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Mono vs. Braided Line for Bass Fishing with Topwaters

Posted by Walker Smith on Wed, Feb 20, 2013 @ 08:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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Mono Topwater Prop Bass Lur

Each type of line has specific uses, according to Marty Stone

By Walker Smith

If you’ve hung around your local marinas long enough, chances are you’ve heard the debate between monofilament and braided line for bass fishing with topwaters. While many anglers utilize a more new-school approach by solely using braided line for all topwater applications, some of the more old-school anglers stick with monofilament for their topwater presentations.

Vicious Fishing pro Marty Stone has a tried and true “hybrid” system that utilizes both schools of thought. Whenever he’s on a hot topwater bite, you’ll find him using both types of line for very specific reasons.

Braided line for walking baits

Whether he’s using a Heddon Super Spook, Lucky Craft Sammy or Lucky Craft Gunfish, Stone opts for 30-pound Vicious Braided Line. Because these baits are highly effective search tools for schooling bass on areas such as points and expansive flats, he finds the no-stretch qualities of braid essential for maximizing his hookups.

“It never fails—any time you make a long cast with a walking topwater bait, more times than not, you’ll get bit on the end of the cast,” Stone said. “Braid doesn’t have any stretch, which transfers the energy of my hookset directly to the fish, allowing me to get a solid hookup before the bass spits the bait.”

The absence of stretch in braided line also aids in proper presentation with walking topwater baits. After a long cast, you need to have the ability to work the bait with ease.

“Braid also transfers the twitches of my rod tip directly to the bait,” Stone said. “With the most subtle twitches, I can walk my topwaters from 40-yards away without having to jerk my arm out of socket.”

In addition to helping your hookup ratio and presentation, braided line allows for extra-long casts, which proves invaluable when covering large, open areas. If you’re bombing a 7/8-ounce Super Spook on 30-pound braided line, you’ll be able to cover twice the water as you would with monofilament.

Monofilament for poppers and prop baits

When using poppers and prop baits, Stone exclusively uses monofilament line. If he finds himself around heavy cover, such as fallen trees, he’ll stick with 17-pound test. For lighter cover, such as grass lines, he’ll bump his line size down to 15-pound test.

“With poppers and prop baits, I’m making precise casts to specific structure in close quarters,” Stone said. “Not only does monofilament increase my casting accuracy, but it also has enough stretch to assure a solid hookup. The rigidity of braided line pulls the bait away from the bass too quickly in close combat.”

The stretch of monofilament acts as a shock absorber when using these baits. While a quick hookset is necessary, the split-second delay that mono gives you allows the bass to eat the entire bait, therefore increasing your hookup ratio.

Through a lot of trial and error, Stone has also found that braided line can wreak havoc on prop baits. Because braid floats so well on the water’s surface, any slack line immediately tangles in the blades, making it nearly impossible to ensure a proper presentation.

Exciting topwater strikes get every angler’s adrenaline pumping. As winter slowly fades and the bass become more active, these guidelines will help you catch more fish and decrease your topwater heartbreaks this spring.





































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How to Fish Grass for Bass

Posted by Jason Sealock on Mon, Feb 18, 2013 @ 07:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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Grass fish with jig

By Jason Sealock

Anglers either love it or hate it. Fishing grass can be some of the best experiences or some of the most frustrating and that's generally determined by an angler's attitude and strategy. Just because there is grass doesn't mean you ignore all the other variables in fishing. How you fish grass is important, but knowing where in a field of grass to fish is probably more important.

We picked Greg Hackney's brain about how he likes to fish grass and ran a video series, but folks have asked us to organized his thoughts into an article. We broke it down to essentially four easy parts:
  •    Seasonal approach
  •    Lure choices
  •    Line choices
  •    Identifying grass

Four seasons of grass fishing

"I find more times than not that grass fishing has more to do with the bottom than it does the grass," Hackney said. "It's more about the hard bottoms, sandy bottoms, spawning areas around the grass depending on the season and the fishery."

In the early spring the fish will get on inside edges of grass. As the summer sets in, they may get in and under the grass more as it mats up and makes cooler, cleaner and darker areas for them to ambush. In the fall we often target bass on those outside edges. If the grass stays in some capacity, bass can relate to those grass edges on river breaks and such all through the winter. Even grass that goes dormant and gets real short in the cooler months will hold populations of bass.

Grass can keep fish from making big migrations from the main lake to the backs of the bays. Hackney has found on many fisheries that the presence of grass keeps bass in one general area through prespawn, spawn, post spawn, summer, fall and winter. As the lakes fluctuate, the bass just reposition in proximity to the grass and forage relating to the grassy areas.

Pressure can also reposition bass on grass areas. Hackney still looks for those structural changes like creek channel bends, points and humps and then targets the grass on those changes. But often the best places can get too much angling pressure and you have to adapt how you fish grass or move down slightly to find where those bass have repositioned in the grass away from the key areas.


Choose the best baits not your favorite baits

Folks probably think all Hackney does if flip and pitch grass with jigs. If he had his choice that would be right, but fishing grass is like anything else. You choose the tool that fits the situation, not your favorite technique.

In the early spring period when the grass is often shorter and more submerged than later in the year, Hackney focuses on lures that cover water and draw reaction strikes like a Strike King Red Eye Shad or his Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover Spinnerbait fished over and around the grass edges. Bass will get shallower in colder water around grass than they will on lakes without grass. They will get up there even in water as cool as 40 degrees. He likes to fish over the grass and just tick the tops of it and ripping it out when it snags for a reaction bite.

As it warms up he starts targeting the bass spawning around the inside edges of the grass with a Strike King KVD 1.5. He thinks those bass cruising and looking to spawn react better to that smaller profile worked on the inside edge of grass and ripped off the top of submerged grass.

Flipping and pitching also starts to be effective with soft plastics like beavers or soft stickbaits around the spawn.

After the spawn he really likes a topwater bait like the new Strike King Sexy Dawg or the KVD Sexy Frog. He also likes a spinnerbait with a big blade during this period when he's targeting grass fish around the shad spawn.

As the grass gets matted and thickens in the warmer months. He'll go with his Strike King Hack Attack Jig or a Strike King Rodent.  He goes with the heaviest weight he can get away with because he can be more efficient punching through quickly. But if he's not getting bites, he will go down in weight for a slower more enticing fall.

He'll stick with the jig and rodent one-two punch all the way to winter.

Your line can make grass fishing easy or difficult

When you talk fishing grass, anglers automatically think power fishing with big heavy line. And that's true to an extent. But Hackney chooses his line based on the fish behavior and time of the year.

