Zell Pop: Match the size and color to the local bluegill. Fish this topwater lure over bream beds when they're spawning. Start slow and quiet. Increase your speed and splash only when it's necessary. Don't set the hook too quickly, make sure you give them a chance to take it.
Zoom Trick Worm: I throw this lure Texas rigged with a 1/4oz Tru-Tungsten weight around main lake docks. Start shallow and work your way out deep. Work it with a slow drag at first. If that doesn't produce, speed it up a little and maybe add a hop or two to your retrieve. I like the green pumpkin color.
Bandit 100 Series: This crankabit will produce best in dark or dingy water using a bright and flashy color. Basically, it's a replacement choice for a spinnerbait-conditioned bass. Bounce it off something whenever possible. You're looking for a reaction bite. Don't give them any time to look things over.
What's On My Line August 2010. Bass Times (Marty Stone pg. 6)
Location:The best offshore structure consists of irregular bottom features that lie away from the bank. On reservoirs, this would include long and sloping points, river and creek channels that bend, humps and ditches. On natural lakes, it may be underwater points, inside turns or dropoffs adjacent to large flats that extend out into the lake. This is where you'll find the strongest current and wind, both of which play a big role in getting bass active.
Lure Presentation: Casting angles matter too. You want to present your lures with the natural flow of water even if the current doesn't appear to be that strong. If it's wind-generated, throw in the wind so the bait moves with the waves. Feeding fish will face moving water knowing it carries forage into their strike zone. It's also important to know how the bass are using the structure because it determines which lure or presentation can be fished most effectively. If the fish are suspended, bottom-hugging lures aren't going to do the job unless you modify how you fish them.
Lure Selection: The crankbait is my favorite lure. It's fabulous choice for fishing ledges, drop-offs, points and humps because it triggers reactionary strikes and helps me feel what is on the bottom. Strike King recently created the Series 6XD that will dig on the bottom in 20 feet of water. This has really enhanced my deep fishing since I prefer a crankbait that runs deeper than the bottom I'm fishing.
If I determine fish are in an area but not interested in the crankbait, I'll opt for other lures such as a football jig. There's something special about the way a football shaped head disturbs the bottom and triggers inactive fish into biting. I nearly always rig with Strike King Rage Craw as a trailer because of how its active tails move water and draw attention to the lure.
A Carolina rig fashioned with a soft plastic lure like a 10Ó worm or soft jerkbait would be next choice. This gives me a combination of horizontal and vertical presentations because I can either drag them around or pull them off the bottom to make it flutter back.
Big fish, especially inactive fish holding deep, often will respond to a large spoon fluttering like a dying shad. Strike King's 5Ó Sexy Spoon is money when the bass are targeting big shad. I cast it out on 20lb fluorocarbon line, let it sink to the bottom with some tension on the line and then snap it violently with the rod tip to make it jump and flutter back.
A big spinnerbait is another lure that catches suspended bass. My Strike King Bottom Dweller has narrow blades to help keep it down. I cast it over the structure, let it sink to the bottom with tension on the line and then slow-roll it just above the bottom where it can glance off cover.
How I Make A Living Power Fishing Offshore Sweet Spots Septemeber 2010. Bassin (Kevin VanDam pg. 56-62)
Location:
Off Shore Structure: If there is one arena where the Texas-rigged worm is still a go-to lure, it's on offshore structure. ÒOne of my favorite times to use a soft plastic worm is when bass go deep during the summer and hold on offshore ledges and main lake river channels,Ó says FLW pro Brent Ehrler. Offshore is a place for using the largest of ribbon-tail worms.
Lure Presentation: Whether it's deep or shallow, pro typically use a lift-wind cadence to work their worms. The lift or hop of the rod tip gets the worm off the bottom enough to let the tail achieve its maximum action. However, more and more of the pros are working their worms as they would Carolina rigs - just dragging them over and through cover. That's exactly how Nixon won at the 2007 FLW Tour Lake Norman event.
Weight Issues: The heaviest bullet sinker that FLW pros Larry Nixon, Brent Erhler & Jason Christie will put in front of a worm is a 5/16oz weight, and that's only for fishing 10 feet or deeper. Anything shallower and a 3/16oz weight is more than heavy enough. ÒIf I'm fishing real shallow cover, I'll drop down as light as 1/8oz weight because you don't want to make a real loud splash when you are putting the lure where the fish are,Ó Nixon says. ÒGenerally, you want to use as light as a weight as you can without losing contact with the lure.Ó
New Lessons in Old-School Wormin' August/September 2010. FLW (David Hart pg. 56-61)
In larger lakes, tournament launch areas are bass tournament bases, so plenty of good bass are released there on a regular basis. A boat ramp by nature is a hard spot that grows algae to feed aquatic critters, making it popular with baitfish. The end of a boat ramp is an edge, sometimes associated with broken concrete or chunk rock.
Location: Some boat ramps are worthless. A short ramp in stable water body may not attract bass. But some ramps are little gold mines. Arkansas big bass expert Mitch Looper puts little used boat ramps at the top of several lists of spots to check throughout the year. FLW pro Kyle Mabrey's favorite boat ramp to fish is a double ramp with a 6 or 8 foot barrier in between. ÒThose ramps where there are two individual ramps with the gap between are awesome,Ó he adds. ÒThere's always chunk rock in that gap running the length of the ramp.Ó
Lure Selection: ÒI love to crank a red crankbait right down the ramps,Ó Mabrey says. ÒI also throw a jig on the ramp, working it slowly in the scooped out depression at the end and in any rocky structure.Ó
Boat Ramps Best Places To Fish This Summer Septemeber 2010. Bassin (Keith Jackson pg. 50-55)
No bass addict would hit the water without a wide selection of jigs, but many anglers give short shrift to jig trailers. They stick with one or two favorites and leave it at that. The trailer is the last thing a bass sees when it's deciding whether to inhale your jig.
