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If you’re relatively new to Bass fishing, you have probably heard of or tried fishing with ‘soft plastics.’ What some folks have mistakenly referred to as ‘a rubber worm’ has exploded into an amazing variety of lifelike and/or bizarre-looking soft baits that appeal to fish for various reasons and under various conditions. One thing is common to all soft plastic baits: If you rig them properly, you can penetrate deep into ‘snaggy’ cover and present the bait to fish that would never see other categories of baits because they feature treble hooks or exposed hooks.

From Left to Right among the pictured baits you can see represented snake baits, worms, grubs, Senko-style stick baits, lizards, tubes, ‘creature baits,’ swim baits and crawdad ‘trailers’, all in various sizes. While you are reading this, someone somewhere is maniacally mass-producing or hectically hand-pouring a new variation of a soft plastic bait, experimenting with different colors, textures, sizes, arms, legs, wings, scales, antennae, claws, fins and tails.

Some baits will realistically mimic a specific fish species such as Bluegill, Shad or Rainbow Trout. Some will look like live crawdads, frogs, leeches or worms. Some will look like nothing that flies, crawls, swims or scurries on planet Earth. But all of them will catch fish and if they are Texas-rigged, they will come through brush, branches, limbs, logs, weeds, moss, pads, reeds and other obstacles that would immediately grab and hang up other baits. They will also move in ways that are unlike other baits, and their look and feel can cause Bass to hang on just a little longer than they would when mouthing a hard, unnatural feeling bait. They also lend themselves well to various, lubricating scents which not only attract fish but also aid in sliding over obstacles.

Texas-rigging, therefore, is mighty important if you want to hunt Bass where they are hiding. Consider: If you were one of those guys standing in the boat pictured, would you throw your bait into that mess? Of course you would! That’s where the fish are!

So how do you effectively ‘Texas-rig’ a soft plastic? It’s relatively easy, and once you figure it out and practice a few times on a medium-sized worm, you will have it mastered. Then you can do it with just about any of the baits pictured, and others as well. Imagine the possibilities! It does not have to get complicated either. Sometimes just a grub, Texas-rigged and skittered across the top of a weedy stretch will produce a hump of water followed by a smashing strike from a fish that thought he was safely buried in weeds. Don’t forget your heart medicine!

To rig Texas-style, first choose a good, sharp hook that will be a match for the size of bait you are rigging. The hooks I normally use range from big 6/0 or 5/0 hooks for larger swim baits, down to 1/0 or even smaller, if I am using a tiny version of, say, a plastic lizard.

When them good old boys down in Texas first started this method, all they had were regular, straight-shanked worm hooks, or they could use a jig hook (Intended to have lead molded onto the bend, up near the eye). That straight ‘L’ shaped bend produced a corner, and in that bend they could secure the head of the plastic worm so that it would not slide down the shank during casting, or while bumping and dragging against cover. Then those ingenious Bassers could bury the point of the hook in the plastic, put a bullet sinker out in front – pegged or un-pegged with a toothpick – and suddenly they were fishing ‘weedless’ and ‘snagless.’ Whether the fish thought the bait was a slithering worm or a darting baitfish, they gobbled ‘em!

As folks discovered just how ingenious and effective it was to drag a Texas-rigged worm or lizard up and down over submerged brush and through weeds or branches without hanging up, they ignited a demand for Texas-rig hooks that were easier to use and that produced a rig that kept the bait looking straight and natural. The market responded.

All major hook manufacturers have several different styles of hooks that were designed specifically for Texas-rigging. I am not a big fan of the bent-shank style of hook, though they work well and come in different gaps, gauges, styles and sizes. They require the angler to run the hook point through the top of the head of the bait, then twist the bait around, hang the head on the bend near the eye, straighten the bait out, line up the bait, and push the point of the hook through the center-line of the body of the bait, either coming near the surface, or punching all the way through, then ‘skin-hooking’ the point back down onto the body of the bait. All this must be done in such a way as to prevent the finished bait from ending up looking twisted, bent, off-center or bulging unnaturally. Done improperly, the head of the bait still does not stay up on the bend. They work fine when you set them up correctly.

I’m not all that patient – especially not in the middle of a hot bite! – and I have a tendency to be fumble-fingered, so my favorite hook will have a separate ‘prong’ with barbs, attached to the hook eye. I really like the Mister Twister version of this hook, and it comes in many useful sizes. I also like Owner hooks that have both a prong and a coil spring around the prong, attached to the eye. These are very effective on some of the ‘slimier’ baits that might slip right off of a single prong. I keep a skeptical eye out for any hook that sports a prong that comes down too close to the hook point. I want the Bass to be able to munch on my weedless hook, push the plastic head of the bait down, swinging the prong down toward the hook shank and away from the point, and then get real nice and closely acquainted with the hook point that is now sticking in under his jaw, or up into his nose. If the point of the prong is too close to the point of the hook, that does not leave a lot of gap or stretching room for the plastic to move and expose a good length of hook point. Sounds fussy, but I’ve proven to my own satisfaction that it can make an important difference in hook-up ratios.

What’s the big advantage of the prong-style Texas-rig hook? The nose of your bait is independent of the shank and hook eye. You simply center up and jab the nose of the bait onto the prong, or jab and twist it on, if it has a coil and a prong, line up your bait in the orientation you want (Some baits have an obvious ‘top’ with eyes up and legs down, a flat ‘bottom’ or even a well-designed ‘hook slot’ on the top of the bait so your hook point can lay outside of the bait, while still remaining hidden, unexposed and safe from weeds and snags. One hint: Though some baits are formed with a flat ‘bottom,’ you can sometimes cause your bait to have a great, erratic, random, darting action simply by rigging with the flat side up. Or if the bait has a flat top, reverse that. This can be killer when fish are ignoring ‘normal’ presentations and might be more prone to react to an unexpected movement. Try it!