When he's fishing lipless baits early in the year, he'll use braid because he wants to clear his bait of grass easily and quickly. Since the fish are cold, they won't jump and throw the trebles as easily either on the no-stretch line.

When he's flipping or pitching, he always goes with braid because the bass can't differentiate the braid from the grass. He will go with fluorocarbon if he's pitching a stick bait to the inside or outside edges of the grass because the fish are looking at it more in open water.

With his spinnerbaits, topwaters and crankbaits he's usually going with fluorocarbon and monofilament especially as the water warms up and the fish have softer mouths and he wants to keep them hooked better with the give of monofilament. Still he uses heavy line—20-pound line with the mono and fluoro and 65-pound with the braid—around grass to give him more control and power to move fish over and out of the grass.

Identifying your grass improves your approach

Folks often get hung up on types of grass and scientific names for them. Most good grass anglers identify two types of grass -- "under grass" and "next-to grass."  Hydrilla, Milfoil, Lily Pads, Hyacinths and some other grasses grow with thin stalks but lay over or form large canopies over the top of bass. These are the types of grasses that form the famous mats that anglers love to punch. While grasses like Coontail, Tules, Pencil Reeds, Arrow Heads and other types of grass that are thick and grow close together, form "edges" that the bass will get on top of or next to.

The type of grass isn't as important as recognizing whether the bass will setup under or next to the grass. That will also help decide which lures offer the best presentations. Grasses like hydrilla tend to be the most popular because they can form edges and canopies and it gives the bass and anglers a lot more good options.

Most of the grasses will be shorter in colder water allowing you to fish baits over them. As they grow and the water warms they will create canopies or edges to fish more.  Sometimes fishing can be as easy as knowing the bass are on the inside grass lines or outside grass lines.

Learning to find grass near other structural changes, with the right bottom composition and then reading the grass in those areas to make educated choices on line and lure selection will take most of the frustration out of grass fish.

To learn more on how Hackney targets grass fish, check out this series of videos:

Fishing Grass | Seasons
Fishing Grass | Line Choices
Fishing Grass | Bait Selection



































































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Jason's 2012 Bass Fishing Wishlist

Posted by Jason Sealock on Thu, Dec 06, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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Jasons Wishlist 2012



Wishing, wanting, lusting – whatever we call our desire for new fishing tackle, it definitely comes to a head this time of year. Of course it's closing in on Christmas, but as I get older the holiday is more about eating and family time and watching my son open new presents and light up with the joy of a child on Christmas morning.

But for fishing tackle this is the time of year when all that new stuff we saw back in July becomes available to those of us who've been dying to get our hands on it. We're fortunate at Wired2fish to be the first to use a lot of the new products, sometimes before they are released at major events like ICAST and the Bassmaster Classic. It has quelled my anticipation but led me to realize we have a duty to give our take on some of our favorite new tackle this time of year.

Maybe you are letting folks know what to get you, maybe you're looking for your significant other who loves fishing and you don't know what to get them. So we all put our heads together and came up with more than 30 items that we think folks will enjoy adding to their fishing next season. These are some of my favorites for the 2012-2013 fishing seasons.  More of Walker's and Terry's favorites will be coming in the next several days.


Minn Kota Talon, $1,449

To be perfectly honest, I was a bit skeptical about the shallow water anchoring systems until I got them and used them for a season. But now, while I'm sure I can live without them, I don't want to. They have served so many purposes this year, from launching a boat alone, to flipping and even fishing shallow areas at night. It's an invaluable tool now and has made me so much more efficient. It's a high priced item that really aids your ability to deal with things like wind and pressure. I'll have a full blog on what I learned from the Talon this year in the next month. But for now, I can say I love its easy install, easy programming and operation. There's no hydraulics to worry with and the grey poles on the back of the boat have been the hot conversation piece for me at local gas stations.


Lowrance HDS Touch, from $1,299

The new Lowrance depth finders appeal to the "techno-geek" in me. They operate more like a tablet or smart phone with intuitive layouts and menus. The screen eases strain on your eyes, even in direct sunlight. I love the easier rigging with the units, with a direct connect from the Structure Scan transducer and Ethernet networking. They look great, work well and for someone who spends long days staring at a graph, they are just a joy to use.


Abu Garcia Revo 3rd Generation Baitcasting Reels, from $129

We got our first few Gen. 3 Revo reels from Abu Garcia back in the spring, and we were so excited after the first outing, we couldn't wait to start talking about them. The reels are lighter, lower profile, cosmetically appealing and cast as far and as smooth as any reels we've ever used. They offer blazing speeds up to 8:1 gear ratios and the same low-end power from their 5.4:1 models. From styling to functionality, these are truly some of the best reels we've ever used.


Denali Terry Bolton Offshore Worm and Jig Rod, $209

I reviewed this rod earlier in the year, but can say it's been a staple in my rod collection all season.  The rod works for pitching docks equally as well as it does casting big worms offshore or hopping spoons for deep bass. It's listed as a heavy action but fishes more like a medium heavy with some power on a long, deep hookset. At 7-feet, 2-inches, it gives you a good casting rod, easy to fish rod and powerful fighting rod for all your "away-from-the-bank" needs.


13 Fishing Omen Baitcasting Rod, $99

13 Fishing impressed us with their introduction at the 2012 ICAST show in Orlando. From the way they talked about their products and fishing to their "design and manufacture everything" mentality, they show a unique insight to building quality tackle. Their Envy rods are amazing great rods, but we're equally impressed with their $100 offering, the Omen series. These rods feature great styling, a small frame Japanese high modulus blank, custom made components like a split grip that allows you to touch the rod blank with the tip of your finger. Their styling and quality will make this rod very popular among anglers in 2013.


Megabass Ito Vision 110 FX or FX Knuckle 60 , $27

We thought Megabass did a good job of making some lures more practical to the situations anglers face. Two of those baits that debuted at ICAST really proved their forward thinking in designing tackle. The Ito Vision 100 FX expanded on their weight-transfer system that already helped make their slender and lively jerkbaits cast better in windy conditions by adding a collapsing bill that greatly reduces a jerkbait's tendency to helicopter on the lip's turbulence in the wind. 

Meanwhile the Knuckle 60 gives you a square bill and sub-surface crankbait for fishing over the top of shallow grass in one. With a lip that locks in place in two positions you can fish 2-4 feet deep or just 1 foot deep with the snap of the lip. The bait has a great casting weight, hunts and tracks well and swims well over and through cover. The colors are the same great Megabass colors anglers have come to demand.