Pork Frog: Many fisherman have forsaken the venerable Uncle Josh Pork Frog because it can flip around and prevent hook penetration. It also shrivels up on you deck. However, no soft plastic bait equals pork's subtle action, texture and salty taste. Pork works well for bottom hopping and yo-yoing in cover, and it excels in cold water.
Plastic Chunk: Zoom's Salty Pro Chunks and similar trailers give a jig the same appealing profile that pork frogs do. Although a plastic chunk doesn't equal pork in texture or action, it won't dry out or interfere with a hook set. Another advantage as with all plastic trailers are the wide choice of colors, including flakes that let you match your jig and water conditions.
Plastic Craw: Because a jig mimics a crawfish, you can make a strong case that the plastic craw is the ultimate trailer. Bassmaster Elite Series pro Tommy Biffle has won a pile of money on Gene Larew's Salt Craw. "When bass stop eating crawfish," he said. "I'll stop fishing the Salt Craw." Craws excel for penetrating dense wood and grass cover when you can hang the jig and dance it in a bass' face. Strike King's Rage Tail Craw and other craws that feature lively flapping pincers also do well with swimming, bottom hopping and bottom dragging retrieves.
Double Tail Grub: You can't beat a double tail grub, such as those molded with Berkley's Powerbait when dragging a jig. This is why so many anglers dress their football jigs with a double tail. Even when the jig crawls slowly over the bottom, those twin curly tails undulate enticingly.
Creature Bait: When fishing a body of water known for growing heavyweight bass, or when you need a kicker fish, bulk up your jig with a multi limbed creature bait. Yum's Wooly Hawgtail is one of many. Creature baits produce with flip and pitch presentations, but they don't penetrate cover as easily as smaller trailers.
5 Hot Jig Trailers May 2010. Bass Times (Mark Hicks pg. 6)
Because bass do tend to be more active at night, noise-making lures rank high on the list of productive lures, and these are certainly part of Vick's nighttime arsenal. But Vick is a strong believer in softer baits as well.
Spinnerbaits:
On windier nights when creature baits and big worms lose some of their effectiveness in the water turbulence, Vick suggests fishing a big spinnerbait. His favorite places are around boat docks, over grassbeds and along tapering points. "I have the most success with spinnerbaits on Lake Fork when I use a raise-and-drop type of presentation so the blades change their vibration continually, and I try to keep the lure close to the bottom," he explains.
Creature Baits:
Vick likes creature baits for night fishing for the same reason he likes big jigs: They move a lot of water and broadcast their presence to bass. Creature baits, however, have a more slender profile than jigs, so he suggests using them around boat docks, brushpiles and other cover. "I like to Texas rig a creature bait so it will get in and out of bushy cover without getting snagged," he explains, "but with all their appendages, these lures still have more vibration and water movement than a plastic worm."
Jigs:
"Overall, I believe the primary difference in lure selection for night fishing is using larger lures," the Lake Fork veteran says. "Everyone knows how much I like to use jigs, and so at night I use a 1-1/4oz rattling jig. Much of night fishing is about getting a bass' attention with your lure, so I keep my boat out in slightly deeper water and cast to the outside edge of grasslines where the bass are patrolling. Then I jerk it out with a series of pumps and drops so the lure is really moving erratically up and down." The same retrieve can be used along underwater ridges, over dropoffs, even through stumps and timber.
Big Worms:
On lakes without vegetation, there is probably no more time-honored lure for night fishing than a big 10 or 12 inch plastic worm. Primarily, Vick prefers them for structure fishing rather than cover fishing, especially on lakes where trophy class bass may be present. "I like to Texas rig big worms with a slip sinker and crawl them up slopes and points," he explains. "I think when you're fishing on the bottom and retrieve from deep water to shallow that you may bring bass to you with a big worm. I don't limit myself to simply inching these lures along the bottom. I hop them, I raise my rod to pull them up, then let them swim back down, and I speed them up by reeling faster."
Buzzbaits:
"I don't think there's a wrong time or place to fish a buzzbait at night," Vick says, "but I think the best time to fish one is during that transition period between the end of daylight and the beginning of darkness after the sun goes down." Vick prefers a 1/2oz buzzbait because he can cast it farther and cover more water, and he likes one that makes a lot of noise. He targets shallow rockpiles and riprap, the edges of boat docks, stumpfields and grassbeds. His retrieve is normally just fast enough to keep the lure on the surface, and whenever possible he bumps targets to create a more erratic and unnatural noise.
A Guide's Guide to Night Fishing July/August 2010. Bassmaster (Steve Price pg. 48-51)
Lure Selection:
A beaver bait typically measures 4" in length and has a wide, deeply ribbed body with a crease down its center, two short appendages and a thin flapping tail. Reed relies on a Yum Wooly Bug. As with all beaver baits, it slides through limbs and grass without hanging up, and it shows bass a bulky profile. A beaver bait draws more strikes than a jig, claimed Reed. And its thin centerline results in a much better strike-to-catch ratio than a tube. Reed Texas rigs the Wooly Bug with a stout 3x Owner Straight Shank Wide Gap hook. He matches the bait with a 1/4 or 5/16 ounce bullet sinker when fishing cover such as bushes, windfalls and cattails, and up to a 1-1/2 ounce weight when he punches matted grass.
A 1/8 ounce bullet sinker often gets the call when Bassmaster Elite Series pro John Crews pitches a beaver bait to extremely shallow cover. He occasionally goes as light as 1/16 ounce. The lighter weights allow for a slow sink rate, yet Crews can still pitch the beaver baits accurately. Crews flips and pitches with 17 lbs. Vicious fluorocarbon line and has the bait rigged with 4/0 straight shank Gamakastsu Round Bend Worm hook. "Part of a beaver bait's appeal is the way it glides when it sinks," said Crews. "It's a lot like a tube, but you land a much higher percentage of the bass with a beaver bait."
