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Jason Hickey Places Fifth at FLW Western Series Tournament
By George J. Roth
Jason holding a nice Columbia River smallmouth.
One of the fun things about fishing with your buddies is the ability to claim bragging rights when the day is done. For Jason Hickey, he earned that right amongst some of the greatest anglers in the west. He participated in his third FLW Western Series tournament of the year and put together a pattern that nearly gave him the win.
The tournament was held on the Columbia River in Richland, WA. There were 172 Professional Anglers in attendance, as well as 172 Co-Anglers, which are paired with a Professional, then fish from the back of the boat. For the Co-Anglers, it is a great opportunity to fish with some of the best anglers in the sport.
After being off-limits for about two weeks prior to the tournament, there were four days of official pre-fishing. This gives the anglers time to find the bass (primarily smallmouth) and determine the best methods to catch them. That doesn’t mean drowning night crawlers as only artificial baits can be used. Jason focused on the “reaction bite”, which usually produces the larger fish. This entails the use of fast moving lures that will cause a fish to “react” to bait. The fish see the bait as a meal that is getting away. These can include rattle baits, crank baits or spinner baits. When the fish are being finicky, small plastic baits are the norm, which are usually presented in a subtle manner. That gives the fish the chance to look the bait in the eye, and then hopefully, decide that it is an offer too good to pass up.
Jason did find a good reaction bite after locking through the McNary Dam, into the Boardman Pool. After focusing on those fish, he discovered that they were constantly on the move. The area was rich with weedbeds that held baitfish, but only certain areas proved to be productive. These areas changed daily. Thus, he was challenged to continue changing strategies and locations to catch the larger fish, which would improve his chances of winning the tournament.
Another major factor determining the angler’s ability to fish a certain spot was the weather. The Columbia River is renowned for its wind. The rough water not only makes getting to a specific spot a challenge, but attempting to fish that spot can become next to impossible. One of the only options when the wind is blowing so fiercely is to attempt to find a section of the river where the water is more fishable.
On the first day of the tournament, Jason continued to refine his fishing pattern, just as he had done during the practice period. He succeeded in putting together a five fish limit that weighed an impressive 15# 8 oz. That landed him in 2nd place after being in the lead for a brief period.
On the 2nd day of the tournament, Jason fell to 5th place as he was not able to get some of the bigger fish to bite. He came to the scales with five fish that weighed a total of 9# 0 oz. He was disappointed, but he was determined to continue to target the larger fish with a reaction bait.
On the 3rd day, he rebounded with a five fish limit that weighed in at 12# 13 oz. for a three day total of 37# 5 oz. It was enough to put Jason in to 3rd place, earning him a slot to fish the final day for a chance at the championship. Only the top ten Professional Anglers are able to compete on the 4th day for the $100,000.00 first place prize.
On the 4th day, with manageable winds, he continued fishing the same areas that had been producing well for him the previous three days. This was Jason’s best opportunity of his fishing career, to claim the tournament championship. On this day, he was accompanied by a camera man in his boat, as well as a camera boat that followed him to each of his fishing spots. His hat had been rigged the night before with what is called a “cap cam”. If you have watched any of the FLW tournaments on television, you will be familiar with the shots, giving the viewer the same view as the angler.
Jason was hoping for five big bites, and he got them. Unfortunately, he was unable to put all those bigger fish in the boat. He did manage to put together a five fish limit, but it was lighter than he’d hoped for. Once the anglers had completed the competition for the day, they were instructed to not share any information with anyone other than one specific tournament official. The anglers were then escorted, along with their fish residing in the live-wells, to the final weigh-in by the Army National Guard to the Richland Wal-mart.
Jason’s fished tipped the scales at 9# 6 oz. for a four day total of 46# 11 oz. This put him in 5th place for the tournament, a respectable showing when competing at this level. This was his first Top Ten finish and an achievement that he can certainly be proud of.
His next tournament will be at Clear Lake, California on Oct. 24-27. This tournament will also consist of a combination of both reaction and finesse techniques. Jason will likely be swinging for the fences again and I hope that you will join me in wishing him the best of luck as he pursues his dream of being the “best of the best”.
The FLW Western Series / Columbia River tournament is scheduled to air on FSN, November 18th at 12:00 pm ET. (please check listings) Be sure to tune in and watch Jason living his dream!
Jason looking on as Chris Jones weighs his sack of fish.