We caught up with Witch Doctor Tackle Pro, Cole Sands following his 10th place finish at the first BASS Open event of the 2022 season.
The Kissimmee Chain of Lakes was stop number one for the 2022 BASS Open’s and this season Cole has the goal of qualifying for the Bassmaster Elite series. “To do this I knew that I would have to have a good finish in Florida,” said Cole.
Major cold fronts and high winds made for a very difficult practice with minimal bites, and after four days of practice the only area that I had multiple bites in was within eyesight of take-off. So Sands made the decision to maximize his time and stay within a couple miles of the ramp all tournament long.
“I honestly wasn’t expecting much going into the first day of the tournament, I figured if I could catch eleven or twelve pounds, I would be sitting in a good position to make a check.”
Cole started the day throwing a Yo Zuri 110 sp jerkbait, rigged on Witch Doctor Tackle Shaman 6’6″ Medium rod with 14 lb fluorocarbon, around scattered hydrilla and boated a few keepers. The combination of the rod and line allowed Cole to snap the bait out of the thick grass. After a few hours passed, Cole made the decision to switch to a golden shiner Chatterbait that I fish on the Surman 50G 7’2″ Medium Heavy rod with 20 pound fluorocarbon.
Within thirty minutes Cole had put almost 22 pounds of Florida bass in the boat and ended up finishing the first day of the event sitting in 2nd place.
Every fish Cole caught over the next two days was on those two setups and ended up finishing the tournament in 10th place.
“I am extremely happy about given how tough the tournament was, and that I am fishing all three divisions of the BASS Opens this season, to leave Florida with a top-ten finish.”