What's Up With Beaver Baits June 2010. Bass Times (Mark Hicks pg. 16)
Lure Presentation:
A great tool to get a reaction strike is a crankbait. This type of power fishing enables you to cover a lot of water. Also, by feeling the bait contact structure, you can learn where the fish are holding. With a crankbait, you can sense the subtle changes in the bottom that often have bass.
When working a crankbait, I want the bait to vary its movement during every cast. I don't want my crankbait going in a dull, straight line. Even when there is no cover, I never reel the bait steady or directly back. Instead, I change speeds through the cast. I slow it down, stop it and speed it up, so I'm changing the movement. The best way to change the movement and direction of a crankbait is to have the bait deflect off cover. I want the bait to bounce to the side, rise up or shimmy down, whatever it takes to break up the steady retrieve.
Provoking Reaction Strikes With Crankbaits July 2010. Bassin (Mike Iaconelli pg. 8)
John Crew's Flat-Sided Crankbait Advantages:
"When retrieved, the flat-sided lure has a swimming action, while the rounded plug tends to pivot and roll more," says Elite Series pro John Crews. "Round bodied crankbaits, because of their chunky profile and more extreme action, tend to provoke reaction strikes, while flat-sided plugs are more likely to produce a feeding response because they more closely resemble live baitfish."
Bernie Shultz's Flat-Sided Crankbait Advantages:
"Flat plugs have a more subtle action than 'alphabet' plugs," noted Elite Series pro Bernie Shultz. "They have a tighter wobble and displace less water than round bodied plugs. For years, they were a well guarded secret among pro tournament anglers, who relied on obscure hand-carved flat plugs from artisan lure makers."
Prime Conditions For Flat-Sided Crankbaits:
Crews and Shultz differ on what the prime conditions are for using flat-sided crankbaits. "I really like to throw the Little John in 48 to 54 degree water, while I'll use round bodied plugs more in summer," Crews said. Schultz likes that 50 degree zone, as well but stays with flat-sided baits in water up to 70 degrees. "But I've also caught big fish on flat crankbaits in hot water."
"Flat-sided crankbaits aren't quite as snag resistant as a rounded square bill plugs, but I have no reservations about throwing them into thick cover," Schultz said. "I noticed that bass in dense cover seem to follow a flat plug out into open water more before striking it." "You absolutely can't beat a flat crankbait in rocks," says Crews. "I love the way it deflects off anything from a boulder to a gravel bank. Depending on what color you choose, it will mimic a shad or crawfish."
Flat Plug Renaissance May 2010. Bass Times (Don Wirth pg. 6)
If you have grass, they will come. Aquatic vegetation attracts largemouth bass like flowers attract bees. From intermittent patches to large submerged weedbeds with pockets of open water and ultimate surface mats, bass love most kind of weeds. It provides them a smorgasbord of prey, camouflage from which to strike and a sense of security. When you find weedbeds on a lake during the summer, you have already found bass. Then the problem becomes how to fish the vegetation successfully.
Location: Summer vegetation enables pro angler Dave Wolak to use some of his favorite reaction bite presentations. However, he stresses the timing needs to be right, especially as you move farther north. The North Carolina pro explains that two criteria must come together in order to successfully fish his favorite baits. First, largemouth bass must have completed their post-spawn recovery and be on the way out of the spawning bays. At the same time, aquatic vegetation that has been growing all spring must have reached maturity, topping off in order to form the necessary canopy cover for bass.
Jig & Plastic Trailer: When confronted with milfoil and similar weeds that have openings in the canopy or caverns underneath the leafy overhead cover, Wolak chooses a 3/4 to 1 ounce jig to generate a fast fall without getting hung up. His favorite combination is a Fin-Tech Title Shot Jig with either a green pumpkin or black skirt and a matching Yum Craw Papi as a trailer.
"To be most efficient, I size up the weedbeds in front of me like a golfer lining up a putt," explains Wolak. "As I'm pitching to one pocket, I'm already looking ahead for my next pitch. Rather than randomly dipping my jig, I allow a particular line, allowing me to systematically dissect the weedbed. When you catch one bass, slow down to pick the area apart because there will be more fish in the immediate vicinity."
Hollow Belly Frogs: Some anglers call them hollow-belly frogs or slop frogs. Regardless of what you call them, these lures are intended to slide over matted surface vegetation, sometimes never actually touching water. If you stop the retrieve of a hollow-belly frog, it will float in place, and that hesitation sometimes triggers a strike. Or you can walk the dog with the frog for a different cadence. Weight can be added to make the frog sit a bit lower in the water, thereby creating a greater disturbance when pulled across a mat. When making any presentations to heavy vegetation, Wolak claims weed-cutting superline is the only way to go. Wolak spools all of his weed-fishing reels with a 56lb Sunline Braid.
Pork Trailers: Tournament angler Matt Bichanich includes jig pitching and flipping in his green-salad repertoire. He dresses his 1/2 or 3/4 ounce grass jig with pork much of the time during summer. "When fishing a jig in vegetation, I am constantly popping it free, lifting it out and flipping it into more tough-stemmed weeds that are ready to tear up soft plastics," explains Bichanich. "Plastic trailers are pulled out of position on the hook and often ripped off, but a pork trailer is tough, it doesn't tear. Pork trailers ride the bend of the hook and don't slip out of place. I believe that natural smell and texture draw more bites, and pork holds any added scent much longer than plastic."
Buzzin Frogs: This style of solid plastic bait with hard kicking legs creates a gurgling sound and a trail of bubbles when retrieved much like a buzzbait. "Although there are a number of different ones on the market, I use the original Sizmic Toad, the one that started it all," says Bichanich. "This is the lure I initially start with if the vegetation isn't matted on the surface. There must be open water above the weedbeds, or if the vegetation reaches the surface, there must be open pockets of water to work through. Otherwise, the bass attracting action legs are not going to do what they need to do."
