Long time Witch Doctor Tackle Pro, Cole Sands committed to fishing the BASS Southern Opens this season and he wrapped up his rookie campaign with an impressive sixth-place finish on Lake Norman.
Between the three Open events and guiding on Lake Chickamauga, Cole has continued to improve his craft and put his Witch Doctor Tackle rods to work. We caught up with Cole to recap his event on Lake Norman.
“Having very little experience on Lake Norman, I dedicated as much time as I could doing the research before heading there.”
After reviewing past tournament results, Cole realized that it would probably only take 10-12 pounds a day to have a really good finish. With that in mind, Cole opted to spend the majority of his time targeting spotted bass. “On deep-clear lakes like Norman, spotted bass are usually much more consistent than largemouth.”
“In practice, I spent the majority of my time graphing as many brush piles as I could. When I did decide to make a few casts, the caliber of spotted bass I caught was definitely the right size to compete. I stuck to my game plan all three days of the tournament, hitting as many brush piles as I could with a couple of different setups. I also rotated windblown points with a pencil popper when the wind would start to blow which produces a couple of key fish.”
Here is the equipment that Cole used:
- Topwater: Yo Zuri 3DB Pencil Popper (Real Blueback Herring), 30 lb braided line, and a 7’2” Surman50G MH casting rod
- Swimbait: 1/4 ounce jighead with a 3.3-inch swimbait, 10 lb Yo Zuri Super Braid 8 connected to an 8 lb Yo Zuri T7 fluorocarbon leader, and a 7’2” Shaman M spinning rod
- Dropshot: 3.6-inch worm (morning dawn) worm with a 1/4 ounce weight, 10 lb Yo Zuri Super Braid 8 connected to an 8 lb Yo Zuri T7 fluorocarbon leader, and a 7’2” Shaman M spinning rod
