly 10 pounds heavier to make the cut in 18th place and then moved up another 10 spots with a 16-06 stringer on the final day to register a single-digit finish – his second in five Classic appearances.
Like numerous other high finishers, he fished shallow water on the north end of the lake. But instead of targeting stands of emergent vegetation like runner-up Steve Kennedy and 3rd-place Brent Ehrler, he focused on sparse stick-ups that were scattered around the area.
He pitched a Yamamoto Senko, either weightless or with a 1/8-ounce weight (depending on wind) on day 1. All of his fish on days 2 and 3 were enticed by the new Z-Man/Evergreen Jackhammer ChatterBait (3/8-ounce in green shad) with a Yamamoto Zako trailer.
He threw the Jackhammer on 20-pound Sunline FC Sniper fluorocarbon line that ran through the guides of an Evergreen USA Jackhammer rod.
"It was a place I found in practice," he said. "There were other guys in there (during the tournament), but nobody on the exact stretches I wanted to fish. I was just roaming around in two or three different areas.
"I was a little bummed after the first day, but the thing I had to remember was that it was Conroe and there was the possibility of catching a really big bag. I was lucky enough that I'd found a place where I could make it up."
The Sunline Strong Performer, which focuses on the angler who makes a significant upward move in the standings at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great people at Sunline.