Swim Jigs: Since the concept of swimming a jig was born on the vegetation-rich backwaters of Mississippi River along the Wisconsin border, a swim jig is naturally one of Bichanich's go-to baits. He uses the specially designed Swim Stalker with a torpedo shaped jighead that sheds weed strands, a sparse skirt and softer than normal brush guard. The jig isn't ready to fish until a 5" Kalin's Lunker Grub is added, although he sometimes switches it out for a double-tail Scrub Grub.
"It's a no brainer when bass miss a buzz frog," Bichanich says. "My comeback lure is a swim jig. Even if bass are in a slap happy, non-commit mood, they are generally willing to commit to this bait swimming just under the surface, I retrieve it at a steady cadence, keeping it below the surface. With the swim jig, the key feature is how quietly it comes through the water. Furthermore, the swim jig will come through weed cover with fewer retrieve interruptions than a spinnerbait."
Punch Baits: With an almost impenetrable mat of vegetation before him, Bichanich reaches for a special bait, an Okeechobee rig, which consists of a 3/4 or 1 ounce Warhead weight rigged below a soft plastic lure like a Sizmic Jungle Toad. Tie the hook onto the line, start to rig the plastic but slip the eye of the weight onto the bend of the hook before finishing the Texas rigging of the Jungle Toad. "It's best to use a rigging hook with a screw lock appendages," Bichanich adds. "This keeps the bait from sliding down the hook shank."
"The design of the Okeechobee rig keeps the soft plastic upright as it falls and allows it to dance better on the bottom." If a reaction bite does not occur on the initial drop, Bichanich shakes the bait a few times as it rests on the bottom. Then he raises the rig until it is just under the mat and shakes it again. If no strike occurs, he pulls it out and drops again. The advantages of the Okeechobee rig are its ability to break through a mat with little effort due to the position of the weight, its silent entry, fewer baits losses and a direct line of pull on the hookset that doesn't go through a slip-sinker.
Davis Shaky Flip:
Vinson likes a black or brown 1/4oz shaky head with an Okeechobee craw colored Net Bait Salt Lick. "This is something a little bit different from what they're used to seeing." he says. Vinson also dips the tail of the Salt Lick in clear J.J.'s Magic Dippin' Dye for that garlic scent.
Bomber Fat Free Shad Crankbait:
When the crankbait bite is on, Vinson likes this larger, 3/4oz crankbait because it is a flat-sided and loud, and also has a tighter wobble than most deep diving crankabits. He favors the citrus shad color.
Davis X-Wire Spinnerbait:
"I like to throw a big blue glimmer spinnerbait in the same places most guys throw big crankbaits. If the crankbait bite isn't working," he says, "it has a little different profile and can be fished slower around deep brushpiles, as well as crawled, on the bottom."
Davis Paca Bug Football Jig:
One of Vinson's favorite baits for probing deep structure is a 3/4oz green pumpkin and crawfish football jig. He typically throws it to hard spots, such as deep stumps, brush and shells. For a trailer, Vinson uses a green pumpkin Net Bait Paca Chunk Sr. dipped in chartreuse J.J.'s Magic Dippin' Dye for a splash of color and a powerful dose of garlic.
What Greg Vinson Throws In June June 2010. Bassmaster (David Hunter Jones pg. 19)
Fralick demonstrated the effectiveness of swimming a jig through lily pad stems in backwater areas at the Red River Classic. Jig swimming also draws hard strikes when Fralick fishes water willows, bulrushes, other emergent vegetation and submerged grasses.
"You can fish just about anything shallow by swimming a jig," Fralick said. When Fralick swims a jig past flooded bushes, he often kills the bait next to the cover and lets the jig touch down briefly. If a windfall is the target, he swims the jig tight to and below the tree's trunk. Although some pros do well swimming jigs with a steady retrieve, Fralick rarely does so. His basic presentation is an upbeat pull-pull-pull, take up the slack, pull-pull-pull. The one time Fralick will swim a jig in deep water is when shad spawn around docks. He often skips a white jig under the docks and swims it back out.
The advantage of swimming a flipping jig is that you can make bottom-hopping presentation or pitch into cover without switching rods. That's why Elite Series pro Brent Chapman ties a 1/4 to 3/4 ounce War Eagle Flippin Jig to 20 to 30 lbs. Gama fluorocarbon line. "The versatility of a jig is amazing," Chapman said. "You can pitch it into thick cover on one cast and swim it by grass on the next cast."
Jig Fishing: Sink or Swim June 2010. Bass Times (Mark Hicks pg. 10)
When fishing deep with a big blade, VanDam favors a Strike King Bottom Dweller ranging in weight from 3/4 ounce to 1-3/8 ounce. When he is targeting depths ranging from 7 to 12 feet, the 3/4-ounce Bottom Dweller gets the nod. If he is fishing water from 10 to 15 feet deep, he'll bump up to a 1-ounce model, and when he wants to probe depths of up to 30 feet, the 1-3/8-ounce version gets the call.
"The key is to get the spinnerbait down to the strike zone, stay in the area and control the depth," he says. During his retrieve, VanDam likes to vary the speed and movement of his spinnerbait in order to imitate a wounded shad. "I usually start with a straight retrieve because it increases my strike-to-land ratio," he explains. "If I can't get bit doing that, I like to use a jigging or yo-yo retrieve because there's something about those blades and the pulsating skirt that triggers strikes." One of his favorite deep-water retrieves with a heavy spinnerbait is to rip the offering off the bottom as if he is setting the hook. "It makes the bait jump off the bottom and creates a reaction strike," he says.
