When you’re 6-foot-5, people ask you to reach the top-shelf stuff and help rescue cats from trees.
Lake Howell probably gets some of that, but when he sized up his Leech Lake game plan, the Alabama pro knew he could benefit from a little reach advantage of his own.
Applying his Lake Guntersville roots to this northern fishery, Howell targeted the big largemouth bass hiding deep within wild grass fields. Poking around the edges of this native vegetation will produce a few bites, but the quality Howell sought was hunkered deep within the stalky habitat.
With most emergent habitat scenarios from Florida’s Kissimmee Grass, to Texas timber, to California tules, reaching fortified fish simply requires a little trolling motor navigation. However, the Native American cultural significance to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe prohibits anglers from encroaching.
Howell’s solution: Extend his already advantageous reach.
“I got a 7-9 Daiwa Tatula Elite Long Cast Frog rod, 80-pound Daiwa Samaurai braid and a Sniper Frog and I’m just slinging around and catchin’ ‘em,” Howell said. “I’m getting (around) the rice and targeting little differences that people are missing and just picking stuff apart really slowly.
“It’s not going to be a huge bay, it’s going to be a little nook with a single pad in it — something that no one’s going to pay attention to and that’s where the big ones are holding.”
Now, reaching fish is one thing. Extracting a big one from heavy cover is another. Thankfully, Howell’s gear has helped overcome that challenge.
“A lot of guys have been losing fish because they’re using too short of a rod,” Howell said. “Everyone thinks I’m crazy for using that 7-9 rod, but at Guntersville, I fish grass mats, so I’m used to pulling fish out of heavy cover. That’s the whole key to that.”
After placing 21st on Day 1 with 19-10, Howell enjoyed a strong Day-2 start that delivered the early lead. Anchoring his limit with a 5-4, Howell had 18-13 with a lead of over 5 pounds by 9 a.m.
Howell fished the same game plan at the 2024 Leech Lake event and placed 22nd. With windy conditions hampering the offshore smallmouth game — the expected path to victory — Howell’s strategy will likely serve him better this time.
“Last year, about all I did was throw a frog, so I came here to have fun and topwater fish,” he said. “It turned out a lot better this year.”