Browning MPACT Zeiss Fishing Collection Sunglasses, $179

I've been wearing these shades most of the year while fishing. They are light, comfortable and fairly stylish. But the real draw is in their Zeiss optics and Ripel water and grime protection that is built into the lenses. The lenses stay clear even in a down pour and they are easily cleaned with a wipe to keep your vision under the water at maximum potential. Their Back Country lens is the best early morning low-light lens we've used to date. We know several pros who were using these in those sight fishing slugfests to finish in the top of the pack by finding more beds in practice than their competitors. A great set of glasses for an avid angler.


TH Marine G-Force Handle, $30

This would make a great present for any angler that owns a boat and trolling motor. As a guy who has literally been flung out of a boat when a trolling motor cord snapped, I can tell you I have a new found love for this seemingly simple gadget. I'm an angler who moves a lot because I know fish generally bite when you put a bait near them. So I try to hit as much water in a day as I can. That's a lot of lifting and dropping of the trolling motor. This cable reduces the effort, makes snug or worn trolling motors pop in and out of place so much better.


Strike King KVD Jerkbait, $9

I'm always on the lookout for jerkbaits that look a little different, act a little different, but perform very well in terms of casting and erratic dancing on slack-line twitch. Jerkbaits tend to have a narrow window of opportunity in an angler's strategy, but for $9, you're going to want to have a few of these in your jerkbait box this winter. They have great colors, two different sizes, they get down well and suspend well and dart lively. They sound good and look good and that's reason enough to own a few to me.


Rapala DT Custom Ink Crankbaits, $7

Generally "new colors" in lures don't thrill us much as anglers. But sometimes a new color or set of colors comes out that really produces and it's hard not to get on the new color band wagon. The DT line of crankbaits have been a staple. The DT 6 is a coldwater killer and the DT 10 is the perfect mid-range crankbait while the DT 16 and 20 catch a lot of deep bass on offshore structure. Now with the new Ike's Custom Ink colors producing so well, our confidence has increased with this crankbait line. The blueback herring and Smash colors have fooled a bunch of bass this year for me and I'll be getting a bunch more in the different sizes of these two colors.


Zoom WEC E2, $20

It was tough to review this crankbait because it's one of those baits to keep under wraps but it's just too good not to share. It's a wide wobbling, hunting lure that can wreck the bass around shallow wood cover. And as a little side note, the smallmouth hate this crankbait. Each bait is hand assembled, hand painted, clear coated and packaged. They are not readily available everywhere so that sort of adds to my confidence with the cranks when I find a shallow cranking bite.


Heddon Chug'n Spook, $7

This bait remained hush-hush though the fall topwater bite, but several anglers revealed the power of the new Heddon Chug'n Spook as something "the bass hadn't seen before." It's big, makes a big commotion, loud, casts a country mile and comes in great colors. The hooks are cheap and need to be replaced, but the bait is solid for a little less than $7. Folks underestimate the power of a big walking lure. If you don't have one in your box, this is a good one to start.


Lazer Trokar EWG Treble TK310, $7

Trokar brought a new sharpness to fishing hooks and now they've brought it to treble hooks. Not to say they are the sharpest but they are a new sharp. They've made it vogue to pressure set on fish and this type of edge on a fishing hook makes more sense to me on a treble hook. The price will be inhibitive to some anglers, but I can tell you a handful of my favorite baits are rocking the new EWG and short-shank hooks from Lazer Trokar.

Stay tuned to Wired2fish.com for more Wishlists from other staff members in the next few days.
















































































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How to Fish a Wake Bait Like a Pro

Posted by Jason Sealock on Thu, Nov 01, 2012 @ 08:31 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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wake bait fishing with Kevin Vandam

An underutilized fishing technique for catching big bass in clear water or shallow cover

By Jason Sealock

Bass fishing changes us as much as it makes us complacent. We go from one hot technique or lure to the next but in doing so we can also find we neglect a lot of tackle when we have success with other. Maybe we had a hot bite last fall on a lipless crankbait in the backs of some creeks, so we fire out onto the lake armed with our favorite vibrating rattler only to find out this isn't last fall.

To that end we try to gain fresh perspectives from proven anglers for no other reason than to give us all some crafty ideas to fool bass, who, let's face it, have seen their fair share of fishing lures all spring, summer and fall. They are a bit smarter and maybe a little more weary. It can be the time of year when being aggressive or subtle can change the outcome of a fishing day. But for the most part it's a time to get out of the rut of your same old fall routines.

One technique that we see a lot of pros implement in the fall but we don't see as many recreational anglers try involves v-waking a topwater minnow, swimbait or crankbait along the surface of the water. Anglers have fished wake baits for years. The Mann's Baby 1-Minus has been a dominate wake bait for decades as has the Bomber Long A. But nowadays there are some new twists on the wake bait technique that give anglers a lot more options on profile, cadence and presentation.


The allure of the "V"

Behind the success of wake bait fishing, especially in the fall is the V-shaped wake that a plug creates when reeled along the surface. The buoyancy of a bait really determines how fast you can move the bait and still create the signature V that is critical to having success in wake bait fishing.

Different anglers may debate the many nuances of the trademark V made by a wake bait along the surface, but for us it's a simple fact that many times, a baitfish in distress is as high in the water as he can be swimming as fast as he can, creating a turbulence behind him, much like a tugboat pushing a barge down the lake. The turbulence and the V of the pursued bait triggers bass. It's an impulse thing.

A bass feeding on bait often looks up especially in the fall of the year. That one bait fleeing off by itself leaving that V wake behind it gives the bass something to hone in on from great distances. This makes this a staple technique in clear water because the bass gets a good bead on the bait from a great distance, and the truth is the bass rarely misses the wake bait when he rolls on it. The V is a homing beacon for the bass if you will—an illuminated sign that says "Free Shad Pie This Way!" While shad pie doesn't translate to you and I like chocolate cake does, it apparently brings the bass a swimming.

Left Column: Mann's Baby 1 Minus, Xcalibur Wake Bait, IMA Roumba, Spro BBZ-1 Shad Floater, Lucky Craft Real California Right Column: Buckeye Wake Up, Cordell Red Fin, Cordell Jointed Red Fin, Koppers Live Target Jointed Bluegill Wake Bait, Strike King Wake Shad





















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Frog Fishing Tips with Shaw Grigsby

Posted by Walker Smith on Wed, Oct 24, 2012 @ 03:51 PM
  
  
  
  
  
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Shaw Grigsby Bass

Fall is froggin’ season, and these tips will lead to more heart-stopping blowups

 by Walker Smith

You’ve been thinking about it all week. A single, solitary grass bed has engulfed your thoughts and inundated your mind throughout the workweek. You had to leave them biting last Sunday when it got dark. Instead of sleeping like the rest of your family, you remain awake, fervently flipping through fish picture after fish picture on your smart phone. Your eyes are bloodshot, your breathing is labored and you’re beginning to get the cold sweats. Surely it won’t hurt if you call in sick for just one day, right?

