Indiana's Koby Kreiger has fished well again this year. And though he didn't necessarily have his best season, in some ways it was his most productive.
He ended up one place out of the FLW Championship (49th in the points), but had one Top 10 and one Top 20 on the tour. He fished two Eastern EverStarts and got two Top 20s, and had two Top 10s in the only two Central EverStarts he fished.
This fall, he ended up 9th in the points in the Northern Division EverStarts, won the BASSMASTER Northern Open on the St. Lawrence River/Lake Erie and finished at the top of the Northern Open points, earning himself a trip to the BASSMASTERS Classic and a slot on the 2003 BASSMASTER Tour, which he will fish for the first time.
Some anglers would kill to have a year like that, and since Kreiger finished up particularly strong, BassFan.com asked him whether he'd done anything differently this season.
New Bait, Same Places
"The biggest thing this year as far as a different way of fishing was Craig (Powers, Kreiger's running buddy and a crankbait expert) getting me to start throwing some of these homemade crankbaits, to be honest with you," Kreiger says.
"When I look back over the year, I caught a lot of fish on these homemade plugs that a year ago I wouldn't have. Even if it's just a fish or two a tournament, that makes a big difference.
"I'm fishing it in places I normally fish, it's just a different technique," he says. "Instead of flipping a jig or a Brush Hog, I'll go down the bank and throw one of the homemade cranks and catch a fish or two I normally didn't catch before, sometimes behind people.
"I fish pretty much every tournament with some type of homemade plug tied on. If I make 10-20 casts a day with it and catch 1-2 more fish on it, that's a big thing, especially in really tough tournaments.
"Like at the Potomac River (Northern Open). I caught them pretty good on a Zoom Tab-Tail worm, but I caught 1-2 each day on that homemade plug. Every day I had at least one decent fish on it. I'm talking about 3 1/2-4 pounders, and that makes a big difference."
More Versatile
"Basically it's just being more versatile," Kreiger says. "I try not to get zeroed in one thing -- meaning if I'm catching a fish pitching a jig or with a spinnerbait, I won't think that's the only thing they're biting on that bank.
"If they're biting one thing on a bank, that's not the only thing they'll be biting. But a lot of people fish that way."
Bait/Tackle Specs
> Bait -- The baits Powers turned Kreiger on to are Flat-Shad crankbaits made by Sonny McFarland of Lenoir City, Tenn. Call 865-986-1017 for more information or click here to go to www.flatshad.com. Kreiger throws Flat-Shads that run from 1-4 feet, and fishes them in 6 feet or less of water. He fishes the crankbaits year-round.
> His tackle: 6 1/2-foot Castaway spinning rod (medium) and 8-10 pound McCoy Mean Green line.

The "homemade" crankbait used by Kreiger and Powers is the Flat-Shad (pictured) made by Sonny McFarland of Lenoir City, Tenn.