The News
Rackattack breaks out with a spring break win on Belton
With the help of my partner Kenny Stewart and my friend Jimmy Fulp, I was able to come away with a win on Lake Belton for a one day college tournament during spring break. The lake presented many ways of catching fish and was a versatile place for an angler to fish to their strengths. After two days of pre-fishing, we calculated that it was water temperature that played a more important roll than anything else. With spawning being the main interest of the bass, the key was finding pockets with optimal water temperature. We found some of the warmest water on the lake around 63 degrees. On tournament day, there was an extreme decrease in the wind and it made some of the pockets that were warm from the warm surface water being pushed into them cool down and we had to adjust to the conditions. We then targeted just two key areas compared to our 8 that we found in pre-fishing. They warmed up the quickest and had the most active fish with good size. Throwing the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad and other shad imitating lures, we were able to land 7 solid keepers for 13.40 pounds that was just a little better quality fish than the rest of the field. It was a fun day of fishing and a good way to end spring break!
Winning Pattern
Throwing the Live Magic shad in 4.5 inch magic shad color around banks and standing trees for cruising bass getting ready to spawn. Later in the day we targeted standing and lay down trees with Mizmo 4 inch big boy tubes in white sparkle. The tubes vertical action around the trees was perfect when there was visible signs of shad in the areas we were fishing.
Rackley and Shafer take 2nd NCBFC
97 teams gathered on Lake Lewisville to compete for the title of "National Collegiate Bass Fishing Champion". On the final day Rackley and Shafer fell short by 1.37 pounds bringing in 16.00. After winning the event last year, Rackley almost became the first to do it two years in a row!
It was a close tournament on the final day. Me and Andy fished hard and fished a pattern rather than a particular area. We fished all new water on the final day. There were two key elements that allowed us to produce quality bites. The presents of baitfish and isolated standing timber. The baitfish were very small and very shallow but it was enough to keep the bass around. We would then find small groups of standing trees in 5 feet or less of water. If there was buck brush near the timber, this amplified the quality of the area. We would then look for a single tree that was off from the rest. It was that detail that allowed us to go all over the lake and produce solid bass. Top water was the best way to catch them in the morning. We used Ricos and Yellow Magic baits before the sun reached the shallow timber. We would then switch to flipping and pitching. For the first two days I used a bama bug LFT Hyper worm with a 3/8 ounce LFT tungsten mega-weight. Using a heavier weight was also important. I would smack the heavier weight against the buck brush and timber to trigger strikes. On the final day, I had to down size in order to get strikes. I switched to one of my favorites baits on Lake Lewisville. It was a 5/16 ounce PB&J finesse jig with a Green Pumpkin/ Gold Purple fleck LFT baby Hyper Freak trailor. I also cut the trailor at a 45 degree angle for a more subtle action. The bites were soft on the last day and it was important to use a good sensitive rod. Me and Andy both used Kistler Helium LTX 2 rods to aid in detecting strikes. This would be my last NCBFC and I would have liked to won but my hats off to Arkansas for an outstanding tournament.
Rackley to fish the 2009 PAA Series
The Professional Angler's Association has announced the collaboration of their own tournament trail. This new tournament series is a pre cursor to the Texas Toyota Bass Classic that aired on CBS last year. There will also be a PAA World Cup following the Bass Classic. The series starts at Lake Toho in January. Winning the 2007 National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship gave me an entree into the PAA and I've enjoyed watching the organization grow. I'm excited about fishing this series and competing against the world's best angler's. This year it is an observer/angler format and all tournaments will be televised.
Rackley makes the cut at Toho
Cold fronts and 100% Florida Largemouth Bass always equals tough fishing. 148 of the world's greatest anglers gathered on lake Toho for the first stop of the PAA series. There were many different patterns but the one that worked best for me was a chunk and wined approach. A 1/2 oz gold Rat-L-Trap was my main bait during the tournament days. The cold fronts and changing pressure made it difficult to catch fish. For me, it was a matter of getting reaction strikes out of pre spawn bass. I found hydrilla lines in about 4 feet of water and fished the edges of them aggressively. I used a 7'3" heavy action Kistler Frog and Slop with 17 lb. copolymer line in order to constantly rip the bait from the hydrilla. A steady pumping action was the key to getting strikes. The other bait I used was a Texas rig LFT Hyper Worm with a 1/4 oz tungsten weight and a tungsten ticker right below it. I would swim this bait over very thick grass with the same pumping action as the trap to trigger strikes. Long cast and staying in tune with what the bait was doing in the water was key.
Another cut made on Neely Henry
Heavy rains and cold fronts made for changing conditions during the Neely tournament. This lake was impressive with its abundant fish populations and its size of fish as well. I had a great practice catching fish on the main river with moving baits live a Phoenix vibrating jig and a 1/2 custom spinnerbait. The current made it easy to determine where spotted bass would be positioned and it made them aggressive as well. Slower current on tournament day made me change up my tactics and go to a war eagle finesse jig and a 1/2 ounce Lake Fork Tackle Mega Weight jig backed with a bama bug flipper as a trailer. Fishing was slow at times and then very productive at others. They key was being able to find a kicker each day. I was able to target one area that had a few big largemouth bass that I enticed with the mega weight jig. A 5 and 6 pound largemouth bumped me up to allow to take 24th place at this second PAA event and leave me in 16th for the series point for the Bass Classic.
JustinRackley.com Strategic Competitive Angler
Strategic Competitive Angler
10-18-09
Rackley Makes top 40 for Toyota World Championship
The third stop of the Carrot Stix PAA series went to Toledo Bend in Hemphill, TX. With overcast and misty weather in practice, Toledo was able to show off some of its big bass with lots of big sacks being reported. On Tournament day, it was a different story for Rackley, who found his pre fishing pattern was not materializing on game day. " I went to my honey whole that I found in practice and was expecting to get at least one big one ", said Rackley. The conditions had turned bright skies and high winds, typical of a post front situation. Rackley ended up having to abandon his practice pattern and do something different. " In practice I was catching fish on topwater and on a trap, I had to learn fast how to punch grass ", ha said. Punching grass was an unfamiliar technique for Rackley and he had hours to learn how. Punching grass for two days, he boated only 5 fish. " This was a pattern that was consistent, I did not learn that until day two however ", he explained. One bite every hour is a grueling process but can be a big pay off known to many experienced flippers in the game. In the end, Rackley sat on the bubble for making the Toyota World Championship. He was in 16th place going into the Toledo Bend tournament and set himself up with a good cushion. That cushion proved to be usefull, and Rackley ended up making the top 40 in the PAA series. These 40 advanced to the Toyota World Championship help on lake Conroe.
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