2010 FORREST WOOD CUP: Hobbs hanging hopes on largemouth spot
POSTED Aug. 5, 2010 / 8:40 p.m.

GAINESVILLE, Georgia - Exactly one week ago, I asked Ron Hobbs, Jr. in an interview on Northwest Wild Country whether his plans for the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup included: 1). Largemouth; 2). Fishing in the expansive creek system of Georgia’s Lake Lanier.

His answers, in a nutshell: “No” and “no”.

So where does Junior find himself fishing today on Day 2 of the $500,000 “world championship of bass fishing”?

In the back of a creek.

And what does Junior find himself fishing for?

Largemouth.

Oh how quickly things can change. And, in Hobbs’ case, change for the better.

As documented yesterday on our Day 1 coverage of the 2010 FWC, Hobbs caught two of his biggest fish of the day – a pair of largemouth – off of a single tree located at the back of a creek roughly 30 minutes from the take-off point at Lanier's Laurel Park. Hobbs had entered the tournament convinced that he’d have to locate offshore structure where the lake’s famed spotted bass were holding, or catch fish on the surface with topwater baits.

As it turns out, Junior is throwing something every Pacific Northwest bass rat has plenty of in their tackle boxes: a drop-shot with a 7-inch worm.

So as we await the results of the Day 2 weigh-in, here’s what we know about Hobbs’ “magic tree”:

The location: It’s located in the back of a creek, partly covering an 8-foot-deep creek channel and adjacent to a shallow flat. The entire area covers roughly 300 yards.

The structure setup: As Hobbs discovered yesterday, the trunk of the tree is located just off the edge of the channel, and the branches extend over part of the channel, creating a bait funnel where shad, minnows and bluegill are forced to swim.

“That bait can’t swim through the branches of the tree, so it has to go around into the funnel,” Hobbs says. “It’s an ambush spot for largemouth – they just sit there in the tree and attack whatever bait goes by.”

The size: By Hobbs’ estimation, “It’s a big tree”, capable of holding several good-sized largemouth.

The tackle grabber and terminal setup: The tree is extremely branchy and loaded with leaves, so it’s extremely difficult to pull fish out of it without getting hung up. Hobbs lost three nice fish yesterday when they wrapped him up in the branches, and he’s had to upsize his line to try to combat the abrasive bark of the tree. Today, he’ll fish 15-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon whenever he’s casting tight into the tree, 12-pound fluoro if he’s casting slightly away from the trunk into the branches, and 6- to 8-pound if he’s fishing away from the leaves and branches.

His positioning: Hobbs is fishing both sides of the tree, depending on the position of the sun. He’ll position his boat on the shore side “downstream” of the tree when the sun is on the opposite side of the structure, casting a shadow toward the shore. When the sun climbs past high noon and moves to the other side of the tree, Hobbs will position on the channel side and fish that side.

The water: While the rest of Lake Lanier is clear and deep, there’s a slight stain in the water in the back of the creek Hobbs is fishing. Despite that, though, Hobbs won’t hesitate to scale everything down to his 6-pound rig if fish aren’t responding to baits fished on heaver lines.

“It made a big difference down on the Delta when I fished heavier line, and that was stained, too,” Hobbs says. “I don’t know how they’ll react here, but I’ll go right back to the 6-pound if I feel like I’m not getting bit enough.”

The weather: Rain was forecast for the Atlanta area today, and if some precipitation does fall, it’ll actually make Hobbs’ “magic tree” even better. Despite the fact that he’s fishing the back of a creek, there’s hardly a whisper of current, and a little movement in the water should create an even more pronounced funnel effect past the tree while increasing the fish’s aggressiveness.

“If there’s any current at all in there, I think it’ll make it easier to catch fish further away from the middle of the tree,” he says. “Fish will be a little more willing to move away from it to eat a bait.”

And speaking of the bait …: Hobbs’ primary bait on the tree has been a drop-shot with a 6- or 7-inch Zoom straight-tail worm. It’s a bait that he stumbled across at a local Bass Pro Shop while sniffing around for a difference-maker bait.

“I was convinced that these guys had some sort of trick to catching these spotted bass, because I wasn’t catching them in practice,” Hobbs says. “I saw this bait at a Bass Pro, and I don’t think anybody is using it – the shelves were just loaded with them. It’s a new bait to me, but these fish really like it. I throw it in there and they’re all over it.” 
-JS

8FOLLOW THE 2010 FORREST WOOD CUP HERE and stay logged in to FLW Live throughout the course of the day for exclusive videos and updates from the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.

8CLICK ON THE NWWC BASS REPORT regularly for exclusive on-site updates as NWWC host Joel Shangle heads to Atlanta to cover the "world championship of bass fishing".

-JS

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