Kevin Vandam: Big Blades June 4, 2010. Bass Insider (Matt Pangrac)
Any angler who expects to be successful must learn to fish ledges and drops. Yet, it's not easy. First you have to find the right spot, after that, you have to make them bite. One of the best at doing both those things is Bassmaster Elite Series angler Mike McClelland, a seven-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier and winner of more than $1 million.
Location: First let me say that ledges are for prespawn, postspawn and summer bass. Assuming we're in one of the productive periods, most of the bass will be holding on specific spots along a ledge or drop, usually where there's something different - a twist or turn, or maybe an unusual piece of structure.
Carolina Rig: I search with a Carolina rig. My weight is important, I use the "Rock" made by Jewel. It's a football head-style weight that stirs up a lot of sediment and makes more noise than most other designs. My bait choice is small. I like a Zoom Baby Brush Hog or a Fish Doctor. Once I find my bass, I usually upsize to something that'll attract bigger fish.
My technique is simple but precise. I move along the drop or ledge, casting my rig out at a 45-degree angle to the break and then brining it back toward the boat with a slow and steady retrieve. This allows me to cover as much water as possible and at the same time find out what's on the bottom - stumps, brush, rock shellbeds, whatever.
Postspwan Jig: By definition this technique is used later in the year, when the water is warmer and the bass are schooling around rock, wood, or shellbeds. The best spots are located on some sort of a turn or twist. Avoid long straight stretches, they're almost always a waste of time.
I upsize my baits at this time of year. Bigger jigs in the 5/8 to 3/4 ounce range work best, along with bigger trailers such as full size Brush Hogs or Super Speed Craws. Choose a color that matches the hatch, remember, matching the hatch is about size as much as color. I usually work my bait fast in the postspawn. A 1 or 2 inch hop off the bottom, followed by a fast drag seems to catch the most bass.
Postspawn Swimbaits: At times you'll get a better postspawn bite with a plastic swimbait. I rig mine with a Jewel Swim Gem Head. They come in three sizes and work especially well with the Zoom Swimmin' Super Fluke. Match you color to that of the baitfish. I usually let my bait drop to the bottom and bring it back with one of three retrieves.
My first is the pump and drop. I pull the lure 2 to 5 feet off the bottom and let it drop back down on a semi-slack line. My second option is to slow roll it along, all the while maintaining contact with the bottom. My third technique is to crank it fast, kill it for a second or two, and then crank it hard again. Alternate these three retrieves until you find what they want.
Summer Crankbaits & Worms: Summertime ledge bass can be tough. Ounce you find where the bass are holding, try one of these two approaches. First, throw a deep diving crankbait. Get it down quickly and crank hard when you bring it back. If they're not in the mood to chase a crankbait, try a Texas rigged worm. Bounce a red bug, red shad or junebug Zoom Ole Monster right in the middle of them. Depending upon water depth and the size of the fish I anticipate catching, I'll rig it with a 3/8 or 1/2 ounce sinker and 5/0 offset Gamakatsu worm hook.
6 Ledge & Drop Techniques You Must Know July/August 2010. Bassmaster (Mike McClelland as told to Ed Harp pg. 32-33)
Bedding Bluegill:
Bluegill beds are easy to find. Look for shallow, hard bottom areas in 2 to 6 feet of water near deep dropoffs. Scattered vegetation or a waterlogged tree limb will make an area almost irresistible to them. Bass will hold near the beds, usually on the deep water side. Davis said that in his experience any number of lures will catch these bass when they are on the feed, but that the first and most often the best bait, is a topwater lure that pops and spits along the surface.
His preference is a Strike King Spit-N-King, but he readily admits that a number of other brands imitate bluegill and will catch bass. The key is to make the lure look and sound like a bluegill feeding along the surface. Davis typically makes several casts over and around the beds. Work your bait slowly and easily so it appears natural. Don't overwork it. Bluegill pop, they don't splash water 10 feet on each side of them and they don't make deep chugging sounds.
Frogging Mats:
His second technique, it's the best one of all if your lake or river offers it - is thick, matted vegetation, especially milfoil, hydrilla and lily pads. Ounce Davis has found such a spot he stops his boat, drifts toward the mat and listens for the tell-tale sound of popping along the surface that tells him there's a feeding bluegill along the surface. "If you hear the pops, you can bet there are bass in the area. I'll darn near give you a guarantee on that," Davis says.
The best mat lure is a frog or a toad, said Davis. He points out that you can pull one along the surface of the thickest mat without hanging. And despite the fact that these baits look like frogs to us, he said they can resemble bluegill to bass. If the frog bite is slow, Davis often switches to a heavy jig or a Texas rigged plastic. He punches the bait through the mat and lets it fall naturally toward the bottom His color choice here is a natural bluegill or, if he's in doubt, black and blue.
Buzzing Flats:
For his third go-to summer time pattern, Davis targets areas with isolated cover, as long as they harbor a few shad. Often these areas are ugly, nothing-looking mud flats with a little on them except a lone stump or maybe a spindly laydown with a couple of shad living in the vicinity. Davis will go as far as to tell you that if an area looks good it probably isn't. If it looks like no one in their right mind would be fishing there, he suggests making a cast or two with a buzzbait or spinnerbait.
"I usually start with a white and chartreuse buzzbait. This type of water is shallow - no more than 2 or 3 feet. When that noisy old clattering lure rips across the bass' home, he can only think of one thing - kill it!" Davis says. "If a buzzbait dosen't work, give your spinnerbait a try - white and chartreuse, double willowleaf. If you're still fishless, don't leave without making a couple casts with a small shallow running square-bill crankbait. Something in the Strike King Pro Model Series is perfect."
