How-To

Day on the Lake: Keith Combs

Elite angler Keith Combs shows us how it's done in Bassmaster Magazine's Day on the Lake series.

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<p><em>Bassmaster’s </em>reality series puts top Elite Series pros on small lakes they’ve never seen before, then gives them seven hours to locate and catch bass. This month Keith Combs accepts our challenge. The 36-year-old Huntington, Texas pro (<a href=
Bassmaster’s reality series puts top Elite Series pros on small lakes they’ve never seen before, then gives them seven hours to locate and catch bass. This month Keith Combs accepts our challenge. The 36-year-old Huntington, Texas pro (www.keithcombsfishing.com) has fished the Elite Series for two years and has qualified for the Classic twice. Here’s what happened July 5, 2012, when we put Combs on Lake J, a small reservoir. Combs started his day at 5:41 a.m. by running a buzzbait parallel to the lake’s dam.
<p><strong>7:04 a.m.</strong> Combs’ first bass of the day, 1 pound, 4 ounces, hit a crankbait on a main-lake ledge.</p>
7:04 a.m. Combs’ first bass of the day, 1 pound, 4 ounces, hit a crankbait on a main-lake ledge.
<p><strong>7:25 a.m. </strong>Combs bags keeper No. 2, which weighs in at 1 pound even.</p>
7:25 a.m. Combs bags keeper No. 2, which weighs in at 1 pound even.
<p><strong>7:25 a.m. </strong>Combs caught his second keeper on a crankbait.</p>
7:25 a.m. Combs caught his second keeper on a crankbait.
<p><strong>7:26 a.m. </strong>Combs reels in a small keeper; it’ll be culled later in the day.</p>
7:26 a.m. Combs reels in a small keeper; it’ll be culled later in the day.
<p><strong>8:51 a.m. </strong>Combs hangs a bass on a crankbait.</p>
8:51 a.m. Combs hangs a bass on a crankbait.
<p><strong>8:51 a.m. </strong>Comb’s fourth keeper, 1 pound, 1 ounce, hit a crankbait on top of a main-lake point.</p>
8:51 a.m. Comb’s fourth keeper, 1 pound, 1 ounce, hit a crankbait on top of a main-lake point.
<p><strong>8:59 a.m. </strong>“This one’s a giant!” A huge bass puts a serious bend in Combs’ cranking rod.</p>
8:59 a.m. “This one’s a giant!” A huge bass puts a serious bend in Combs’ cranking rod.
<p><strong>9:28 a.m. </strong>Combs rigs up a worm prior to probing a ledge.</p>
9:28 a.m. Combs rigs up a worm prior to probing a ledge.
<p><strong>9:30 a.m. </strong>A good fish eats Combs’ crankbait on an offshore ledge.</p>
9:30 a.m. A good fish eats Combs’ crankbait on an offshore ledge.
<p><strong>10:58 a.m. </strong>Combs returns to a ledge he fished earlier and hooks a big bass on a crankbait.</p>
10:58 a.m. Combs returns to a ledge he fished earlier and hooks a big bass on a crankbait.
<p><strong>10:58 a.m. </strong>“That’s what <em>I’m </em>talkin’ about!” Combs’ sixth bass of the day weighs 5 pounds, 1 ounce.</p>
10:58 a.m. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Combs’ sixth bass of the day weighs 5 pounds, 1 ounce.
<p><strong>11:06 a.m. </strong>He’s on a roll! Combs cranks up a 3-8 largemouth off the ledge.</p>
11:06 a.m. He’s on a roll! Combs cranks up a 3-8 largemouth off the ledge.
<p><strong>11:45 a.m. </strong>Combs carefully works the lunker closer.</p>
11:45 a.m. Combs carefully works the lunker closer.
<p>Check out the surface temp! The tepid water didn’t hamper the bass bite on Lake J, however.</p>
Check out the surface temp! The tepid water didn’t hamper the bass bite on Lake J, however.
<p><strong>12:25 p.m. </strong>Last-minute lunker! With 5 minutes remaining, Combs cranks a 5-pound largemouth off the top of the ledge.</p>
12:25 p.m. Last-minute lunker! With 5 minutes remaining, Combs cranks a 5-pound largemouth off the top of the ledge.
<p><strong>12:25 p.m. </strong>Combs proudly shows off the 5-pounder he caught just minutes before his day on Lake J came to a close.Combs has had an awesome day, boating 12 keeper bass; his five biggest fish have a combined weight of 22 pounds, 9 ounces. “These fish were stacked up on classic summertime structures – ledges and points with a sharp drop into deep water – and the key was finding a couple of good spots, rotating between them and hammering them repeatedly with crankbaits,” Combs said. “If I were to fish here tomorrow, I’d be tempted to spend most of the morning idling around and looking for a couple more choice spots on my graph, and not even hitting that cove ledge and deep point until around 11 o’clock, when the bigger fish had stacked up and were feeding.”</p> <p> </p> <p><em style=
12:25 p.m. Combs proudly shows off the 5-pounder he caught just minutes before his day on Lake J came to a close.Combs has had an awesome day, boating 12 keeper bass; his five biggest fish have a combined weight of 22 pounds, 9 ounces. “These fish were stacked up on classic summertime structures – ledges and points with a sharp drop into deep water – and the key was finding a couple of good spots, rotating between them and hammering them repeatedly with crankbaits,” Combs said. “If I were to fish here tomorrow, I’d be tempted to spend most of the morning idling around and looking for a couple more choice spots on my graph, and not even hitting that cove ledge and deep point until around 11 o’clock, when the bigger fish had stacked up and were feeding.”
 
To see the entire July/August 2013 issue of Bassmaster Magazine, click here.

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