When noon found him without a keeper, Matthew Robertson of Kuttawa, Ky., made a bold decision that propelled him to victory at the Cherokee Lake Bassmaster Eastern Open with a three-day total of 40-12.
Entering the final rouind with a mere 3-ounce lead over Denny Fiedler of Wabasha, Minn., Robertson added a five-bass limit of 12-04 to his first two days’ limits of 14-08 and 14-00. He won by a margin of 1-10 and earned a top prize of $35,000. Robertson also won the $500 Garmin Tournament Rewards prize.
He also earned an automatic berth into the 2021 Bassmaster Classic, which is scheduled for March on Lake Ray Roberts in Texas.
“I’m usually out on the water saying, ‘Maybe I should go here, maybe I should go there,’ but the past 2 weeks I’ve just had more faith in myself and I’ve just been rolling with it,” Robertson said. “I’m not second-guessing anything; I’m fishing more deliberately.”
Fresh off a 2nd-place finish at the Central Open on Neely Henry Lake, Robertson had spent his first 2 days working a small stretch of boulder-laden bottom in 20 feet of water. Intercepting packs of smallmouth bass ravaging bait schools, he caught his fish on a Ned rig and a Neko rig.
With post-frontal conditions bringing bright skies and high pressure, day 3 found the spot unproductive. Robertson said this prompted him to completely scrap his game plan and switch to something that was right in his wheelhouse.
“I told myself, ‘I’m going to stay there until noon and see what I have,’” he said. “All I caught was a striped bass, so I pulled the plug. I was so comfortable with that decision, it was no big deal.
“I pulled into a little pocket close to my deep spot and caught one on a topwater. I figured out what the pattern was and I went to war with it.”
Robertson said he found his best opportunities in pockets with docks, deeper cuts and flat points with scattered rock. Most of the bass he saw were hunting bait in small feeding groups known as “wolf packs.”
He caught his fish on a Strike King Sexy Dawg topwater in the sexy shad color. His co-angler, Jon Jezierski, gave him the bait, which had recently been given to him by Japanese pro Kenta Kimura.
“Kenta had modified the Sexy Dawg by replacing the stock hooks with (a Japanese brand of) round-bend treble hooks,” Robertson said. “He also added SuspenDots (adhesive lead dots) to the belly of the bait to make it sit lower in the water.
“That made the bait more castable. Also, instead of those fish popping the bait out of the water, they’d pull it down.”
The win, Robertson said, was particularly meaningful given his recent setbacks. While practicing for the Central Open on Sam Rayburn Reservoir (mid-September), his entire collection of fishing tackle and other gear was stolen from his truck.
“I’m pretty emotional right now,” he said. “I’ve been through the mud just to be here.”
Local stick Josh Roark of Bean Station, Tenn., finished 2nd with 39-02. After placing 10th on day 1 with 11-13, he added 15-02 – the tournament’s second-largest bag – on day 2 and rose to 3rd. He gained one spot Saturday with a final-round limit of 12-03.
“I did the same thing I’ve been doing all week; you just had to slow down and grind through them,” Roark said. “I was targeting isolated or scattered boulders. Most of my fish were in 30 to 40 feet deep.
“The majority of my fish came on a 2.8 Keitech swimbait on a homemade 3/8-ounce ball-head jig with a screw lock. I also caught a couple of fish on a Heddon Super Spook and a few fish on a dropshot with a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm.”
Day-1 leader Joshua Stracner finished 3rd with 38-15. His daily weights were 14-12, 10-14 and 13-05. He caught his bass on a crankbait, a Damiki rig, a tube and a dropshot with a 4 1/2-inch Reaction Innovations Pocket Rocket.
“I had a really slow start; I only had two or three little fish at 10 o’clock,” Stracner said. “I caught one 3-pounder in the middle of the day.
“I’d been fishing 30 to 40 feet deep for smallmouth and I’d been saving a shallow place for today. I’d been catching some largemouth on that spot. I went to it today and caught two or three and gave myself a shot.”
Here are the final totals for the Top 12:
1. Matthew Robertson: 40-12
2. Josh Roark: 39-02
3. Joshua Stracner: 38-15
4. Bill Humbard: 33-08
5. Andy Hribar: 32-15
6. John Hunter Jr.: 32-10
7. Spencer Peters: 31-01
8. Timmy Thompkins: 30-03
9. Denny Fiedler: 28-05
10. Patrick Walters: 27-15
11. Jeremy Gordon: 237-09
12. Marc Frazier: 25-01