3 Shallow Hot Spots for Summer Bass June 2010. Bass Times (Ed Harp pg. 14)
"Spotted bass tend to be really point oriented," Bennett says. "That could mean long, extended, gradually sloping points, or it could mean steep, abrupt points. The good thing is spots are really easy to pattern. If you find them on a long, extended clay point, 20 to 40 yards from the tip, you can run from point to another point with similar characteristics and usually catch fish in exactly the same type of spots."
The depth at which the school holds, however, will change based on the weather conditions, sometimes daily and sometimes even sooner depending on factors such as light penetration or water color. On a calm, sunny day, a school might be 65 feet of water off the tip of a point. But if it is windy or cloudy the next day, the school could move up 30 feet in the water column to follow baitfish.
Presenting lures to spotted bass in 60 feet of water is quite different than the approach necessary for spots in, say 30 feet. Essentially, the right presentation for shallower fish is usually more horizontal in nature. An angler fishing for deep water fish can park his boat right over them and fish vertically. Almost anytime he's fishing for spots, Bennett reverts to his west coast roots and attempts to drop shot the fish no matter the depth.
As for the lure, he nearly always threads a 4 to 6 inch straight tailed worm on his hook. "You want to use the drop shot to imitate suspended baitfish," he says. While the drop shot is his meat and potatoes bait, Bennett still employs more traditional rigs and presentations when the bite requires a more horizontal or bottom focused presentation. A jig or a Carolina-rigged soft plastic are his backup lures for such an occasion.
Even a 3 pound spot will latch on to a 5 or 8 inch swimbait. Bennett's favorite is the Tru-Tungsten Tru-Life 5 inch Swimbait because he can add or subtract tungsten BBs to adjust the fall. However, he'll switch to other sizes or soft plastic swimbaits if bass are hitting a bigger lure, but not taking it. "Spots are not as picky as you might think," Bennett says.
Catch Deep Spots July 2010. FLW Outdoors (Pete Robbins pg. 36-40)
"The football jig can be fished on just about any hard bottom, whether it's shellbeds, rocks or gravel," he says. "If you're fishing lakes that don't have a hard bottom, then brushpiles, stumps and things like that are still primary places to fish a football jig." "You can basically fish a football jig from 6 inches to 50 feet of water," says McClelland. "I have caught fish 45 to 48 feet deep on it."
The six-time BASS winner favors the Jewel Football Jig since it has a durable paint job and is equipped with an O'Shaughnessy hook that increases his fish-landing percentage. His favorite color this time of year is peanut butter and jelly/smoke. "I really prefer that color because so many fish are feeding on a variety of crawfish and shad," he says. "Since the bottom side is a smoke color, when the bait is falling it has kind of a translucent appearance (similar to a shad), but once the bait gets to the bottom, then the top side of the jig is peanut butter and jelly, so it takes on a crawfish appearance."
Zoom Brush Hogs and Zoom Baby Brush Hogs are McClelland's favorite trailers for his football jig. He wants his trailer to contrast the color of his football, so McClelland opts for a watermelon or watermelon purple creature bait if he thinks bass are keying on shad, and he picks a green pumpkin soft plastic if he perceives fish are feeding more on crawfish. McClelland never modifies his football jig, but he will alter his trailer by trimming about 1/2 to 1 inch off the Brush Hog's body, pulling the side tentacles loose so the appendages dangle more and splitting the flappers to imitate crawfish pincers.
"The biggest thing about a football jig this time of year is the erratic action created by its head design," says McClelland, who relied on the jig to win the 2006 Sooner Run at Grand Lake and the 2007 Pride of Georgia at Clarks Hill. "This time of year you really have to trigger fish into biting, and the way that football jig wobbles across the bottom, it creates action that a typical jig or Texas-rigged plastic worm just doesn't incorporate without the angler manipulating it."
Keeping constant contact with the bottom is the key to McClelland's initial deliveries with the football jig. "There are times I will point my rod to the side or downward and just wind the bait until it is bouncing and rooting along the bottom," describes McClelland. "There are times I pause it when I come to an obstruction, shake it and gradually pull it over the bigger rock."
A hopping retrieve also produces for McClelland once he has pinpointed fish. "This time of year I am fishing for schools of fish," he says. After I catch one or two, the fish become more active so I start hopping the jig to get the fish to bite more aggressively. A lot of times you have to get that first bite on a slower, more methodical presentation, but after I get the first bite I hop it pretty hard (1 1/2 to 3 feet) off the bottom."
McClelland's Football Jig Gear:
To complete his deliveries, McClelland throws his football jig on a 7-foot, 4-inch Falcon Mike McClelland Heavy Cover Finesse Jig Rod and Quantum PT SS baitcast reel filled with 20-pound Sunline Sniper FC Fluorocarbon for most situations, or 15-pound Sunline Sniper FC Fluorocarbon for clear water or if he wants a faster fall rate.
Mike McClelland On Football Jigs May 25, 2010. Bass Insider (John Neporandy Jr.)
Elite Series pro Paul Elias is a specialist when it comes to deep cranking. One proven technique that Paul has perfected is called the "kneeling and reeling" approach that helped him win the 1982 Bassmaster Classic.
Location: "The first thing I look for is a break, some type of depth change," says Elias. "It doesn't have to be a huge change, either. You read and hear of fishermen cranking a main river channel ledge, especially on the Tennessee River lakes. What I look for is a smaller ditch or even a little creek that cuts that ledge. This is what I'll fish most often, even though the depth change might be as slight as 4 or 5 feet."
Depending on the lake, Elias also looks for submerged islands, old house foundations, roadbeds, breaks in timberlines, creek bends or some feature on the bottom that includes a depth change. When cover is present, the spot automatically increase in importance.
Lure Presentation: In its most elementary terms, kneeling and reeling consists of putting your rod tip down into the water and reeling back your crankbait. Kneeling on the boat's casting deck allows you to put the rod further into the water so the lure dives deeper. It's not widely practiced, but when done right, it can be deadly. What Elias wants to do on every cast is overpower the depth, he wants his crankbait digging hard and long, bouncing off any target he's been able to pinpoint.
