After a solid season in which he finished the year 14th in the Angler of the Year race, Brock Mosley qualified for his third Bassmaster Classic and third in a row. The Mississippi pro finished in 5th place in last year's event and is looking to improve on that this year on South Carolina's Lake Hartwell. To do that, he's keeping an open mind and will explore all of his options when practice begins.
Tackle Prep and Hartwell Thoughts
As Mosely was preparing for the upcoming Classic, he had to shift gears after kicking the season off with two events in Florida. Lake Hartwell is a much different fishery and it will likely be much colder than it was in the Sunshine State.
"I'm taking everything out of my boat and starting over," he said. "I've only been to Hartwell once (for the Elite Series event in 2019, where he finished 35th), but I like how it sets up during the pre-spawn. They were just moving up on the beds when we were there last time and that was April. Right before that event went off-limits, I had a great pre-practice and it was about the same events as this year's Classic; the fish were really grouped up then, and I had a blast fishing there."
In December, Mosely also visited the lake before it went off-limits for the anglers. He has been hoping the weather would stay cold and the fish would stay put in the winter pattern and not rush to the banks too quickly.
"The key in this event could be to have plenty of areas to fish and a mix of largemouth and spotted bass locations," he said. "I'll look for ditches and drains for the largemouth and some of the small pockets with docks. I'll be looking a little deeper for the spotted bass."
Four Tactics
There are many different ways that an angler could win the Classic, but Mosely is eyeing four of them as potential winners for him. He's banking on ChatterBaits, a jig; a Yamamoto Senko rigged several ways and a finesse approach with a drop-shot rig.
"Those drains and ditches leading to spawning areas can be great for largemouth with a ChatterBait, and I always add a Yamamoto Zako as a trailer," he said. "Me and the Zako get along great and fishing a ChatterBait is one of my favorite ways to catch them. I keep it pretty simple just about everywhere I go and use a Green Pumpkin ChatterBait with a matching trailer or sometimes a Green Pumpkin White Laminate Zako for more stained water."
Jigs are another lure category that Mosely believes could win the event, flipping shallow cover and fishing them out in deeper water. He likes the Gary Yamamoto Double Tail Grub for a trailer for both.
"The lake is a big time flipping lake and there are a million docks to fish there," he said. "I wouldn't be too surprised if that's how it's won, with a jig. I'll also have a ½ ounce and ¾-ounce football head tied on for deeper water."
Out deep, he thinks spotted bass will gladly eat his jig and makes a slight modification to his trailer to get more hookups.
"I plan to fish some of the deeper docks and brush piles for spotted bass with a jig, but there are some largemouth that will be deeper too because they live in the same areas this time of year," he said. "I like to shorten up my double tail trailer a little to make it less bulky and to prevent some of the short strikes from the spots; it helps to hook more of them because of how they usually eat a jig."
For the Senko, he believes the anglers fishing will catch plenty of bass on them. In several different sizes and rigged various ways.
"I'll have one wacky-rigged and one on a Neko, for sure," he said. "Those are great ways to catch fish around docks. I may even drop-shot a 4" version for the spotted bass. I could see Senkos from three to six inches all being a player on Hartwell this time of year."
A final way Mosely may fish the Classic is with a drop-shot rig for deeper bass when targeting points, ditches, drains, and any brush pile he can find. "It's hard to beat a Shad Shape worm on a drop-shot," he added.
With the high stakes of the Bassmaster Classic, Brock Mosely is going all in and won't be satisfied unless he can take home the trophy.
"I'm hoping I can piece together the puzzle during practice to see what the fish are doing," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised if someone gets to 20-pounds, but catching an average of 16 or so a day will be my goal. It's the Classic and all or nothing."
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