Few anglers departed northeast Oklahoma as fired up as Bobby Lane following Zenni Stage 6 on Grand Lake. While ideally Lane would have hauled home another trophy from the shores of Grand, the Florida native was tickled with his 5th place result which garnered a $4,000 dividend from Toyota Bonus Bucks.
“Big Fish” Bobby was the highest finishing angler towing his boat with a 2022 or newer Toyota tow vehicle, which earned Lane the extra pocket full of cash following Stage 6. Lane said he has relied on a Toyota Tundra to tow his boat around the country for the past 16-seasons as a full-time professional.
While the long-time Bonus Bucks participant was excited about his added reward, what had him most stoked was the way he caught his fish on Grand. Old-school flipping and pitching, mainly around Grand Lake’s renowned bushes and willow trees.
“I finally got a fish a tournament ‘in the bushes’,” Lane said excitedly. “You hear so much about the flooded bush bite on places like Grand, throughout the Ozarks, or some Tennessee River lakes like Pickwick or Kentucky Lakes; but we often miss that bite on the professional circuit. Mother Nature and our schedule finally aligned and, boy, I had such a good time. After practice and four days of competing, I never wanted to quit fishing.”
Coming from an angler in his 25th year as a full-time pro, that’s high praise. Lane believes Grand Lake is one of, if not the best, non-grass fishery in the country. When water levels stay near normal there isn’t much shallow cover for anglers to target in the summer months, but when the water rises all that changes.
Bass Pro Tour competitors were greeted to a Grand that was several feet above normal during Stage 6, which meant miles of shallow bushes, laydowns, and clumps of willow trees were flooded and provided perfect ambush points for fish. Many BPT pros capitalized on this bite, but none more so than Lane.
Bobby admitted he watched weather reports and water levels for weeks, hoping he’d get a chance to fish a high-water summertime event on Grand. Of course, Lane has flipped flooded bushes before, but he said it was always fun-fishing or during practice. Conditions never held to where a flooded, shallow flipping deal had been Lane’s primary pattern.
After accumulating over $3 million in career earnings, Bobby can finally say that changed in June of his 25th year on tour. Lane employed his system of a 7-foot 6-inch Heavy Fantasista Rod, 50-pound Spiderwire Durabraid line, ½-ounce sinker and a 4/0 Fusion Hook to land nearly every bass he put on the SCORETRACKER.
Throughout the week Lane dialed in on the pinch points where fresh fish would replenish, even with fluctuating water levels every day. He was keyed in to cover that had slightly deeper water around it versus more monotonous stretches of shoreline. Another key detail was his bait color, which B. Lane kept extremely simple.
“I went through every black and blue bait I owned,” Lane said with a smile. “A (Berkley) Pit Boss was my main deal, but I’m not exaggerating by the final day I was rigging any black and blue soft plastic I could find in my boat. I caught so many fish, and good ones, too. It was just incredible.”
Lane’s finish added to his impressive track record on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, along with another check from the popular contingency program offered by Toyota.
Bonus Bucks is free to register for, and you don’t need to be a top pro like Bobby to benefit. There are over 620 bass and walleye tournaments open to anglers of all levels eligible for extra payouts through Toyota Bonus Bucks. For more information or to sign-up today, visit: https://www.toyotatrucksbonusbucks.com/ or send an email to bonusbucks@dynamicsponsorships.com.