You inspect the thenar space between your thumb and index finger—it’s beginning to heal from last weekend’s slugfest on your home lake. You need a fix—something, anything—to get you to the weekend. Does it still smell like bass? Looking over your shoulder to make sure no one is looking, you sniff—nothing.  Yeah, that’s right. You just smelled your hand in hopes of acquiring one last trace of the sweet smell of success. It’s okay. Don’t be embarrassed, and it’s totally okay to cry. It happens to me, too. You, my friend, have a case of fall frogitis.

If the mere thought of frog fishing doesn’t get your blood pumping and your heart palpitating, you may need to check your pulse. Catching big bass on a big worm, crankbait or jig is always fun, but nothing showcases the innate predatory instincts and ferocity of bass quite like frog fishing.

Terry and I recently had the opportunity to do a little frog fishing with FIRST pro Shaw Grigsby, and we were given great insight into some awesome frogging tips. Cutting his teeth on numerous Florida grass fisheries early in his career, Grigsby has developed some very unique techniques that will help you catch more fish and remedy your craving for the acrobatic, ferocious strikes that we all know and love.

A common misconception

When many anglers think about frog fishing, images of matted grass flood their minds. While the frog is, indeed, ideal for these types of areas, it is important to consider the unmatched versatility of a frog. Regardless of the water conditions or available cover, Grigsby never hesitates to throw his Strike King KVD Sexy Frog.

“I’ve had a lot of success throwing the Sexy Frog in places where most guys would tend to throw a Sexy Dawg or Spit-N-King,” Grigsby said. “You don’t need to have particular conditions for it to work. I’ll toss it around rocky points, under docks and even in clear, deep water.”

Differentiating your bait selection and presentation is essential to getting the most out of your fishing day. Because very few anglers take the time to throw a frog in areas free of grass, the residing bass are largely uneducated to the unique profile and action of the Sexy Frog. Any time you can present the bass with something they may not see very often, you have a substantial advantage over other anglers.

“Big bass get used to seeing the same old thing being thrown their way,” Grigsby said. “If you take a frog and throw it around some of the more inconspicuous areas of your fishery, you might surprise yourself and catch some really awesome fish.”

Customization

Perhaps one of the most advantageous traits of frogs is their ability to be tweaked and customized for several different situations. Sometimes a small, seemingly insignificant modification can make all of the difference in the world. Grigsby categorizes his Sexy Frogs into two separate groups—slop frogs and open water frogs.

“As the name suggests, I use my slop frogs in the nastiest, thickest stuff I can find,” Grigsby said. “I like to barely bend the hooks away from the body of the bait to help get a good hook in the fish, but I still want the hook points barely touching the frog to help me avoid hang-ups.”

With his open water frogs, Grigsby tends to get a little more creative when it comes to customization. Due to the absence of gnarly, snag-inducing cover, he bends the hooks upwards and away from the body of the frog to ensure a solid hookset. If the bass are keying in on a wide, erratic retrieve, he reaches for his scissors.

“The Sexy Frog is sweet bait and will walk right out of the package,” Grigsby said. “But if I’m looking for a really wide-walking presentation, I’ll trim about an inch off of just one leg of the frog and the bass will absolutely crush it!”

While trimming one leg of the frog works well, trimming both legs can, at times, be even better. When faced with stubborn bass and tough fishing conditions, Grigsby believes that the bass often prefer a smaller, more compact profile. For this reason, he will trim two inches from both legs, creating a less threatening presentation that will draw some really exciting strikes.


Finding the mother load

Whether we like to admit it or not, many of us have simply stumbled upon fish in areas that don’t make a bit of sense. While situations like that are a lot of fun, knowing the right things to look for can lead to more consistent success.

“Anytime I’m fishing cover with frogs, I’m always looking for a reason for them to be there,” Grigsby said. “Two of my favorite things to find are ditches and points. I idle around a lot, looking at my Lowrance to find ditches that allow big bass to easily migrate to and from deeper water. Grass points are great, too, because fish love to relate to irregularities in the grass.”

Holes in matted grass are also a big favorite for Grigsby. Although big areas of matted grass look like thick and uninhabitable labyrinths to us, bass use the underside of these mats as highways, constantly moving around and searching for the perfect ambush spot to attack unsuspecting prey. These holes create perfect feeding opportunities for big bass.

“Big bass love to sit on the edges of these holes, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike,” Grigsby said. “When you swim a Sexy Frog across these openings, bass can’t help themselves and will absolutely annihilate it.”


Retrieve styles

A common mistake among many bass anglers, including myself, is working a frog the same way in every situation. Depending upon the mood of the bass, Grigsby drastically changes his retrieve to get more bites.

“When the fish are really active, I will try to make my frog sound almost like a buzzbait,” Grigsby said. “I know it sounds crazy, but if you pop the Sexy Frog as fast as you can, it makes the same ‘clacking’ noise that a buzzbait emits. Using this retrieve, I can catch a lot of pressured fish that may be wise to a buzzbait or the normal cadence of a frog, but have never seen a combination of the two.”

When making long casts to the edges of grass lines, Grigsby prefers a walking retrieve, giving the Sexy Frog the action of a hard, walking topwater bait like the Sexy Dawg. To achieve the most realistic retrieve, it is important to understand that you should never move the frog with your reel—only the sharp, downward twitches of the rod should move the bait, with the reel being used solely for retrieving slack line.


Importance of a good hookset and rod

There are many techniques in bass fishing that will allow anglers the chance to “get away” with using subpar equipment, but frog fishing is not one of them. With two huge hooks to drive into the mouth of a big bass, a good hookset and proper equipment is essential.

“A lot of people like to feel the fish before they set the hook with a frog, but I never do that,” Grigsby said. “If the fish is swimming towards you, you’ll never feel it. I generally give the fish half of a second after the blowup, and then I’ll really lay into them. The Sexy Frog has two beastly hooks on it and penetrating those hooks at the same time takes a huge hookset. For this reason, you always need to have your rod tip down when you work a frog, which minimizes your slack and puts you in a good position for a powerful, upwards hookset.”

To aid his monstrous hooksets, Grigsby uses a 7-foot, medium-heavy Quantum Tour Elite Dean Rojas Frog Rod. The rod’s fast tip allows him to cast like a rocket, while its backbone packs a huge punch.

