By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Ott DeFoe caught only four scorable fish in the Championship Round en route to winning the recent MLF Heavy Hitters event at Lake Palestine in Texas. Two of them came in the final 45 minutes, allowing him to eclipse runner-up Justin Lucas by 12 ounces with a 16-06 total.
The victory was DeFoe's third on the Bass Pro Tour in a span of 18 months. He hopes it'll be a turning point in a 2022 season that previously hadn't been up to his lofty standards.
He never failed to advance to the Knockout Round in nine 2021 tournaments. Already on two occasions this year (including the REDCREST Championship), he's bowed out after the Qualifying Round.
He's 23rd on this year's points list after battling Jacob Wheeler tooth-and-nail for the Angler of the Year title last year, which Wheeler eventually won.
"I wasn't real happy with what I've done so far this year," said the 36-year-old Tennessean, who had just one finish higher than 27th in his first four outings this year. "Hopefully this will get me headed back in the right direction."
Tough Day, Good Ending
The 10 anglers who competed on the final day at Palestine combined to catch just 24 scorable bass over the three 2 1/2-hour periods. The minimum weight being raised to 3 pounds for the Championship Round was a big factor (it had been 2 pounds in the Qualifying and Knockout Rounds), as was the constantly changing weather conditions on fish that were actively spawning, on the verge of undertaking the reproduction ritual or had recently come out of it.
All four that DeFoe caught were bed-fish that he was looking at before they bit. The biggest one, a 5-pounder, he hadn't seen prior to pitching his worm, but he spied it shortly after the bait hit the water and watched it move in for the grab.
He had only two fish on the ScoreTracker when the last hour of the final period dawned. He caught a 4-10 and a 3-10 in short order to move to the top of the standings, where he remained until time had expired.
He caught those fish in Saline Creek, where he'd begin the day without any success. It was where he'd spent both days of his Qualifying Round on his way to winning it and gaining an automatic berth in the finals. That creek was also the location of the two giants that Alton Jones Jr. corraled to capture big-fish honors in the Knockout and Championship rounds, which were worth a combined $150,000.
"The biggest thing for me was that late decision to go back where I'd started," DeFoe said. "I'd told my boat official that if I could just catch what was living there, I could blow this tournament away."
Gear Notes
DeFoe's primary bait for the week was a Texas-rigged Bass Pro Magnum Fin-Eke Worm in the Sooner run color. His setup included a 7'1" Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris Platinum rod, a Platinum casting reel (8.3:1 gear ratio), 40-pound braided line with a 17-pound Bass Pro Shops XPS fluorocarbon leader (about 4 feet), a 3/16-ounce weight and a 3/0 VMC Heavy Duty Worm Hook.
He also used a 4 1/2-inch swimbait attached to a VMC Tokyo Rig with a 3/8-ounce weight. His rod for that was a 7'3" heavy-action Johnny Morris CarbonLite, and the reel a CarbonLite 2.0 (8.3:1 ratio). He went with the same 40-pound braid and a 20-pound XPS fluorocarbon leader.
He frequently used the swimbait to get the bed-fish aggravated, then he'd catch them on the Texas rig.
He found one bed that had a 2-12 male, which he caught, along with a female in the 7- to 8-pound class. He spent about 45 minutes trying to get the female to bite before deciding that the effort was futile.
"About 30 minutes in, I could tell that she wasn't going to (commit). As soon as I'd put the bait in there, she'd ease off the bed. She wasn't going to play the game."
He looked at approximately half of the fish he caught in the Qualifying Round and caught the others blind-casting. He caught two on the first day that were taking advantage of the shad spawn.
