By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Jon Canada often gets off to slow starts in MLF Pro Circuit events and the recent derby at Pickwick Lake out of Counce, Tenn. was no exception. But on that occasion, it didn't hinder his placement in the final standings.
The fourth-year pro from Helena, Ala. picked up his first tour-level with a 20-pound stringer on the final day. He held off Bass Pro Tour standout and former Bassmaster Elite Series Angler of the Year Justin Lucas by a little over a pound.
"It's been a lifelong dream to win one and it's kind of surreal after actually doing it," the 42-year-old said last week. "It's taking a while to sink in.
"Confidence and momentum in this sport are about 80 or 90 percent of the game and now I know I can do it against guys of this caliber."
Can't Stop Practicing
Canada said it's not nerves or jitters that lead to his frequent light bags on the first day of Pro Circuit events. His biggest issue is that he often continues to practice instead of going to places where he found fish.
"My buddies make fun of me and do things like text me hands clapping (icons) whenever I have a decent first day," he said. "A lot of times I'll keep practicing and then run over somewhere and catch a few just to get by. I've got to quit doing dumb stuff on the first day.
"My usual gameplan just fishing one day events around home is to go out and swing for the fences, but when I transfer to this, I'll find some good areas and then try to save them. If I get a bite in practice, I'll leave, then on the first day I'll have 30 places where I got one bite and I'll filter through them trying to figure out which ones I want to fish. Only having 2 days of practice (the standard on the Pro Circuit since last year), you don't really get to expand.
If you look back at my record," he continued, "about 90 percent of the time I get off to a slow start and then my weights get better each day."
He boxed only 12-13 on opening day at Pickwick and sat in 74th place. He catapulted all the way to 7th the following day with a 19-15 haul that was the biggest of the day, then made the final cut in 3rd with a 17-08 stringer on day 3.
Weights were zeroed for the final round and he trailed Lucas for most of the day. He made a move upriver late in the day and caught two quality fish to propel him to the top.
Dropping was the Deal
Canada isn't an avid user of a dropshot rig, but that technique accounted for all of his weigh-in fish over the final 2 days and three of the five he took to the scale on day 2. He'd spent the first day and a half power-fishing in shallow water.
The program that carried him to the win was fishing offshore stumps in 4 to 8 feet of water, and he mixed in a little bit of grass.
"The water (level) was coming down and I knew the shallow bite was going away," he said. "I've seen it lots of times on the Tennessee River – a place where you catch them one day can be sitting on dry land the next day."
He employed a shaky-head after initially moving away from the banks, but switched to a dropshot in order to cover more water. His first offering was a Reaction Innovations Flirt Worm (green pumpkin), but he eventually ran out of those and began throwing a straight-tail finesse worm (pink).
He used a size 1 Owner Cover Shot hook, a 1/4-ounce tungsten weight and 10-pound P-Line braid with an 8-pound P-Line fluorocarbon leader.
The win moved him up to 13th place in the points standings with half of the season remaining. The second half gets under way with this week's tournament at Lake Guntersville.