3 Secrets For Going Deep June 2010. Bassmaster (Steve Price pg. 24-27)
The Florida pro favors Carolina rigging on flats with scattered stumps, grass or small rockpiles. "The fish are loose and roaming a lot then," he says. "They're not necessarily on the bank and not necessarily off of it either. So it is one of those things that when you are fishing it along you can hit stuff that you can't see, which is the kind of stuff postspawn fish gravitate toward."
Since the fish can be anywhere along the flats, Thliveros positions his boat parallel to the bank and fancasts the structure. "Boat positioning is not critical as long as you maintain the right water depth," says Thliveros. He drags his rig from 2 to 10 feet deep throughout the postspawn, but most of his strikes usually occur in the 6- to 8-foot range.
A 6-inch Zoom plastic lizard and Zoom Ol' Monster plastic worm in green pumpkin, watermelon and watermelon/red flake hues are Thliveros' favorite lures for rigging. "I like lures that present a pretty good profile," says Thliveros, who sometimes throws an 8-inch Zoom lizard when he needs to catch a kicker fish.
The components of Thliveros' rig include a 5/8-ounce Tru-Tungsten Carolina Weight (a mojo-style sinker), followed by a Tru-Tungsten Force Bead and a swivel on a main line of 17-pound fluorocarbon. Just about any size swivel will work on the rig, according to the Florida pro. "When you have a big old hunk of tungsten and a bead in front of it, the size of the swivel isn't going to matter," says Thliveros.
Postspawn bass tend to be lethargic after the rigors of spawning, so Thliveros prefers using a longer leader (3 feet) in warmer water. The fish will usually be roaming from the cover or suspended off the bottom during the postspawn, so when the sinker on a rig with a longer leader hits the cover, the lure glides away from the target to trigger strikes from the roaming fish.
A slow, steady pull best describes Thliveros' Carolina rig retrieve. When his sinker hits cover, Thliveros pauses his retrieve. While some anglers shake or hop their lures during the retrieve, Thliveros sticks with a steady pull because he believes the commotion caused by the weight and bead banging on the bottom is enough to trigger strikes.
Thilveros' Carolina Rig Gear:
Thliveros opts for a heavy leader line (15-pound test fluorocarbon) so he can drag his rig through the cover, especially when the sinker makes contact with either stumps or rocks. Tied on the end of his leader is a 4/0 Tru-Tungsten MiHatchii hook. Thliveros drags his rig with a 7 1/2-foot American Rodsmiths Mag Strike Predator Series rod (medium-heavy action) with an Ardent XS1000 baitcast reel (6.3:1 gear ratio).
Peter Thilveros On Postspawn Carolina Rigging May 18, 2010. Bass Insider (John Neporandy Jr.)
To find the larger female bass you need to understand what they do this time of year. I believe it takes a large female about one week or less to migrate from the spawning area to the summer homes where they will stay for the next several months. As soon as they finish spawning they start heading for deep structure. The first and easiest place to start looking for large bass is on big flat main lake points, not the vertical stuff you were catching them on during prespawn but those big flat ones.
I start at first light with a big 5" Powerbait Jerkshad. This soft jerkbait does a great job of imitating a fleeing or even injured baitfish. I like the pearl white color for this situation rigged on a 4/0 wide gap hook. If I am looking for a bit more tail action, I will use a 5" Gulp Crazy Legs Jerkshad. Sometimes you see the bass schooling on the surface, but just because you don't doesn't mean they are not there ambushing passing schools of shad.
Work the Jerkshad fast. One of the problems you may run into with working this or any other soft jerkbait fast is their tendancy to come out of the water. I stick a finishing nail into the bait to make it heavier and run just a little deeper. I can't impress upon you enough to work this bait fast and erratic this time of year. Retrieve it about 20 feet or so then stop to catch your breath and rest your wrist then get back after it. No need to stop more than 5 seconds or so.
Keep it Simple for Postspawn Bassin' June 2010. Bass Times (Boyd Duckett pg. 4)
Buckeye Football Jig:
Lane tips a green pumpkin football jig with a tilapia colored 4" Big Bite Bait Rojas Fighting Frog. If the Kriet Tail worm fails to produce and Lane knows fish are in the area, he tosses this jig to deep breaks and drop-offs to fire the bite back up.
Buckeye Spinnerbait:
Lane slow rolls a 3/4oz smoky shad colored spinnerbait as his third wave of attack on deep breaks. "Toss it out there, let it go to the bottom and reel it just fast enough to keep the blades turning," he says. Lane likes to throw parallel to the breaks and keep the bait in contact with the bottom.
Medium Diving Crankbait:
Lane ties on a crankbait that runs 8 to 14 feet deep when he needs to cover some water. "This time of year, they start to scatter. Some move shallower and some deeper, and a mid-range crankbait can get them all," he says. "You can use 8lb test line to reach 14 feet deep and 15lb test to make it run 5 feet deep." Lane prefers natural colors such as citrus shad and sexy shad.
Big Bite Bait Kriet Tail Worm:
"The majority of deep fish will be on the last or deepest drops of major creek channel," Lane says. He lobs this 10" worm in red bug color with a 3/8oz weight across the deepest breaks and drop-offs he can find.
What Russ Lane Throws In July & August July/August 2010. Bassmaster (David Hunter Jones pg. 19)
"It's wild!" says FLW Pro and Hook & Look TV co-host Kim Stricker. "When the mayflies are hatching, the whole food chain changes. Everything feeds on the flies, or they feed on what's feeding on the flies. The lake turns into a big dynamic smorgasbord."
