Harriman Wins Toyota Series Tournament on LOZ

Jewel Bait Company and Virtus/Jewel Rods Pro Staffer, Travis Harriman, wins the MLF Toyota Series on Lake of the Ozarks. Harriman won the tournament with a 3 day total of 42-12lbs, and took home the $40,000 1st place prize. Travis had the largest bags of the tournament each of the first two days, and he managed to hold on the third and final day even with only weighing in one fish. 

Harriman caught his fish up the Niangua arm of Lake of the Ozarks, and he primarily focused on fishing boat docks. Leading up to the Tournament Harriman and his travel partner, Drew Sagely, split the lake in half during practice and they each practiced one end of the lake and then at the end of the practice day they would share what they learned. One of Harriman’s key spots that helped him win the tournament he gave credit to Drew Sagely for helping him find, and without him he might not have been able to pull off the win. 

Harriman caught all of his fish on a jig around docks. On shallower docks he would use the Jewel 1/2oz J-Lock Flippin Jig, and then he would opt for a Jewel 3/4oz Football Jig around deeper docks. He used the same color skirt on both jigs, Green Pumpkin Candy/Purple Flash. Harriman said that the J-Lock Flippin Jig was a go to for him because of it’s unique head design that makes it easy to skip, along with the fact that the J-Lock keeper system on the jig kept his trailer in perfect position while skipping, which is a huge key to being as efficient as possible when fishing docks. When he would fish deeper docks the 3/4oz Football Jig was key because it would create a reaction bite with how fast it would fall and because of that added weight he could skip it really far back underneath the docks into the deepest and darkest places. Travis said that he could watch fish follow the 3/4oz Football Jig on the fall with forward facing sonar (Lowrance Active Target). He said that the bass would either hit the jig on the fall or they would follow it down to the bottom. When they would follow it down to the bottom Travis would drag it and hop it slow and work it around all of the cross bars on the docks. That slower methodical approach would convince some of those finicky bass into biting. 

Travis said that his Virtus/Jewel Rods played a huge roll in his win. He used the Red Diamond Titan (7’0” Heavy Moderate Fast) with the 1/2oz J-Lock Fishing Jig, and he would use the Red Diamond Flip/Pitch (7’6” Heavy Fast) with the 3/4oz Football Jig. “My Virtus/Jewel Rods helped me a lot this tournament. Because they are so light and sensitive I was able to fish docks all day long with little to no fatigue, and they are so incredibly sensitive I was able to feel the lightest of bites and was even able to distinguish easily what types of cover were underneath the docks” said Harriman. Harriman chose the Titan because the length and power allowed him to be super accurate with his jig and pull fish out from underneath the dock. He said he opted for the Flip/Pitch rod with the 3/4oz Football Jig because of where he was skipping it he needed that extra six inches of length to maximize his skipping distance underneath those deeper docks. He would pair up his Virtus/Jewel Rods with a high speed reel and 25lb test fluorocarbon line in order to pull those fish out from underneath the docks.

“This win on Lake of the Ozarks truly proves that when it’s your time, it’s your time. Even though I had that big lead going into the final day I knew when I only brought one fish into weigh in that I had probably gave this one away. Fortunately LOZ was tough on everyone Saturday and I was able to catch the right fish at the right time to lock up the victory. The good Lord really looked out for me with this one, and blessed me with a great win” said Harriman.

With this win, Harriman firmly secured his spot in the Toyota Series Championship on his home lake, Table Rock Lake, November 2-4.