“I come off my feet when I set the hook on a frog fish, and this rod gives me all of the power I could ever want,” Grigsby said. “A fast tip is necessary when I’m trying to skip the frog into thick cover, while it also helps me work the frog just the way I want to.”

Fall frog fishing is a great way to catch a lot of big fish, but it can certainly take some time to master. If you take the time to modify your frog correctly, find the right areas, experiment with different retrieves and get your hands on the right equipment, you’ll have a great time trying to curb your case of fall frogitis.  






































































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Five for 5 | Five Farm Pond Baits for Big Lake Bass

Posted by Walker Smith on Tue, Oct 23, 2012 @ 07:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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5 lures for bass fishing on ponds and big lakes



Photos and Article by Walker Smith

Like many avid anglers, my sheer fascination and love of this great sport began on the muddy, ant hill-covered banks of a local farm pond. Every day, rain or shine, I would rush home from school, determined to further my quest of catching my personal best bass. Forget homework, projects or chores—all of that could wait. I fished every single day, only coming home when my parents told me supper was ready. Maybe this explains why I didn’t have many close friends growing up, because I would have much rather been clearing new paths on the shoreline of J.P. Wallis’ farm pond to get better casts towards the “magic” fallen tree than sitting inside playing video games.

I remember being invited to fish on a big lake for the first time as a child. I was nervous. What if my buddy didn’t think I was good? Surely I didn’t have all the expensive gear he had. I’d never skipped docks before, so what if I got hung up? Would he get frustrated? If I didn’t catch anything, would he invite me along for a second trip? Although I didn’t bring much knowledge or experience to the table, I did bring one thing along that proved invaluable—a single tackle tray chock-full of my most trusted farm pond baits. That’s all I had. With that one box, I caught more bass than my buddy that day and the same lures are still producing bass for me when conditions get tough.

To this day, I still carry a box of farm pond baits in my boat wherever I go. Five of these baits have consistently produced nice bass during some tough fishing days on big lakes.


1/4-ounce Arbogast Jitterbug

Just because the Jitterbug has a worldwide reputation of catching huge bass throughout the nighttime hours, don’t think that it doesn’t catch ‘em up during the day, too. Producing a wide, lifelike wobble unlike any other bait on the market, the Jitterbug will catch some really big fish in both farm ponds and highly pressured lakes. Not too many fishermen throw this lure on big lakes, allowing anglers the rare opportunity to present the bass with something they’re largely unfamiliar with.

To get the most out of the Arbogast Jitterbug, make long casts paralleling grass lines or any wood cover. Start out with a slow, steady reeling action while incorporating occasional pauses into your retrieve cadence near key irregularities. Bass can get pretty mad at this lure, so hold on and don’t lift your rod tip until you feel the fish. I also like to replace the stock hooks with No. 6 or No. 4 Mustad Triple Grip Short Shank Hooks to ensure a good connection with the fish.


1/6-ounce Worden’s Rooster Tail

Growing up, many of us spent countless Saturday afternoons relying on the fish catching abilities of this classic bait. Often times, if the bass weren’t eating a Rooster Tail, I was out of luck because that was all I’d have. I began throwing it on big lakes a few years ago, and have mercy—you’re talking about some serious fun. Even better, this lure is great for both serious and casual anglers. If you need a limit fish in a high-pressure tournament situation and only have a few minutes to catch it, don’t be afraid to tie on a Rooster Tail. Conversely, if you like to head to the lake and simply feel something tug on your line, virtually everything that swims will eat a white and silver Rooster Tail.

There isn’t a wrong way to fish a Rooster Tail, but it’s extremely important to pay close attention to the cadence of your retrieve. When you get a bite, make sure to take note of what speed you were reeling in order to duplicate it. As with most moving baits, bass can get very picky when it comes to the retrieval speed of a Rooster Tail, but when you find that “sweet spot” you can fill the boat in a hurry. A pump and drop retrieve works very well in deep water and even on "ledge bass" on big reservoirs.


1/8-ounce Z Man Micro Series Chatterbait

The Z Man Micro Series Chatterbait is one of the most reliable crossover bass baits you will ever find. Priced affordably and coming straight out of the package with quality, dependable components, the Micro Series Chatterbait can draw some vicious strikes. With a small finesse profile coupled with the intense vibration of its hex-blade, this bait is a unique combination of a jig, a spinnerbait and a crankbait. I have caught bass weighing more than 6-pounds in both farm ponds and big lakes with this very lure. Whenever I have newcomers in my boat, I hand them this bait.

We have caught bass on a Micro Series Chatterbait in almost anyway imaginable—jigging, bouncing, dragging, ripping, waking, hopping, flipping—the list could go on. While the Micro Series especially excels in clear water around finicky fish, it can be used in almost any situation. Fish eat the Micro Series Chatterbait—they don’t swat at it. For this reason, we’ve experienced an excellent hookup/landing ratio with this bait.


1/4-ounce Johnson Beetle Spin

Widely considered an “old faithful” fishing lure to many old school anglers, the Johnson Beetle Spin continues to catch fish when other baits fall short. With a free-moving jig head, this lure has a very distinctive “swaying” action in the water that has been often imitated, but never duplicated. The Beetle Spin also provides fishermen with a wide range of versatility—if the shallow water bass aren’t biting, you can easily remove the spinner and use it for deep water jigging. We also will replace the bug body with a Zoom Fat Albert Grub for added action and a big profile at times.

For shallow water approaches, the Beetle Spin is most effective when fished parallel to grass lines or long laydowns. While a constant retrieve will certainly catch fish, intermittent jerks of the rod tip can entice some extra bites as well. For deeper applications, the Beetle Spin’s jig head works great around rock piles and docks.


Zoom 6-inch Lizard

The Zoom Lizard is a fish catching machine and one of my all-time favorite flipping baits. While many anglers prefer to use these lizards exclusively throughout the spring, bass will eat them all year long. Great for Carolina rigs, Texas rigs and even weightless presentations, the Zoom Lizard is a versatile and durable bait that will catch plenty of fish for both serious and casual anglers alike.

When targeting shallow fish, flip the Texas rigged Zoom Lizard into laydowns, underneath docks, along grass lines and around bass beds for the best results. To maintain realism, slowly dragging the lizard is often all that’s necessary to draw some bone-jarring bites. For deep fishing, dragging a Carolina rigged Zoom Lizard around isolated cover on primary points and channel ledges can catch some monster bass.

