[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWd7MTMjKPg]

The winning pattern on Lake Seminole was the shad spawn bite first thing in the morning.  Brandon McMillan capitalized on it for the win and so did a few others in the Top 10.  Shaye Baker, from Reeltown, AL, is no stranger to shad spawns and was thinking right with his approach to Lake Seminole.   The above video clip gives you some insights into how Shaye parlayed an early morning shad spawn bite into a topwater bite later in the day.    His shad spawn bite on Day 2 wasn’t so strong, but he had a back up game plan and it payed off and got him into the Top 10 cut.  He came back on Day 3 with another solid bag, anchored with shad spawn fish.  He had his first fish in the boat, a solid 4+ kicker,  four minutes after takeoff.  Think about that.  He wasn’t running 30-45 minutes in the morning.  He used that early morning time to fish and had a spot near the take off so he could be fishing while the shad were spawning up along hyacinth mats and the quality bass were feeding on ’em.   That is fishing smart, and having a back up gameplan (the Bowstick/top water bite) was insurance and helped him make the cut and ultimately finish 4th place.  Nice work Shaye.   Shaye is a success story from the world of FLW College Fishing, where he had a colored career fishing for the University of Auburn, and is part of a class of recent grads that are killing it at the Everstart and Tour levels.

Shaye’s Weapons of Choice:

Jackall Bowstick

1/4 oz. Netbait Paca Swim Jig (Glimmer Shad) with a Baby Paca Craw Trailer

Homemade “Team Baker” (Shaye and his father make their own spinnerbaits) spinnerbait, tandem silver willow leaf  blades and blue glimmer skirt