Morrow’s Big Bass Buzz
BoatUS Angler pro Troy Morrow of Georgia fires a cast in the PAA Tournament Series stop on Lake Lanier. (PAA: Chris Dutton)
PAA Communications
BoatUS Angler pro Troy Morrow knew the giant buzzbait worked for big bass that might be feeding early in the morning.
Having an 8.14-pounder destroy the bait in a fit of rage on Lake Lanier was definitely a plus in the Bass Pro Shops PAA Tournament Series presented by Carrot Stix.
“That was a pretty good way to start the day,” said Morrow, who lives northeast of Lanier in Toccoa, Ga. “She was the first one of the morning and anytime you can start the day off with a big fish, that’s pretty good.”
Morrow with his big bass award, a Humminbird 898c Si Combo. (PAA: Alan Clemons)
Morrow’s fish was the biggest of the tournament, which secured for him the Minn Kota Humminbird Big Bass Award. Morrow received a new Humminbird 898c Si Combo sonar unit. The angler with the biggest bass at the end of the PAA Tournament Series season also will be awarded a new Minn Kota Talon shallow water anchor.
Morrow fishes more on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina because it’s closer to his home and isn’t as pressured as Lanier, he said. But when he does get on Lanier he favors the lower end of the lake because of the giant spotted bass.
Catching an 8.14 largemouth was a bit of a surprise and, obviously, great for his tournament performance. The fish helped him to a limit weighing 20.13 and put him in the final-day cut in fourth place. Morrow went back to his best spot Saturday morning and found boat pressure plus no biting bass, and zeroed to finish 14th overall.
Interestingly enough, he wasn’t using a small chugger or plastic topwater frog. Morrow had a buzzbait tied on that looked like part of a garden plow. The blade probably was 3 inches wide, with upturned edges big enough to scoop up ice cream.
He was fishing in the back of a small pocket where bass were feeding in the morning and in pre-spawn mode. Cooler temperatures at Lanier last week prevented a full-blown sight fishing tournament, but they were there and ready to eat. Morrow’s buzzbait fit the bill for a big meal.
That’s just what Big Mama wanted.
The buzzbait works on bass, but might be more at home on some northern glacial lake for pike or musky. It’s something Morrow’s done for a while and it works on big largemouth and spots feeding in shallow water early and lake, especially in lakes with bigger forage such as gizzard shad or blueback herring.
“It’s big, no doubt,” he said. “I retrieve it about as slowly as I can without it going under, just enough to make a big, lazy wake.”
The Humminbird 898c Si Combo features a brilliant color, ultra-high resolution 480V x 800H 7-inch display, Side Imaging and DualBeam PLUS sonar with 8000 Watts PTP power output, GPS Chartplotting with built-in ContourXD mapping, and advanced Fishing System capabilities. In addition, it includes dual card slots for maps and saving waypoints, as well as three programmable preset buttons to save favorite views.