Many bass anglers, myself included, tend to get caught up in the “latest and greatest” of the fishing industry. While newer, high-end baits can definitely catch a lot of fish, we need to remember our roots and hang on to the lures that started our obsession with bass fishing. If you’re a farm pond angler, don’t be embarrassed to whip out some of these baits when fishing a big lake with a buddy—you might just surprise both your fishing partner and the bass.

 














































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Big Walking Topwaters in the Early Fall

Posted by Walker Smith on Thu, Oct 04, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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Topwater bass

A few quick tips to increase the quality of bass you catch in the early stages of fall

by Walker Smith

Autumn just might be my favorite time of the year. With the nice break from the summer heat and the fish finally starting to cooperate again, there’s not a whole lot to dislike about it. I get giddy when the bass finally begin schooling as they chase shad into the shallows. After months of slow fishing, nothing beats catching sometimes hundreds of bass in a day. It’s a great way to release all of the frustration that has been built up from a summer full of jet skis, wakeboard boats and slow fishing.  

Catching a bunch of bass is fun, I don’t care who you are. But what if you’re looking for bigger bites? One of the most common frustrations of fall fishing is the absence and irregularity of quality bites. While no one will ever have the “magic” answer to that question, the Wired2Fish crew all agree that big walking topwaters can definitely produce some huge bass.

Method to the madness

Many lakes are notorious for getting into an early fall funk. Much of the bait measures but a couple inches, and anglers find matching the hatch difficult at best when dealing with such diminutive forage. Many anglers get caught up in what I like to call “threadfin tunnel vision." What are they doing? Where are they located? How big are they? While these are all outstanding questions to be asking yourself throughout your fishing day, to target the "sea cows," a.k.a. big bass, we must also consider the additional forage that bass tend to target during the fall.

Gizzard shad are an often-overlooked favorite food source of big bass, and they get absolutely huge in the fall. So are meaty panfish like bluegills. For this reason, we’ve caught some really nice fall bass on big walking topwater baits. Huge topwater baits like a Strike King Sexy Dawg, Heddon Chug'n Spook, the old Reaction Innovations Vixxen or the new Paycheck Baits Repo Man emulate wounded gizzard shad well, driving big bass crazy.

Let’s think like a big bass for a minute: You’re hungry, fat and pretty lazy—life is tough for a big bass. You’re seeing thousands of small threadfin shad all around you, but there’s only one problem—those pesky 12-inchers are all over them, and you don’t feel like competing against them. To make matters more complicated, you’re going to have to eat a whole bunch of those small threadfins to get a full belly. All of the sudden, you look up and see what you believe to be a huge gizzard shad helplessly flopping around the surface of the water. Easy pickings, right? Why waste a bunch of energy on dinky threadfins when you can enjoy a full course meal of a tasty gizzard shad? It’s an easy decision for the bass to opt for the easier, larger meal.



Presentation triggers big bass

In bass fishing, presentation is everything. Even with the perfect lure, you need to present it correctly to maximize your success. While there are many different ways to fish big topwaters, we’ve found two specific techniques to be especially effective.

When an 8- or 10-inch gizzard shad is wounded and fighting for its life, it’s not going to be nonchalantly fluttering about in the water—it will be going absolutely haywire. For that reason, a slower, noisier approach when fishing big walking topwaters is a great way to entice some huge blowups. To start out, make long casts and work the lure to ensure a very wide walking action. To increase the amount of racket the lure creates, make very short, sharp downward twitches with your rod tip to obtain a loud “chugging” sound. If a bass strikes at the bait without being hooked, dramatically speed your cadence in order to imitate a gizzard shad in pure panic-mode.

Another equally effective retrieve for big topwater lures is to walk the bait very quickly across the surface. This particular retrieve is very effective in schooling situations. When shad, both gizzard and threadfin, are being pursued by hungry bass, they swim frantically in every direction in order to confuse and disorient the bass. Working a big topwater with a series of quick downward snaps of your rod tip gives bass the impression that a gizzard shad is getting away, triggering the bass’ predatory instinct to attack.

It is important to note that the same retrieve doesn’t always work—if you caught them last week using a slow, loud presentation, you may have to switch things up to a faster, wilder retrieve to get the most out of your fishing day. A bass’ preference can change daily, even hourly, so it’s always a great idea to try different presentations.  Often clear water can change how the bass react to topwaters, as can overcast days.

So constantly change it up until you find a cadence to which the bass will react.Try upsizing your offering and experiment with different retrieves—it may prove to be the difference between a good day on the water and an awesome day on the water. You can catch average sized bass on big topwaters but you can also catch some really big bass in the fall on oversized walkers!

    Left to right: Cotton Cordell Redfin, Heddon Chug'n Spook, Strike King Sexy Dawg, Jackall Bonnie, Buckeye Wake-Up, Ima Big Stick are much larger than the standard fall fair like a Super Spook.


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Visit Fish | Flint River's Shoals of Spice

Posted by Jason Sealock on Wed, Oct 03, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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Topwaters on the Flint River for magnum Shoal Bass is a variety in fishing some crave

By Shaye Baker

Many people prefer a little variety in their life, from a simple change of scenery to break from the normal routine. Fishermen are no different. Smallmouth fishermen trudge down south to visit Okeechobee and Falcon, largemouth anglers trek northward to chase big smallies on St. Clair and Erie. Anglers visit the likes of Lake Lanier and the Coosa River to test their might against stout spotted bass. Variety, as they say, is the spice of life.

If you’re one of the many who enjoy sampling various species of bass, the Flint River in southwest Georgia fits this bill. In these beautiful waters, you’ll find the ferocious shoal bass—a species of black bass only native to Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Though they are found in all three states, few areas are as jam-packed with quality shoal bass as the section of the Flint River just above Lake Seminole.

Elite Series pro J Todd Tucker lives just a short drive away from the Flint River in Moultrie, Ga. Tucker has fished these waters for decades and caught numerous shoal bass weighing more than 4-pounds, with his best weighing more than 6-pounds.  Although he is fortunate enough to fish all over the country, he’ll be the first to admit that there’s nothing quite like the shoal bass that inhabit the Flint River.


“If I only had one place to fish, I could fish the Flint for the rest of my life,” said Tucker.

It’s evident he means it too, as he and his dad have purchased a tunnel hull boat specifically for fishing  their home waters. Although a stretch of the Flint can be accessed from Lake Seminole in a fiberglass boat, a tunnel hull or jet-boat is necessary to access the prime shoal bass areas. If a specialized boat is not in your budget, there are numerous boat ramps along the river that give anglers the ability to float, kayak, or canoe their way to local honey holes.

Fishing for shoal bass in the Flint is fairly simple in the fall. Most days, Tucker just needs a topwater that makes a lot of noise.

