Josh Bertrand, the 27-year-old Arizona native, has built his career on pure competition and looks forward to the 2016 Bassmaster Classic at Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees in Tulsa, Okla.
This year, B.A.S.S. has moved the Classic start date from the last week in February to the first week in March. Grand Lake will most certainly be a different tournament for this reason alone.
Those anglers who will excel this March will dial in the presentations and fish clean throughout all three competition days. With warmer weather, this year’s tournament could see a record number of attendees; expectations are increasing from fans and anglers alike.
FISHING EXPERIENCE
For those who travel east to west, there are often experiences that are considered dominant over their western counterparts, but ask Elite Series pro Josh Bertrand about expectations for western anglers and the story tells something a little bit different.
“Being from the southwest, one thing all of our lakes have in common is that they are rock dominated. Some have brush, some have grass, but rock is dominant in the west no matter where you fish,” he said. “I grew up fishing rock and one thing I like about Grand Lake is that it is a rock lake…rockier than most lakes in that area.”
When discussing differences between Grand Lake and lakes out west, Bertrand pointed out that Grand Lake has significantly less depth. “No matter where anglers come from, each can bring their own experiences to the Classic,” he said. “Living out west, we fish winter patterns every year, so I feel comfortable with different patterns, depending on the conditions and will be ready for a late winter or early spring approach.”
LURE SELECTION
Locating fish in March comes from several months of idling and graphing potential structural hotspots. High percentage areas pay off greatly by executing the exact technique that the fish are looking for, with a level of precision nothing short of flawless.
According to Bertrand, “Grand Lake in a normal year has a little color compared to western lakes, something the Elite Series anglers call Grand Lake Green.”
With water quality to-be-determined, he will look to several key lures to help dial in the fishery as fast as possible – two jerkbaits, a crankbait and a jig.
For jerkbaits, Bertrand will rely on the Berkley Cutter 110+ if the water is colder, such as late winter temperatures. The bait’s superior profile will appeal to larger fish and can be casted easily in a variety of conditions.
If the water warms, he will look to the Berkley Cutter Skinny 110+ that provides maximum darting action and comes in a less intrusive package.
Both were designed with the help from hard bait legend, David Fritts and fellow Berkley pro and west coast native, Justin Lucas.
“Berkley took a lot of input from anglers such as Fritts and Lucas, so you know these two jerkbaits excel in catching big pre-spawn bass,” Bertrand said.
Their main features include a coffin-billed lip for superior erratic actions, as well as Berkley Fusion19 hooks that are specifically designed to be fished right out of the package without modification.
Medium diving crankbaits will get a lot of attention as well. Those baits with an aggressive wobble can bring unique action to an otherwise lifeless section of water to target fish through a reaction bite.
Baits such as the Berkley Digger 6.5 and Digger 8.5 have been developed to quickly reach maximum depth. For those who incorporate random pauses upon contact, both Digger models will slowly rise at pause. If the fish are targeting crayfish, you can bet western anglers will look to crankbaits in these high percentage areas with colors such as “Special Red Craw.”
PICKING A WINNER
Grand Lake is a body of water where many anglers have history. Past experiences and fishing spots could play into their success on day one, but for the majority of anglers, fishing structure and pin-pointing the correct zones will play into success over the entire tournament.
Patterning fish on Grand Lake can be duplicated, such as focusing on creek channels, pre-spawn areas or a mix of the two.
The most difficult aspect of narrowing down the field is much too challenging because the weather patterns and fishing conditions won’t be clear until the start of the Classic.
“Ehrler, Lucas, Pirch, Martens…whoever can fish a clean tournament with a strong head has a good chance to win here,” said Bertrand.
For those who see the similarities between Grand Lake and western fisheries, you just might want to add Josh Bertrand to your list of favorites too.
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