Lucky Craft pro Gary Dobyns captures elusive title
Lucky Craft pro and famed west coast angler Gary Dobyns won the biggest title of his career, the 2009 WON U.S. Open. Dobyns who had numerous near misses during his career won the event over second place angler Cliff Perch by nearly three and half pounds. Dobyns called it the biggest win of his career. He recently sat down for an interview and discussed how several key Lucky Craft lures played a big part in his victory.
Photo by WON Bass / Rich Holland
Q: Your first US Open win! What was the difference this year?
A: This year I put in the practice time needed to be prepared. Last year I fished two practice days and finished 2nd. This year I put the time in and practiced for 10 days. I have not been fishing that well lately and have been concentrating a lot on my rod business. So it’s just nice to be able put the time in, focus and go back and fish like I used too. I left there last year and shot my mouth off to a lot of guys saying I was going to be back and win it next year. That’s a very arrogant thing to say, because there are so many good fishermen. But I have been focused on it (winning the US Open) all year long. When you put the time and effort in, it makes your decisions a lot easier.
Q: What was the key to this year’s tournament?
A: The key to the whole tournament for me was day two. We had a little bit of wind that day. I was running down the lake right after take off and the wind was blowing up on this point really good. I saw it as I was driving by and I didn’t fish it on day one and I hadn’t caught anything on it in practice either. But its just a place that I had caught fish (years before) and when I saw that wind blowing, I felt they could be there.
So I whipped (the boat) around and sat down near the point. My 2nd cast was a 2-½ pounder and my 3rd cast, was a 3-½ pounder. After these two quick fish, the wind had blown my boat up over the point and kind of spooked the fish. I mulled around bit and about 10 or 15 minutes later, I picked off another fish in 15 or 20 feet of water with the hula grub. So now, I have three good fish to start the day and the blast off is still going on at this point. I followed another point about a half a mile away. On my first cast from this point, my bait doesn’t even make it to the bottom before a fish is off and running with it.
With such a good day going, I was able to gamble and get some things out of my system. I fished some places I wanted to fish, but odds were I wasn’t going to get a bite. That one stop early the second day really made my entire event.
Q: What was another big factor in your win this year?
A: When you get the preparation time, and time on the water, you start to make real good decisions. I call that fishing with your ‘gut.’ I think a lot of guys have it, but they just don’t use it very often. But when I go to a place like Lake Mead, and I see something and have a hunch about it, I will go do it.
Q: Tell us about the Lucky Craft BDS 4 and how you used it during your victory?
A: The Lucky Craft BDS 4 is what I used to catch that early 2 ½ and 3 ½ pound fish on day two. I had a lot of faith in this bait with the wind blowing. I was using it to fish points and shallower stuff that I picked out. I threw it throughout the tournament and it was lying on the boat deck the whole time. I knew if the fish had moved up they were going to hit that crank. I used a white Tennessee shad color. Lake Mead is gin clear, but the fish at Lake Mead still like something a little brighter when throwing cranks or spinnerbaits. White or White chartreuse is my key color when I’m fishing fast with a crankbait.
Q: What rod and line set-up did you use with the BDS 4?
A: When throwing the BDS 4, I used my 805 CBRM Dobyns rod. The whole deal with Lake Mead is to cover a lot of water so I wanted as much casting distance as possible. Event though its 8 feet long, it is a very light, easy rod to fish. It’s got the right action for a crankbait and it lets me launch that bait. It takes all the work out of the bait for me, its very easy on the fisherman.
I was using 10lb P-Line CXX. There are so many mussels in Lake Mead and I hate fishing light line. Some guys were cranking with 8-pound line, but I just don’t like fishing like that. I gave up a little bit of depth, but that’s not the deal at Mead. The water is so clear that the fish will come after it, so an extra foot or two is not a big deal. Fishing in that lake, with those mussels, its like fishing over razor blades.
Q: Lets talk about one of your other keys baits, the Lucky Craft Gunfish 95 (Ghost Minnow)?
A: I threw the Gunfish 95, because I was not having much luck with the bigger baits. I normally use the bigger Gunfish (115), but I wasn’t getting a fraction of the bites as I was with the smaller one. Every time I picked up the 95, I would catch fish. I wasn’t catching really big ones, but I could always catch fish on it. On day one, when we were first starting out and not yet knowing how the tournament was going to play out, I stopped not too far from the launch and caught three quick fish. These were all on the Gunfish 95.
Q: What made you decide to the throw the Gunfish versus a Sammy or G-Splash?
A: I love that bait. It’s a confidence bait for me. I’ve thrown it for years and I always catch fish, so it’s a very safe bait for me. I think its one of the most under utilized baits in the Lucky Craft line.
Q: How big is this victory for you?
A: It was huge! It’s my biggest win! It was absolutely phenomenal. Everyone knew I had my sites set on winning this tournament and yet had always fallen short before. This time I got it done!
This win has gotten me a lot of press. This will be good for me and for my rod company and it’s neat that most of my fish came on two of my sponsors baits.
I haven’t fished a lot the last few years. I still do a lot of promotions. I’ve done 11 club seminars in the last eight weeks. Being so busy doing promotional work over the last few years, it cuts into the time you have to prepare for tournaments. My fishing has suffered the last few years because I haven’t always been as prepared, as I needed to be. So the fact I was able to set mind to it, put the time in to prepare correctly and go out and catch them is extremely satisfying.
My ride home (from Lake Mead) was 11 ½ hours and I was on my phone 100% of the time. The response from my friends and family has been overwhelming. It was awesome all the way around and I’m already looking forward to next year.
Photo by WON Bass / Rich Holland
Below is a color chart for the Gunfish 115
Purchase Links
Northern Bass Supply – Lucky Craft BDS 4 Crankbait
Tacklewarehouse – Lucky Craft Gunfish
Congrats to Gary for his wire to wire win at the Open!!I was pulling for him all the way,plus the fact that he’s from NorCal.I lived their for 40 years so I’ve followed his career thru the years. We had Gary at our club meeting (NorCal Trophy Hunters Bass Club)in Sacramento and everyone recieved a Lucky Craft!! Gary and LC a winning team !!
Danny Barker