The first pro bass tournament of the year promised an exciting start to the season with new forward-facing sonar rules and expectations of big fish in the Lone Star State. It lived up to the hype, with sophomore angler Justin Cooper pulling out a Bass Pro Tour victory with a buzzer-beater fish.

Justin Cooper’s Victory

The final day of competition for Bass Pro Tour’s Stage One at Lake Conroe came down to the last moments. Three anglers were in contention in the final period, and during the final 20 minutes, Justin Cooper was barely holding onto the lead.

Colby Miller only needed 2 pounds, 1 ounce to catch Justin, and Jacob Wall needed 2 pounds, 9 ounces to catch the leader. Viewers could feel the tension on each boat as all three anglers fought to secure their first-ever victory.

Jacob Wall

Jacob Wall had been successfully fishing shallow with a swimbait during the last part of the day. He knew it would only take one fish to take the lead and spent his final minutes running and gunning, eating up precious minutes driving the boat.

He would make a few casts at a precise target, and when it didn’t pan out, he would fire up the motor and head to the next spot. Even though it was eating time, he had confidence from past success. Unfortunately, he came up blank.

Colby Miller

Colby Miller hunkered down and decided to maximize fishing time in the area he was in. He was targeting shallow grass with a lipless crankbait, a technique that accounted for most of his fish during his non-forward-facing sonar periods. With 10 minutes left, he had numerous fish slap at his bait but fail to connect, and it seemed like the victory was going to be his.

He came up tight on a bass with 2 minutes left in the tournament. As the fish neared the boat, he said, “I don’t think that’s the 2 pounds, 1 ounce I need.” He handed the fish to his Marshall, who announced a weight of 2 pounds, 10 ounces. Colby’s face lit up with joy — it seemed like he had just won his first-ever MLF tournament. He took the lead by 9 ounces.

Justin Cooper

What he didn’t know was that Justin Cooper also hooked up a few moments after he hooked his fish. Emotions were high as Justin reeled in that fish. He was unaware that Colby had taken the lead, but he knew that one more fish would likely mean a $150,000 check for him and his family. Justin pulled it into the boat, but it looked like it might be too small to score.

Seconds felt like an eternity as the Marshall waited for the fish to settle so he could get an official weight. It weighed 1 pound, 10 ounces, and Justin took back his lead after being in second place for a mere 22 seconds. The clock ran out, and he won his first professional tournament with his family nearby watching.

Techniques From the Top Anglers

Stage One on Lake Conroe was the first professional tournament that limited the use of forward-facing sonar. Competitors could use their forward-facing sonar for one period on each competition day. No one knew how this would affect strategy and if it would affect who came out on top.

During the week, the most weight was caught utilizing Livescope techniques. However, anglers who only found success utilizing Livescope struggled and found themselves on the outside looking in during the championship round.

The top guys put their heads down and hammered fish with Livescope but then also turned around and found bass fishing shallow vegetation with classic power fishing techniques. You couldn’t be a one-trick pony this week.

Forward-Facing Sonar Plays a Big Role

In the championship round, MLF announcer and retired pro J.T. Kenney reflected on his time as an angler and said that tournaments “are a marathon, not a sprint,” but with the new forward-facing sonar rules, “the tournament is a sprint within a marathon.”

Each angler had to execute and “sprint” during their forward-facing sonar period and produce as much weight as possible. It seemed very stressful for the field, and guys who didn’t land big numbers with Livescope knew their chances were slim.

The entire field used a soft plastic minnow on a jighead while fishing with forward-facing sonar. Most fished off-shore, chasing schools of fish and casting at individuals showing agreeable behavior. It was the classic screen-staring that has given Livescope a bad reputation. It all came down to efficiency and stumbling on the right fish.

During non-Livescope periods, the top-producing anglers found success with a few different baits. The bladed jig started out hot. In fact, at the end of Day 1, Takahiro Omori was in second place with 74 pounds, 8 ounces, catching all but one of his fish on a bladed jig in vegetation. He didn’t even use his Livescope. That bite didn’t last for Tak, but the rest of the field found success through the championship round using it.

The lipless crankbait was another favorite, and it ultimately won the tournament for Justin Cooper. Most anglers utilized it in the mid-to-upper portion of Lake Conroe, where the most vegetation is. They fished it off-shore and on shallow flats through hydrilla and grass pockets.

The Bass Pro Tour Resumes February 13-16 at the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Fla. We’ll see if forward-facing sonar plays as big a part of the tournament in a state characterized by shallow-water fisheries and early spawn activity. You can tune into the live action at majorleaguefishing.com.