“They’ll hit other stuff,” he said. “But I know the big ones will crush a topwater, so that’s about all I’ll fish.”

Any topwater will draw big blow-ups as long as it possesses two basic characteristics. It needs to make a lot of noise and be the right color. Prop baits, wake baits, poppers and walking-style topwaters are all on the menu anytime Tucker  hits the water. Tucker emphasizes the importance of “matching the hatch” when fishing the Flint, and the bass were specifically targeting bream during a recent trip.

Because bream are the primary forage along the Flint River and shoal bass are primarily sight-feeders, each  of Tucker’s go-to baits are some sort of bream or bluegill pattern.  While the racket of a loud topwater bait will initially pique the bass’ interest, the look of the bait seals the deal.

It is a good idea to have a follow-up bait on deck as the fish will sometimes swat at a topwater and miss it. To catch the short-strikers, Tucker relies on a Berkley Havoc Rocket Craw . When a fish misses his topwater plug, he’ll pitch the Rocket Craw on a light Texas Rig towards the bass.. Although it doesn’t work every time, the soft plastic will often make up for a lot of the misses. 

The Flint is composed primarily of rock with intermittent shoals and deeper pools dispersed throughout. While the many large boulders in the river can make navigating the Flint tricky, Tucker believes them to be beneficial to the fishing.

“The isolated boulders are the deal,” said Tucker. “That’s where the big ones like to hang out.”

To have a shot at catching one of the huge shoal bass for which the Flint is known, keep your eyes peeled for the larger rocks out in the middle. Big 4-pound-plus shoal bass like to position in the current breaks created by these rocks. They are opportunistic feeders, and they will use the eddies as ambush points for their prey. 

Although the bigger bites typically come from the lone rangers around boulders, a lot of numbers can be caught in close proximity to the shoals. To target these smaller shoal bass, focus on the areas just above and below the shoals. The topwaters are a little tough to work in the swift, choppy water, so  subsurface baits such as spinnerbaits or swimbaits are a better option in these areas.

Just as Tucker utilizes bream-colored topwater plugs, spinnerbaits and swimbaits  also need to mimic bream. Gold willow leaf blades allow you to burn a spinnerbait while also  emitting a nice flash that Flint River shoal bass are known  to love.


Fishing the Flint involves more than just going down the bank like you might on a calm-water reservoir. Tucker drifts a lot of the time using the trolling motor only to guide the boat as it washes backwards down-river. It’s best to use the current to your advantage instead of trying to fight it all day.

The Flint River has a lot of regular current, allowing anglers to revisit a lot of water. If you fish through an area, make a mental note of where key features are, such as current breaks and submerged rocks. Whether you catch fish or not, the area will replenish as more fish wash in-and-out with the current. Recycling water is a lot more productive with so much current.

The simplicity of fishing draws anglers to the Flint River. As long as you keep a look out for the right signs and present the right baits, you can have a lot of fun doing something that is fairly unique. The Flint doesn’t really get the pressure that many of the lakes and larger rivers do these days, so anglers are provided with a simpler way of fishing, and one I recommend you try out.













































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Making the Most Out of Your Hollow-Bodied Frog

Posted by Walker Smith on Mon, Oct 01, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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tips for frog fishing before after

Three simple tips to increase your success when bass fishing this fall with frogs

by Walker Smith

It’s a cool fall morning—not too cold, but just brisk enough to break out your favorite fishing hoodie. You set the boat down at your favorite grass bed, take one-last swig of warm coffee and put down your trolling motor. Something just feels ‘right’ this morning. You fire your favorite frog to the edge of the shoreline grass and feel the braided line brush against your callused thumb.

Twitch, twitch. The grass begins to move as you tighten your grip on the rod.  Your heart begins to beat out of your chest. Twitch, twitch. A massive wake slowly approaches the frog. You swallow hard at the lump in your throat and try to keep your cool. Twitch, twitch—BOOSH! You do your best to be patient and make certain the beast inhaled your frog. You wait for what seems like hours. As you feverishly reel your slack and come off the floor with a giant hookset… nothing. Absolutely nothing but air. Your frog comes whizzing by your ear, landing on the other side of the boat while managing to tangle everything from the trolling motor to your ears and ball cap in braided line.

About two years ago, this exact situation happened to me. Normally it’s not too big of a deal, but this time it cost me thousands of dollars in a high-pressure tournament situation. It was that moment when I knew something had to be done. As a result, I’ve started performing two simple frog modifications and one hookset adjustment that have dramatically increased my froggin’ success and eased my heartache.


Take pliers to it
It’s tough to take a set of pliers to a brand new frog, but I’m telling you—it’s worth it. My outright favorite frog is the Spro Dean Rojas Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog. While you can definitely catch some bigguns on it right out of the package, a very simple tweak can double your hookup ratio.

If you’ll notice, the hook point of most frogs barely touch the body of the bait. This miniscule contact point is meant to shield the hooks from thick cover, but can also impair your ability to get a good hook into the bass. I like to grab the bend of each hook with a sturdy set of pliers and slowly pull the hook points outwards and away from the body—not too much as to make the frog more prone to hang-ups, but about 1/16-inch. No more, no less.

While I’m sure it sounds like I’m splitting hairs by making such a small, 1/16-inch adjustment, you will stick more fish—period. I am as hard-headed as they come, but after my buddies pounded it into my skull enough, I finally tried it and have been hugely impressed by the results.


Give it a haircut
Yep, I’m giving you an excuse to let your “inner hair stylist” come out a bit. Many of today’s topwater frogs have living rubber legs attached to the back. These crazy things quiver and palpitate in the water even when the frog is at rest, producing some mammoth blow ups.

I’m a big proponent of differentiating your baits from the thousands of commonplace, everyday baits that fish see every day. Fish see a lot of frogs that walk, and they also see a lot of frogs that pop. If you combine those two actions, however, the fish probably haven’t seen a frog that pops as it walks! I’m starting to sound like Dr. Seuss…

To give your frog some awesome added action, simply stretch both legs out straight and trim about one inch of the living rubber off of just one of the legs. Make sure to discard of the excess rubber responsibly by not polluting the lake with it. The uneven leg lengths will allow your frog to walk back-and-forth with the slightest twitch of your rod tip, while remaining almost stationary. This is great when targeting small holes in thick grass, as you can work the frog in small areas for longer periods of time, giving the bass a better look at your bait.

Photo courtesy of Fishpaa.com

Swing up
As much as I hate to admit it, I still make this mistake from time-to-time—when it’s time to set the hook, I swing my rod to the side, not upwards. There is not a quicker way to miss a frog fish.

