Top Baits: Juniata Regatta

By Marty Hughes

Here are your top baits used for success at the Juniata Regatta recently...

Jordan Lovejoy of Maryland with 94.5 inches on his best five bass used a Little Miami Outfitters Proteus 7’3” medium heavy rod to throw chatterbaits at isolated rock in the river. He fished fast, eliminating water and covered 34 miles over two days with his Newport Vessels NK300 HD motor while hitting rocks on most of the journey. The motor held up perfectly and even after covering a ton of miles on the water each day. Lovejoy still had over 50% of battery power left over when he got to the ram at the end of the day. His motor was powered by a LoPro 36 V 50 amp hour lithium battery.

Lovejoy used a variety of chatterbaits to win the Juniata event.

Another view of Lovejoy's chatterbaits.

Matt Campbell of Maryland finished with 91.5 inches for a respectable third place finish. His best bites came on a ZMan Evo Chatterbait in green pumpkin with a Zako trailer and a Whopper Plopper 90. Campbell mentioned, “The chatterbait helped me catch two upgrades in the last hour to jump about nine inches and land in third.” 

Both of Campbell’s setups included Irod Crusher models in medium heavy and heavy. He said, “These rods are great and have put in a lot of work over the seasons catching fish.” Campbell really likes them paired with SLx and Curado reels spooled with P-Line fluorocarbon which allows him to make the casts he prefers. Campbell mentioned, “The overall event was great and being able to fish an evening followed by the next day of fishing is a fun twist.” He used his Jackson Coosa and kept it light to get around the shallow water areas easier. He removed his YakAttack Blackpad and reduced the number of rods. He only brought on a couple of small tackle boxes and some plastics with a few rods.  Campbell wants to thank the Delaware Paddlesports company for their continued support. 

Campbell with his top baits used at the Juniata event.

Campbell used a Whopper Plopper 90 and a ZMan Evo chatterbait to catch his fish.

Ryan Parker of Ohio finished with 89.25 inches for a fourth place finish. Fishing Penn’s Creek presented the added challenge of low clear water with most of his big fish being caught with a homemade Maribou hair jig and a ½ oz Mad Mouth Living Rubber Arkie jig paired with a Riot Tantrum chunk trailer. Parker mentioned, “When it was time to really slow down I sight fished some wary bass using a neko rigged hellgrammite bait that will be featured in the upcoming July, Dark Horse Tackle box. 

As for rods and reels, Parker lost most of his usual combos after capsizing in practice before the event. He wanted to give thanks to his 2024 teammate, Steve Baker and Jake Heppner for getting him set back up with some “hand-me-down” rods and reels for the event. 

Parker with his setups and lures for the Juniata event.

Parker's top three baits included a homemade Maribou hair jig and a ½ oz Mad Mouth Living Rubber Arkie jig paired with a Riot Tantrum chunk trailer and a Neko rigged hellgrammite bait.

Bill Durboraw of Pennsylvania used a Berkley Choppo in a bone and black color. His St. Croix Legend Tournament 7’2” heavy/moderate rod paired with a Daiwa Zillion SV TW 8.5 and 19 lb Sunline Shooter Defier line. He also threw a Bass Mafia Daingerous 5” loaded swimbait in albino violet on a St. Croix Legend X 7’ medium heavy/fast rod with a Daiwa Zillion SV TW7.1 spooled with Sunline Shooter line. His third presentation was an Undercover bait Twitch in Wagasim on a 5/0 VMC Redline Swivel Fluke hook. His St. Croix Legend Elite 7’1” medium heavy/X-fast rod for this presentation was paired with a Shimano Vanford reel spooled with 16 lb Sunline and SX1 braid to a 12 lb Sunline FC leader. 

Durboraw targeted wood in deeper pockets and ledges with the “Daingerous” swimbait. Current seams and a mild current cover were perfect for his Choppo and Twitch baits. He covered about 20 miles of water on Saturday just looking for aggressive fish that were starting to feed up again after the spawn. Durboraw is partial to the Jackson Coosa X and mentioned that it is the best river kayak made. He paired this kayak with a Torqeedo motor and an Innovative Sportsman rock guard that made it possible to cover so much shallow water “fast, efficiently, and flawlessly”, according to Durboraw.

Durboraw with his arsenal of baits that propelled him to a top five finish at Juniata.

Durboraw's baits included a Berkley Choppo in a bone and black color, Bass Mafia Daingerous 5” loaded swimbait in albino violet, and a Undercover bait Twitch in Wagasim.

Carlile Esterly of Pennsylvania finished in eighth place with 87 inches using a soft plastic bait called “Twitch” by Undercover baits in the color “Wagasim.” It is a fluke style bait. He threw this bait on an NRX+ 7’1” medium/extra fast with 10 lb Power Pro braided line and a 10 lb Seaguar Tatsu leader. The rod was paired with a Shimano Vanford 3000 reel. 

Esterly’s other bait that he threw was a Megabass Over Rev Crank (wakebait) in Pro Blue. This bait was paired with a Shimano Zodias 7’2” medium with a Shimano Bantam 8:1 with 30 lb Vicious braided line. 

Easterly with his two main presentations of the “Twitch” by Undercover baits in the color “Wagasim" and Megabass Over Rev Crank (wakebait) in Pro Blue.

A closer look at Easterly's wakebait, the Megabass Over Rev Crank in Pro Blue.

The fluke style bait called the “Twitch” by Undercover baits in the color “Wagasim" played a key role in Easterly's success at Juniata.