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Dean Rojas was the top angler in Group B with a two-day total of 28 bass weighing 76 pounds, 1 ounce. Photo by Phoenix Moore. Angler: Dean Rojas.

FEBRUARY 23, 2024 • MITCHELL FORDE • BASS PRO TOUR CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — Early on during Group B’s second day on the water at Suzuki Stage Two Presented by FenwickDean Rojas struggled to recapture his Day 1 success. Rojas had stacked 16 bass weighing 48 pounds, 14 ounces on SCORETRACKER® during his first day on the Santee Cooper lakes, but he went more than two hours Friday morning without boating a scorable fish.

Once Rojas relocated a population of bass, though, the action heated up in a hurry. He got on the board with a 5-pounder, then caught another 11 fish, bringing his two-day total to 76-1. He finished atop the leaderboard for Group B, a mere 10 ounces ahead of Brent Ehrler

Rojas’ day summed up the action across lakes Marion and Moultrie. A morning that started slow ended with two bass over 9 pounds and 20 over 6 hitting the scales. Despite many of the top anglers using the afternoon to scout new water, the field combined to catch 249 scorable bass for 824-14 – easily the biggest totals of any day so far.

Rojas will lead a strong Top 10 from Group B into Saturday’s Knockout Round. The top four finishers all eclipsed 74 pounds across two days, a mark no Group A anglers hit. And that doesn’t include Jacob Wheeler, the six-time BPT winner who practiced all day after stacking up 53-7 (still the best day of the event) on Wednesday. They’ll face off with the Top 10 anglers from Group A on Saturday.

Complete results can be found here.

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Photo by Phoenix Moore Having put plenty of distance between himself and the cut line on Wednesday, Rojas, too, used his second day of competition to explore new water on the massive 170,000-acre playing field that is Santee Cooper. He never returned to the area where he caught his Day 1 bag, instead scouting a few other spots where he’d gotten bit during practice.

“The stuff I fished today was just secondary stuff that I had,” he said. “It’s not my main stuff. I caught ‘em really good the first day, so there was no sense in working on those fish anymore.”

Rojas is doing something a bit different than the majority of anglers, not spending as much time around the fishery’s many cypress trees. He didn’t want to detail his tactics but said he’s focusing on areas where bass are moving up to stage. 

“There’s probably a few that are up there (spawning), and there’s some that are coming,” Rojas said. “It’s still the very first beginnings of it.”

While he found plenty of fish, Rojas didn’t catch the same quality on Friday, boating just one bass bigger than 3 pounds. As a result, he plans to return to his Day 1 area during what figures to be an explosive Knockout Round. 

Still, he sees the day as a success, having eliminated some water and added more to his arsenal should he have to veer from Plan A.

“I have lots of options,” he said. “I feel very comfortable. The stuff that I fished today I can fish again tomorrow, and the stuff that I didn’t fish today, I can still go back again tomorrow.”

As for what it will take to make the Championship Round, Rojas speculated that the cut will fall around 45 pounds – although he admitted that could be way off. Santee Cooper has proven fickle this week, with lots of anglers putting together impressive bags but few doing so on consecutive days. The only safe bet seems to be that whoever does unlock the bite will have a chance to land some big ones.

“I have no idea,” Rojas said. “I’m going to try and catch every single bass I can tomorrow.”

Full Story

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GrandViewOutdoors.com - The new SPRO Speed Demon crankbait lip design creates a tight hard action that generates an eye-catching flash and a distinct vibration that triggers a strike in hungry fish. The Speed Demon is the brainchild of Major League Fishing bass angler Dean Rojas, who wanted a crankbait for aggressively fishing depths of 3 to 5 feet, and the 3/8-ounce, 55mm (2.2 inches) long Speed Demon excels in these conditions. As intended, a fast retrieve generates the hardest action and covers a lot of water — perfect for finding hungry fish. Slowing the retrieve dampens its wobble slightly and is a better tactic for sluggish fish. The new crankbait features super-sharp Gamakatsu trebles. MSRP: $13.99. Contact: www.spro.com

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After the bass spawn, some stick around in shallow water and some head to the depths. Along with the ending bass spawn, you also have shad and bluegill spawns, creating some of the most dynamic and fast-changing times of the year. To make the most of the early days of summer, Dean Rojas moves quickly, targets transitional areas, and looks for spawning bluegill.

Postspawn and Early Summer Locations

Rojas loves fishing this time of year because it allows him to do two things that fit right into his strengths: fish shallow and fast.

“It’s a great time of year because a bulk of the fish are up shallow and easier to catch, in my opinion,” he said. “The water is warming and changing every day and you have the shad spawn and then the bluegill spawn, which are always a factor this time of year. All of the food is shallow, so that’s where most of the bass will be.”

When looking for bluegill beds, Rojas uses his experience of where they spawn, but adds other senses like smell and hearing.

“The bluegill like to spawn on flat points and in little cuts, drains, and indentations that are protected,” he said. “You can also hear them popping on bugs and smell them; it’s a unique aroma that’s the same as fishing for bluegill with worms on the bank. It’s a fresh smell and you’ll know it when you smell it. 

“The neat thing about the bluegill spawn is that once you figure out places they are spawning, it will be the same in every cove and pocket, and you can run that all over the lake to find more.”

He’ll stick around once he finds forage activity of any kind because he says the bass won’t be far away.

“If you get in areas with forage, the bass will be there and usually, if you get one bite, you’ll get several more,” he said. “I’ve also learned that fish tend to group up by size after they spawn and you can get into a big group of females feeding on bluegill while the males are still up guarding fry.”

Targeting Bass in Transition

Rojas enjoys fishing after the spawn because power fishing dominates and he has the opportunity to fish some of his favorite lures, including the SPRO Bronzeye Frog that he’s known for.

“It’s time to throw power baits like a frog, flipping, crankbait, topwater, vibrating jig, and to pitch and flip,” he said. “The fish are just starting to move out and the 5 to 6 feet range is usually very good. You can fish fast or slow and catch fish this time of year.”

When fishing a frog, Rojas uses both the standard and popping version of his namesake frog and mixes in topwater baits and soft plastics.

“Frogging is a good portion of what I’m doing this time of year, but you can do a lot of things to catch them,” he said. “The popping frog is king because you can work it slower and imitate spawning bluegill. The topwater bite with walking baits and poppers is also good and so is a vibrating jig or Carolina rig with a short leader. There’s just so many ways to catch them this time of year and a lot of activity up shallow, which is why this is such a great time to be out fishing.”