ESPN

Takes Alabama title on the strength of topwater strikes

FLORENCE, Ala. — Back in the 1980s, Boyd Duckett stuck a tentative toe into the waters of major-league bass tournaments. He wanted to test the temperature of B.A.S.S. competition. After three tournaments with little success, he backed off the diving board.

More than a decade later, the Alabama angler has jumped in with both feet and the early results would have to score a 10. A month after finishing in the money in his comeback debut on Lake Murray, Duckett announced his arrival by winning the $320,950 Alabama CITGO BASSMASTER Southern Open presented by Busch Beer on Pickwick and Wilson lakes Oct. 24-26.

"Boy, I'm tickled to death," he said while accepting the $50,000 top prize. "I'm so pleased to have won this tournament, you just don't know. I'm so proud of this. It's just a great feeling.

"I fished a few B.A.S.S. tournaments back in the '80s without much luck. I've been fishing the last four or five years pretty seriously. And then I just started fishing B.A.S.S. this year. I got a check at Murray, which I was proud of. I'm serious about these tournaments this time around. I'm hoping to get my Tour card and get out there and fish with the big boys."

Duckett, the 42-year-old owner of a tank-truck leasing company in Demopolis, Ala., made a name for himself on a rainy week when the fishing was nothing short of challenging. On the strength of daily catches weighing 14 pounds, 10 ounces, 11-1 and 7-13, he posted a wire-to-wire victory with 12 bass weighing 33 ½ pounds.

Pickwick, Wilson Lake report

Weather: This Southern Open in Alabama was dominated by overcast skies, rain and calm conditions. Daytime temperatures were comfortable throughout the three day event, hovering between 55 degrees and the high 60s. Water: Anglers who monitored the reservoir's surface conditions reported water temperatures in the high 60s  too warm for prime fall conditions. Water clarity in both bass fisheries was reported as stained. Lake Level: With the Tennessee Valley Authority generating water between its two dams, the lakes gradually dropped 1 to 2 feet the first two days and refilled at night. No water was pulled on the final day of the event. — Tim Tucker

Fellow Alabama pro Randy Howell finished second with 28-11, followed by Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn., with 25-8, and North Carolina's Chris Baumgardner with 23-12. Arkansas pro Mark Rose rounded out the Top 5 with 21 1/2 pounds.

Tennessee's Ralph Petty took big bass honors with a 7-pound, 15-ounce largemouth.

But the week belonged to Duckett.

His strategy involved locking into Wilson Lake and making the long run to a flat located about a mile from the Wheeler Dam where he camped out for three days. The lock and travel time reduced his fishing day to about four hours, but Duckett made the best of it.

"I had a real good flat," he said. "I got on these fish about a month ago in practice and I was really fortunate that they held up. It's the fall of the year and the fish are scattered real badly out in open water. I had a flat right off of the main channel. Those fish would run onto that flat where I was able to catch them on topwaters until today. I only caught one fish today on a topwater. There was no current today, and that hurt me. I had to make an adjustment and figured out how to catch a few — enough to give me the win. So I'm real proud of that."

The winning area was a large, 2- to 3-foot deep gravel and mud flat adjacent to the river channel that dropped off into 40 feet of water. When the current was being generated, the largemouth bass seemed to move up on the flat to feed on shad that were washed downstream, he explained. Without the luxury of current on the final day, Duckett was forced to back off about 20 yards or so and crank the outside edge of the flat for suspended bass with a No. 5 Shad Rap. He threw it on 8-pound-test Berkley Trilene XT monofilament. That switch produced the two bass that sealed the victory.

It was a pair of topwater baits that did most of the damage, however. They included a Lucky Craft Sammy 100 and 115 (both clear with a brown back) tied to 12- and 14-pound-test Trilene, respectively. Both were fished on a 6-foot G. Loomis rod (medium action) with a Team Daiwa baitcasting reel.

"It was pretty simple, really," Duckett said. "I fished two sizes of a Sammy — a 115 when there was a chop on the water and the 100 when there wasn't. I had to mix them up because if the water was calm, they would short-strike under the bait. I learned that in practice. So I had to keep dropping down. I even threw an 85 a little while when it was dead calm this morning.

"The main thing is when I'm throwing topwater baits, I'll have two or three sizes laid out and ready to go. And I change them constantly. If the fish are short-striking a large bait, I'll move down in size. Or vice versa. Sometimes the bigger bait will actually catch more fish. That was the key this week with the topwater bait — using the right size and catching them in the right mood. When they were busting hard, I'd throw the big one and catch a little bigger fish on it. And as soon as I'd get a short-strike I could tell they were slowing down a little bit, so I would throw the smaller bait. And I could get them to nip it and be able to get a hook in them.

"A lot of the guys that I know here were having trouble getting the fish to hook up on the topwater bait. I guess if I have anything to offer, it would be that the size matters a lot throughout the day. You have to change sizes to keep catching topwater fish. When you get a short-strike, they don't miss it by accident.

"I also worked the topwater real slow and tight. I didn't move it fast. A lot of guys in the fall move it fast, but I found that they short-struck at the fast movement. So I worked it slow and tight."

In contrast, Duckett retrieved the Shad Rap quickly, while giving it an occasional jerk.

With the timely adjustment and solid strategy that he displayed, Boyd Duckett proved that he can swim with the sport's biggest sharks.

Click here to JOIN BASS!