Some of the top pros go to lengths to reach and locate bass that weekend anglers might never consider.
Several years ago, Missouri's Randy Blaukat actually removed the plug and allowed his boat to fill up with water so that he could get under a low bridge at Virginia's Buggs Island - a maneuver that enabled him to win a tournament.
Reigning BASS Angler of the Year Jay Yelas once waded a feeder creek in the Illinois River where he used a pick and shovel to create access to a shallow backwater area. "That pick-and-shovel thing was no big deal for me," Yelas said at the time. "In the past, I've been able to shovel out the mouth of a sandbar or use a hand saw to cut my way through the mouth of little hidden sloughs. Anything it takes to get back in there. In tournaments you are always looking for something different, and one of the best things you can hope for is a backwater area that nobody is fishing."
The newest member of this resourceful club is Jeff Magee.
In the recent Mississippi Bassmaster Central Open on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, the former BASS MegaBucks champion used an aluminum Triton boat equipped with a Yamaha jetdrive outboard to reach a remote section of Buttahatchee Creek. It was there that he found a bass-laden stretch of shallow grass that produced enough weight for him to finish fifth.
To get there, Magee had to skirt rapids and dodge floating logs during a long, daring run that other anglers wouldn't even consider. But that wasn't the full extent of his unusual efforts.
"I actually practiced by wading the river a week ago, and I learned every little sandbar and every gravel bar," he said. "I knew exactly where to turn and where to cut that jetboat to get up there.
"I waded 5 miles and actually got dehydrated. I almost had to go to the doctor. Then I had a kidney stone the next day, and I was sick for two days with that after I got dehydrated. But it all paid off because I learned some areas where I could go up there and catch them out of that jetboat."
NOT MR. DROP-SHOT
The drop-shot technique was born in Japan and brought to the United States several years ago by Japanese pros. Since then, it has become the bread-and-butter technique for most Japanese anglers on the Bassmaster Tournament Trail.
But not for Takahiro Omori.
Arguably the most successful Japanese import in BASS circles, the two-time Classic qualifier has been in America since 1992. As a result, he missed out on the drop-shot craze in his native country.
"I guess I'm one of the only Japanese that doesn't drop-shot much," Omori said, laughing. "Because they started the drop-shot in Japan five or six years ago. At that time I was over here trying to catch fish on a big jig and big spinnerbait and big crankbait. So I'm the only Japanese on the Tour not fishing drop-shot."
DID YOU KNOW?
California pro Mike Folkestad has the dubious distinction of being the record-holder for the smallest winning weight ever posted in a BASS tournament. He won the 1992 Florida Invitational on the Harris Chain of Lakes with a three-day total of 14 pounds, 10 ounces.
PRO BIRTHDAYS
On Sept. 2, Texans Jay Yelas (38) and Kelly Jordon (33) will be blowing out candles. Legendary Arkansas angler Larry Nixon turns 53 on Sept. 3, while Florida pro Bernie Schultz becomes 49 a day later.
IF I HADN'T BECOME A BASS PRO . . .
Past BASS winner Chad Brauer graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in fisheries and wildlife biology, and a clear career plan that included working as a veterinarian if his pro fishing gig didn't pan out in three years.
THEY SAID IT
"It was a brutal deal in the wilderness of British Columbia. The heat and the bad fishing here doesn't compare to what we went through. We slept two hours a night and ate very, very little. Mentally, it's toughened me up for fishing. I've fished four or five tournaments lately, and I went all out the whole day. This is nothing. If they're not biting, who cares? Usually when you don't catch anything you get start getting down. Not me. Not anymore." Arkansas pro Stephen Browning pauses during the recent Central Open in Mississippi to reflect on his challenging experiences in the ESPN Outdoors prime-time series "The Wild Rules."