COLUMBIA, S.C. (Aug. 1, 2024) – A well-known and decorated shallow water specialist, Keith Carson, with Berkley PowerBait MaxScent in tow, tricked the winning fish earning the Major League Fishing Invitational Victory on the Detroit River. With a three-day total weight of 67 pounds, 6 ounces of smallmouth bass, Carson put the hammer down on the MLF Invitational season finale.
Carson relied on his electronics to locate isolated big smallmouth bass roaming the abyss of Lake St. Clair. During his practice days, Carson found a lot of fish, but knew that the average three-to-four-pound class fish was not going to cut it. After some time and diligence, he was able to find the winning, larger class fish. He dedicated his tournament days to chasing these isolated fish he knew could give him a chance to win.
“Throughout my practice, I split time between Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair and caught good fish in both places,” said Carson. “I felt better about spending my tournament days in St. Clair and ended up catching all my fish out of there. I figured out during practice that the fish in the schools were all three to four pounds, but if I slid out away from the schools, I could find bigger than average fish by themselves. I committed to an area in Anchor Bay and had to relocate my fish every day of the tournament, but it seemed like if I got one to bite it was over 4.5 pounds.”
During the tournament Carson relied on one rod-and-reel combo to ultimately pull off the come-from-behind victory. Carson utilized a 7-foot 2-inch Medium Light Fenwick World Class spinning rod paired with a size 3000 Abu Garcia Zenon LTX spinning reel, 8-pound Berkley Fireline and a 10lb Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon leader. At the end of that combination, he fished a ⅛-ounce jighead with a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flatnose Jerk Shad in the color Black Shiner and Blue Pearl Black Hologram.
“I relied heavily on the PowerBait MaxScent Flatnose Jerk Shad this week. Color did not seem to matter much throughout the week, but I rotated through a few different baitfish colors depending on how the fish reacted,” said Carson. “I caught some fish this week right under my boat that normally never bite, and I definitely have to attribute that to MaxScent. It was just one of those weeks where everything seemed to go my way.”
“The rod I used throughout practice and the tournament was the 7-foot 2-inch Medium Light Fenwick World Class spinning rod,” explained Carson. “That rod is one of the best spinning rods I have ever used; it’s lightweight, extremely sensitive, and has the perfect action for how I was catching my fish. I’ve committed to getting better using my forward-facing-sonar and throughout the process I have caught a ton of fish on this setup.”
With this win Carson took home a payday of $80,000 and punched his ticket to Major League Fishing REDCREST 2025 with his win. With one tournament remaining in the Bass Pro Tour season at the St. Lawrence River and a qualification for REDCREST, he looks forward to keeping the momentum rolling.
To learn more about Berkley Fishing, click here.
To learn more about Fenwick, click here.
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