9:44 a.m. Schultz moves to a nearby boathouse, where he tries the shaky head worm and swim jig.
9:51 a.m. Schultz hits another boathouse with the swim jig. “These docks are awfully shallow. Hopefully, I’ll find some with deeper water around them.”
4 HOURS LEFT
10 a.m. The row of docks ends at a shallow point. Schultz probes a big laydown extending off the structure with the swim jig, squarebill and shaky head; all three haul water. “I can’t believe I didn’t catch one there!”
10:09 a.m. Schultz resumes cranking the point with the DT6. “I’m seeing fish here on my electronics, but I’m wondering if they’re bass.”
10:14 a.m. Schultz rounds the point and fishes a pocket with the swim jig.
10:16 a.m. He casts the DT6 to a submerged stump. A bass smacks it but doesn’t hook up.
10:18 a.m. Schultz moves back to the point with the big laydown and tries both the Lucky Craft and Rapala squarebills on the structure.
10:22 a.m. Moving back to the pocket he’d been fishing, Schultz bags a squealer on the swim jig.
10:26 a.m. Schultz moves into a tributary arm and tries the jerkbait around submerged stumps.
10:28 a.m. He ties on a blue and chartreuse Shimano Macbeth Flat flat-sided crankbait and casts it parallel to a shallow flat.
10:39 a.m. Schultz tries a 3/8-ounce chartreuse and white Hildebrandt Tin Roller spinnerbait on the stump flat. “I designed this lure specifically for slow rolling; it has a tin head and blades for a slow fall, intense vibration and realistic flash.” He catches a short fish on his first cast with the spinnerbait.
10:44 a.m. Schultz upgrades to a 1/2-ounce Tin Roller, “so I can hit those deeper stumps.”
10:56 a.m. Schultz can’t stand not trying the spinnerbait on the laydown point, so he zips back there, slow rolls it through the branches and gets a hard strike — but the fish doesn’t hook up!
3 HOURS LEFT
11:13 a.m. Schultz finally abandons the point and runs back to a flat he fished earlier with the swimbait. He now combs the structure with the Tin Roller.
11:18 a.m. The wind is gusting 15 mph out of the southeast as Schultz tries the swim jig again on the flat. “The water’s dirtier here than on that stump flat. Maybe they’ll slide up shallower on this bank.”
11:23 a.m. The wind is blowing straight onto the flat, prompting Schultz to go back to the Tin Roller. “Spinnerbaits work best in windy conditions — the rougher, the better. Chop on the surface diffuses the flash, so the blades look like a school of fleeing baitfish.”
11:30 a.m. Schultz tries a chrome and gold Rapala Rippin’ Rap lipless crankbait on the flat.
11:47 a.m. Schultz comes to a series of shoreline pockets and pounds them with the swim jig, wacky worm and spinnerbait. No luck, however.
2 HOURS LEFT
Schultz has his trolling motor on high while burning the Rippin’ Rap around uplake flats and pockets.
12:14 p.m. Schultz has reached a point studded with submerged stumps and laydowns at the mouth of a feeder creek. He works the juicy-looking structure over with the spinnerbait, swim jig and shaky head without success. “This looks like the best dang spot on the entire lake, but appearances can be deceiving. I’m starting to think the bass in this lake just don’t like cover!”
12:22 p.m. Schultz ties on a 1/2-ounce green pumpkin/orange jig (brand unknown), adds a matching Yamamoto Fat Baby Craw trailer and flips it into the laydown.
12:30 p.m. Schultz enters the creek adjacent to the point and alternates between the flipping jig and jerkbait.
12:44 p.m. He retrieves the ChatterBait down a big, submerged log.
12:55 p.m. Schultz has reached the extreme back end of the tributary. He tries the swim jig and lipless crank here but can’t coax a strike.
1 HOUR LEFT
1 p.m. Schultz vacates the creek, then hits two boathouses near its entrance with the DT6 and jerkbait.
1:15 p.m. A bass “knocks the crap” out of Schultz’s jerkbait near a boathouse, again without hooking up! “As sharp as those hooks are, that’s hard to believe!”
1:19 p.m. Schultz blasts back to the offshore rockpile he fished earlier and casts the DT6 to the structure.
1:24 p.m. A big fish smashes the DT6 on the rockpile but comes unbuttoned!