Well the second FLW Tour event of the 2019 season has completed and boy what a slug fest it was on Lake Toho!
In my opinion, when Toho is fishing well there are very few places in the country that can match it. I was catching about 25 quality keepers a day and ended up in 16th place.
Every morning I would start out by throwing a Yo Zuri Pencil topwater looking for a big bite over flats and points. In practice I had caught a couple big ones doing this and I knew if I got the timing right it was going to happen in the tourney. Unfortunately I never got the timing perfect and only managed one quality 4 pounder and then another couple 3-3.25 pound fish. My setup for this technique was a Witch Doctor Tackle Surman 50G Medium Heavy 6’10” rod and 20 lb Yo Zuri Hybrid line.
After the topwater bite died off I switched to pitching reeds, pads, and Kissimmee Grass. Without a doubt, when you can catch quality fish all day long pitching and flipping, it is just plain fun. I targeted isolated clumps of vegetation, hoping there would be a big female spawning. I used my Witch Doctor Tackle 7’6” Oracle Pitchin Stick with 20 lb test Yo Zuri Topknot Mainline Fluorocarbon. A Gambler Fat Ace in black and blue was my go-to plastic and I used both a 3/8 and 1/2 ounce weight, depending on the thickness of the cover I was targeting. It was very important to work the bait slow which is why I used the lightest weight I could get away with to slow the fall of my bait slightly. It often took repeated casts to the same spot to coerce fish into biting, but when they finally committed it was game on.
I’m proud to say I fished clean all week and did not miss a fish that could have helped me. I love pitching with this Oracle rod especially spooled with Yo Zuri Topknot Mainline Fluorocarbon. You need to check them out because there’s not a better rod on the market for doing what I was doing all week.
The moral of the story, catching 3-4 pounders is never bad, unless you’re on Toho and they are biting for everyone else too!
Mike Surman
Photo Credit: FLW
