I’ve been fishing Camanche lake for the past few weeks in preparation for the 3rd stop of the Future Pro Tour central region that was held last Saturday. Over the last few weeks the fish have continued to progress through the spawn cycle with some great fishing to be had. Coming into the tournament with the knowledge I’d gained over the last few trips out I knew it would be a slug fest! Indeed, it was, it took over 16lbs to even make the top 20.

In pre-fish I was jumping between targeting spawning fish and post spawn fish and planned to do the same tournament day. In the morning to the early afternoon the top water bite has been good for some of the better-quality bites. I have been having my best luck on the River2sea rover 128 in powder.

In the afternoon, I’ve been looking for bedding fish. Most of the fish I found were either deep in pockets or on islands tops that are only a few feet under. The bigger fish seemed to be mostly done at this point and in post spawn. For bed fishing I was flipping Texas rigged soft plastics and swapping baits constantly depending on what the fish were reacting to.

If bed fishing wasn’t productive or I just could find them I’d pick up the IMA Pinjack 200 and go in search of more post spawn fish.

The areas I was targeting for post spawn fish were main points, humps or walls near spawning areas. Typically, bass will hang around those areas outside of the spawning areas for a few days after they’ve pulled off beds or left their fry. My other tactic for these worn-out fish was a wacky senko. Simple but it’s hard for a tired-out fish to pass on such an easy offering.

Tournament day we were met with a cold snap and high winds out of the east till the afternoon. Water temps plummeted 10-15 degrees. In the areas, I planned to with start top water it wasn’t an option with high winds so I opted for the IMA Pinjack 200 and my partner threw a wacky rigged senko. We had a limit in 30 minute, just not of the right fish. So, we pressed on to our next few areas. We continued to catch fish everywhere we went culling by ounces. Once the wind died down I picked up the River2sea rover within a few casts and absolute giant swing and missed. My partner was quick with a follow up bait and instantly hook up, unfortunately it came unbuttoned. We continued as the sun rose higher, the water warmed and our time was running out. The fish started to pull back up and feed in the areas they had been in pre-fish their typical post spawn areas. With wacky rigged senkos for the last 30 minutes we were able cull up to just over 16lbs. We had a few other fish in that time come off that surely would have helped but its fishing not catching. Our 16lbs was good enough for 16th place! I hope this helps and Good luck out there!