On the water, Stricker simply casts where he sees surface feeding activity. "You can watch the flies and even catch a glimpse of smallmouth cruising around. The whole idea is to keep an eye out for the risers, and when you see a slurp, cast to it immediately. If you can get your bait in there quickly and on target, odds are high you'll get a strike."
Stricker's go-to bait for this pattern is a Strike King Coffee Tube in honey color. He rigs this lure weightless and casts it on light spinning rackle. His line choice is 10 pound test Spiderwire braid rigged with a 4 feet of 8 pound test Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon leader. "This is the closest match I've been able to come up with to a mayfly struggling on the surface," Stricker says. "It's roughly the same color and size as a big fly."
When Stricker casts his tube out, its hollow body holds trapped air, so the tube will float. "I'll pop it a couple of times to give it some action, and this usually forces the air out of the body, so the tube starts sinking. If a fish doesn't get it on the surface, then one will usually grab it when it sinks."
If bass aren't rising to take mayflies off the surface, or if they're rising but not taking Stricker's tube bait, Stricker works the same water with a Strike King Caffeine Shad in a smoky shad or pearl color. "I'll make a random cast, jerk the bait a few times, and then let it fall."
Bass Under The Flies June 2010. Bassmaster (Wade Bourne pg. 58-60)
Summertime bass fishing at first light is pure magic. The faint predawn glow, the cool air, the anticipation of the first bite. If these things don't quicken your pulse, you might not have one. The braking of day also stirs the bass. They are aggressive, on the prowl and willing to chase. This is their last chance to nab a meal before the rising sun ends their low-light advantage.
Savvy bass fisherman get on the water early to make the most of this short window of opportunity. You have an hour, maybe two at most, before the bass shut down and retreat to cover or go deep. The key is to stay on the move and fish lures that can pull bass from a distance.
Grassy Reservoirs: Alabama fishing guide Jimmy Mason likes to be on the water and ready to cast when the light breaks over the trees. In June and early July, Mason knows that Lake Guntersville's bass will be cruising over milfoil beds that top out 1 to 3 feet under the surface. "Sometimes there's a lull for the first few minutes of the day," Mason says. "Then the bass get after it. They know it's the end of their nighttime feed."
Mason will have his clients rigged up with an XCalibur Zell Pop in the ghost or foxy shad color, or a Heddon Super Spook Jr. The Zell Pop is easier for inexperienced anglers to work over the grass with a seductive pop-pop-pop-pause cadence. The dog-walking Super Spook Jr. casts farther, covering water faster and appeals to bigger bass.
Clear Natural Lakes: New Jersey's Michael Iaconelli also scores with topwater plugs early in the day when he fishes clear natural lakes like Lake Champlain. Two other lures that pay big dividends for him are spinnerbaits and swimbaits. Iaconelli claims that big smallmouth and largemouth bass pull up on shallow flats in the morning and feed until the sun drives them deep.
If he goes with a spinnerbait, Iaconelli opts for 1/2 or 3/4 ounce Molix spinnerbait with undersized tandem willow leaf blades for easy burning. When he's after a big bass, Iaconelli slings a 6" Berkley Power Bait Hollow Belly swimbait. He rigs it Tex-posed with a weighted hook when running the bait through grass, but if snags aren't an issue, he prefers to match the bait with a 3/8 or 1/2 saltwater jighead.
Clear Rocky Reservoirs: Arkansas angler Mark Davis grew up fishing Lake Ouachita and other clear rocky reservoirs. Before the sun gets on the water, he concentrates on rocky, main-lake sloping points and humps 10 feet deep or deeper that drop sharply into the depths. When the water is slick, Davis brings up bass with Strike King's Wake Shad. This 4" jointed bait features a large shad profile and a stubby bill that keeps it swimming on the surface. If you see bass following the bait or swirling at it without getting hooked, Davis advises to use faster retrieves. Also, always keep the lure moving, the bass will lose interest if you stop it.Davis also employs a run-and-gun strategy when the water is choppy, he switches to Strike King's 5" Sexy Swimmer. This slow-sinking, hard swimbait has two joints and runs beneath the surface with a realistic swimming motion.
Stained Water: Oklahoma bass pro Tommy Biffle excels at flipping and pitching. Although Biffle has his signature Quantum flipping rod in his hands 90% of the time when fishing a tournament, he often puts it down to get in on the early morning bite before bass seek shelter. A black 3/8 or 1/2 ounce Lunker Lure Buzzbait with a black blade is Biffle's go-to bait at first light. Black is easier for bass to see in stained water, and the continous plop-plop-plop action helps them home in on the bait. "I put my trolling motor on high and stay on the outside edges of cover so I don't have to slow down," Biffle says.
Another early morning tactic that comes through for Biffle is swimming a dark Rattleback Jig dressed with some type of kicking trailer, such as Gene Larew's Three Legged Frog. A 1/4 ounce jig does the job around sparse cover. When Biffle swims a jig in thick cover, such as water willows, he steps up to a 1/2 ounce jig. A steady retrieve just under the surface usually does the trick.
Bass-Catching Bonanza July 2010. Bassin (Mark Hicks pg. 22-27)
Fish Stalker Trick Stick:
Rig this soft plastic stickbait Texas style through the nose weightless. Fish it around shallow cover in the backs or creeks, coves, cuts and sloughs. Don't get in a hurry. A slow presentation will catch the most fish. I like the junebug pattern.
Strike King Pro Model Series 3:
Fish this crankbait when the bass want something with a little more bulk moving around main lake points. You might want to change colors to match the local forage. If in doubt, throw sexy shad, it's good everywhere.
Hildebrandt Spinnerbait:
Fish your spinnerbait in those same places when the bass want something moving a little faster, especially when the shad spawn is on. It's also a great choice for long, sloping main lake points. I choose the 3/8oz version in chartreuse and white, rigged with two willowleaf blades.
What's On My Line May 2010. Bass Times (Wade Grooms pg. 4)