I mentioned strategy in that last blog. The games within the game are often the coolest part of these events.
I remember covering Jason Christie when he won here a few years ago. I always knew when he had a drum on instead of a smallmouth.
He would fight and baby a smallmouth with care. The drum he would lean on getting them in fast.
Of course that would make sense. But Christie’s strategy was to catch those from time to time. Smallmouth will follow fish that are feeding or fighting. By leaning on the drum he could get them to spit up parts of their last meal. His chum line would keep a smallmouth in position for him to catch it.
In a derby where virtually everyone knows how to catch what’s out there and what to do it with, these other little things can make a huge difference.