By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Bobby Lane calls them "little buddies." They're the green or brown buds that show up on shoreline trees early in the springtime in preparation for the annual bloom. When they extend all the way to the tops of the trees, they usher in one of his favorite times of the year.
He found that scenario at Oklahoma's Grand Lake during practice for the recent REDCREST Championship and he was quite happy about it.
"It usually means there's been some warm weather and it's a good time for shallow cranking," he said. "And the one bait to shallow-crank with in cold water is the (Berkley) Frittside 5.
"I didn't have to worry about getting my butt kicked on the offshore stuff," the 48-year-old Floridian continued. "I had a chance up shallow."
Indeed he did, and he capitalized on it. He won the MLF Bass Pro Tour's premier event with a 10-fish, 29-14 total in the Championship Round. He caught the last of those fish – the one that gave him the victory – with less than four minutes remaining and it had to be weighed the maximum three times to meet the 2-pound minimum requirement for scorability.
"I'm humbled and honored to be the REDCREST champion," he said. "What an amazing ride it's been to get here, but it finally happened. I just have to thank all of my sponsors for their support over the years.
"This year hadn't been going as planned (he's 59th on the BPT points list), but now I can throw all that out the window. I'm already qualified to defend my title in that event next year and I'll fish the rest of this year with all the confidence in the world because I know I can win."
One Creek Stood Out
Lane pulled his fish from the backs of creeks, usually from the last rocky cover available before the pocket terminated. He visited quite a few over the first several days of the derby, but eventually recognized that Drowning Creek, on the lower end of the lake, was where he needed to spend the majority of his time.
The water level was on the rise for most of the tournament due to substantial rain in the region just before it got under way, but he thinks that a spring at the back of Drowning Creek kept the water there from taking on the chocolate milk-like color that negatively impacted a lot of other places.
The prespawn fish he cranked up were in 2 to 7 feet of water. He caught a few with a flipping stick on the final day that were in 18 inches or so.
"I knew there was a possibility of having a 20-pound period in Drowning Creek if I could figure them out," he said. "By the last day, anything that had been dry in practice suddenly had water. The level had stabilized and was actually starting to fall a little and it was warm enough for the fish to move into those kind of places.
He pitched to a variety of targets that included several types of trees, along with docks.
"If they were in 1 1/2 to 2 feet of water, my confidence was through the roof," he said.
It's All in the Bill
Lane closed the deal with the flipping stick and a 1/2-ounce jig with a Berkley PowerBait Meaty Chunk trailer, but it was the crankbait that did his heavy lifting through the tournament. He firmly believes that no other offering could've produced to the level that the Frittside did.
"That bill is so thin and flat and it produces the best tight wobble I've ever seen in my life," he said. "It has the weight system built underneath and you can throw it into the wind or in any conditions and that's unheard of in a flat-sided crankbait.
"The jig did the damage in the last hour, but I'd have never gotten there without the Frittside. For the final day I had three rods on my deck with the Frittside 5 in HD brown craw tied on and all the rest of my rods were just decoys."
He didn't have to share his areas with any fellow competitors. Scott Suggs, Stephen Browning and Michael Neal fished in Drowning Creek at various times during the tournament, but they stayed closer to the mouth whereas Lane was back as far as he could go.
Gear Notes
> Cranking gear – 7'6" medium-heavy Abu Garcia Veritas PLX or 7'6" medium-heavy Abu Garcia Winch rod, Abu Garcia Zenon X or Abu Garcia Revo MGX casting reel (6.8:1 ratio), 12-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon line, Berkley Frittside 5 (HD brown craw).
> Flipping gear – 7' medium-heavy Abu Garcia Fantasista X rod, Abu Garcia Revo AL-F, Revo MGS or Zenon casting reel (8:1 ratio), 15-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon, unnamed 1/2-ounce jig (green pumpkin/orange), Berkley PowerBait Meaty Chunk trailer (green pumpkin).
Notable
> Lane said that one of the biggest thrills of his victory was stepping out of the limousine at the Sagenet Center in Tulsa following a police-escorted trip from the lake for the Top 10 on the final day. "Coming out and seeing 20 cameras pointing at me was awesome," he said. "I guess I was 'the man.' I truly felt like a rock star."