Think about it like this: When you set the hook to the side on a frog, the frontward-facing hooks don’t have anything to grab on to. Instead, you end up pulling the hooks away from the fish, instead of into the fish. Often, when I make this mistake, I lose my fish. In fact, I got so frustrated with losing frog fish, I completely quit throwing frogs in tournament situations for about a year.

My confidence was quickly regained, however, when I started training myself to set the hook in an upward motion. To be honest, it was pretty awkward at first, but it became second nature in no time. With an upward hookset, you allow the plastic body of the frog to compress against the top of the bass’ mouth, giving the hooks a chance to do what they do best—puncture flesh. When the hooks penetrate on an upright hookset, they pierce the hard, bony flesh at the top of the fish’s mouth, therefore ensuring a rock-solid connection between you and the bass.

Fall is froggin’ season, and you can bet that the Wired2Fish crew is looking forward to bringing you many more frog fishing tips as the bite heats up. While there are numerous nuances to frog fishing, these quick tips are sure to get you started on your fall froggin’ endeavors.








































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Five for 5 | Five Fall Fishing Lures for Under $6 a Piece

Posted by Walker Smith on Mon, Sep 24, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
  
  
  
  
  
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budget bass fishing lures for fall fishing

by Walker Smith

Throughout my time as a collegiate angler, I quickly learned that penny-pinching was an invaluable trait. Between full-time classes and frequent traveling on the tournament trail, there wasn’t much time to have a “real” job. Either I caught fish or I didn’t make any money. In no position to buy 20 dollar baits at the time, I was forced to “make due” with a skinny wallet. Regardless of what you may think, spending hundreds of dollars isn’t always necessary to catch big bass.

I recently took a trip to the friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart to see if I could pick up five quality fall bass fishing baits – each for less than $6. Before taxes, my total came to exactly $25. Whether you’re a pond fisherman or a weekend angler, these reasonably priced baits will catch plenty of bass this fall.


Strike King Red Eye Shad - $5.96
One of the most versatile, proven lipless baits on the market today, the Strike King Red Eye Shad proves extremely effective throughout the fall season. As the shad make their annual migration towards shallow water, big bass follow. The Red Eye Shad exhibits incredible action in the water, while its free-floating rattles create an enticing sound that triggers bass into feeding. Equipped with premium VMC vanadium cone-cut treble hooks right out of the package, this lure doesn’t require any modifications in order to catch a bunch of fish.

The 1/2-ounce Red Eye Shad casts like a rocket, giving both bank fishermen and tournament anglers access to hard-to-reach shallow flats. Following a long cast, start off with an erratic retrieve, incorporating frequent jerks of the rod tip. Don’t be afraid to let the bait free-fall, either—the Red Eye Shad has a unique fluttering action as it falls. Burn it through shallow water for explosive reaction strikes.


War Eagle Finesse Spinnerbait - $5.96
Designed by Elite Series pro Mike McClelland, the 5/16-ounce War Eagle Finesse Spinnerbait is the real deal. I have personally caught some bona fide pigs on this bait, and I always have one nearby when I’m on the water. The War Eagle Finesse Spinnerbait comes equipped with a dual-length Bass Eagle pro series skirt and a mean Mustad Ultra Power Point hook; so once again, it’s ready for the water straight out of the package. As with any blade bait, however, I strongly suggest using a trailer hook—I’ve had my heart broken too many times when not using one.

When it's cloudy and windy, a spinnerbait draws a lot more bites. When the bite is extra-tough, I’ll slide a small, plastic trailer up the shank of the hook for added action. I love to slow-roll the War Eagle Finesse Spinnerbait just beneath the surface while targeting wood structure and grass lines around flats. The bass crush this fall staple.


Rapala Crankin’ Rap-5 - $5.96
The Rapala Crankin’ Rap-5 is an all-purpose squarebill with serious durability. Bang it on stumps, rocks and everything in between—it can handle it. The realistic, etched scale patterns on the body of the bait make the Crankin’ Rap great for both clear and stained water applications. The distinctive rattling sound attracts bass in all situations, making it a great choice for highly-pressured public fisheries. Bank fisherman will love this bait, as it avoids hang-ups well and only dives 5-feet deep.

The Crankin’ Rap is awesome around cover. Make long casts to efficiently cover water while momentarily pausing the lure when it hits a piece of cover to entice reaction strikes. An erratic retrieve is often most effective, but be sure to experiment with different retrieval rates for optimal success.


Strike King Buzz King or Bleeding Elite Buzzbait - $3.76
The fall season is buzzbait season, and with fish feeding aggressively on migrating shad, the big profile of the Strike King Buzz King can produce some heart-stopping blowups. The Diamond Dust head and silicone skirt hold up well after multiple fish catches, while the big three blade prop makes a ton of commotion in the water. The big prop also makes it easier to fish the Buzz King with a slow retrieve, allowing more fish to get a solid look at your bait.

The Strike King Buzz King works best around cover, so feel free to get up close and personal. I like to make long casts and burn it back to the boat initially, picking off the most aggressive fish. Before you move to a different area, always make a few casts with an ultra-slow retrieve, with the prop of the bait barely making a disturbance—sometimes it takes a little extra coaxing to make the big girls bite.


Zoom Salty Super Fluke - $3.36 per 10-pack
The Zoom Salty Super Fluke is the “ole faithful” of bass fishing lures. I don’t have enough fingers or toes to count the number of big bass I have caught on this bait. When fishing in tough, clear water conditions, not much will out-fish a Super Fluke as it’s a perfect imitation of an injured or fleeing baitfish. When rigged weightless on a 2/0 EWG worm hook, the Super Fluke hits the water quietly while swooping and darting through the water with ease. A breeze to skip under docks and around any type of cover, the Zoom Salty Super Fluke is a timeless fish catcher.

The Zoom Salty Super Fluke can be fished in almost any location, under any conditions. Make long, skipping casts to imitate a fleeing baitfish, followed by short, quick snaps of the rod tip. For the most lifelike action, I recommend using a high quality, 8-pound test monofilament line such as Sunline Super Natural Monofilament.  Keep a close eye on your fluke throughout your retrieve, as most of your bites will occur on a slack line. It’s a exciting sight to see a fat bass boil on top of your fluke.  

Catching big bass doesn’t always have to cost big bucks. While some high-end lures are definitely worth the money, they’re not always necessary for a fun weekend on the water. For less than $30, your local tackle provider can arm you with a few essentials – inexpensive baits can produce some lifelong memories. Fun while fishing doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg.









































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