Common sense works well in choosing the amount of gap on a hook. If I’m using a slim, straight bait like a worm, I’ll usually opt for a narrower gap in the hook. If I’m going with something bulkier, I’ll use a hook with a wide gap. A wide gap is best for most swimbaits, so that you can rig them to track straight without the hook deforming the bait’s shape.

Want to know a secret about Texas-rigging? When you do get bit and set the hook, that hook is in that fish! A jig might ‘flip’ out of the fish’s mouth on a head-shake, a spinnerbait might ‘twist’ out during an acrobatic roll or change of direction, a treble-hook might simply pull away, simply not having enough ‘gap’ to really grip a good amount of the fish’s face. But a Texas-rig worm hook is going in, penetrating deep, capturing a good amount of flesh or jawbone and then holding well, backed up against the barb. Keep that fish from wrapping around an object down deep and no matter what he does, you are most likely going to have him in your hand!

A quick word on weights: I prefer plain old lead bullet sinkers in various sizes. I usually use the lightest weight I can cast well with. If I have a heavier worm, like a 10 inch Power Worm, I might use no weight at all, allowing the worm to ‘settle’ and move freely in the water. This is especially effective if you have a little current. Let the current press your offering right in under a weed mat, brush pile or log. Wham! Or if I know I’ll be contacting brush or branches throughout a retrieve, I might use a small bullet sinker just to help deflect off of cover and make a little fish-attracting commotion. In heavier river current I might upsize the bullet weight, but most often I go lighter if I can.

You can also use tungsten weights. They work well but they are more expensive, though they do create a sharper knocking sound and that may be helpful on a particular day. Ordinarily, I prefer the soft thump or ‘tick’ of a lead weight. For most applications, I stick a toothpick into the point of the sinker and alongside the line, then snap it off cleanly, flush at the front of the sinker and sitting on top of the hook eye. This ‘pegs’ the weight and gives you confidence that when your lead is contacting cover, your soft plastic offering is doing the same thing in the same spot. Sometimes a slip sinker can be helpful. The above-mentioned grub on the weed-tops seems to do better with a sliding sinker. Experiment and see what you like.

Some bullet sinkers come with a coil extending out of the back of the weight. This can be a great help when trying the ‘Florida’ variation of Texas-rigging. Instead of having the hook up near the head of the bait, you can run the line down through a screwed-in bullet weight, even midway down the bait, then to your hook eye, hiding the hook point as usual. This can produce a different, more horizontal, enticing action and might help it slip through thicker cover. Whether hooked at the head of the bait or further down, have no fear that the fish will bite the hook. I have been able to watch strikes in clear water, and it is amazing to watch a Bass, Smallmouth or Largemouth, as it homes in on the bait and strikes the head and center mass. They are efficient predators, and they know how to attack their prey!

Another sneaky tactic that qualifies as Texas-rigging is to use a floating bullet where a lead bullet sinker would normally be. Usually colored, these can make any soft plastic a surface bait. Fish like any topwater, or hover and twitch a soft plastic over a shallow Bass bed and you can provoke a strike from an enraged fish that thinks it’s defending its offspring! The purple bullet weight in the picture is actually a floating bullet.

As in the picture, there are also some hooks with weight molded right onto the shank. The two shown are from Owner and Gamakatsu. ‘Belly-draggers’ and ‘butt-draggers’ are often used with swim-baits, but they can also be useful for many other soft plastics when a different ‘look’ is desired. Switching from a nose-dive to a horizontal drop might just produce more hits. A combination of a butt-dragger and floating claws on a soft plastic crawdad might just prove too much for a crustacean-munching Bass to resist! Experimentation with all of these possibilities is strongly encouraged. Sometimes just a small change or adjustment might turn on otherwise inactive fish. They’ll let you know!

The water is warming up. Bass are becoming more active right now. In the Northwest, they are starting to move up in the water column and in toward spawning areas. In this pre-spawn mode, as well as during the spawn, soft plastics might be just what you need to put a bend in your rod. You can really improve your odds by fearlessly fishing snaggy areas. So get your Texas on!

Your friendly, fellow Bass fanatic,

Bob Larimer

When I first got started Bass fishing I had accidentally caught a Largemouth while showing my kids how to fish for trout. It was a beautiful, aggressive, chunky-looking, fascinating fish and it launched me on an entirely new adventure that has never stopped. My brother and I – both reformed Steelhead fishermen now – learned together, and we shared hours of experimenting and chattering about our ‘discoveries’ regarding this amazing, challenging ‘new’ fish.

I first studied up by reading magazines and watching fishing shows on TV. Then I went out and bought what I thought was a pretty good representation of all the major categories of Bass baits. I got floating stick baits, spinnerbaits and trailers, jigs and jig trailers, various topwaters, and plenty of soft plastic worms, lizards and flukes. All of these strange new baits were fun to look at and speculate about, but the most fascinating to me were the crankbaits. They came in a wide variety of realistic or fantastical colors, weights, shapes, bill lengths and angles – or no bills at all – diving depths and actions.

I had good success with almost all the baits right away, not necessarily boating big Bass, but catching good numbers nonetheless. With one exception, however: I could not buy a bite on a crankbait. What a disappointment! Here was a bait that seemed to hold the very essence of Bass fishing mystique, that was obviously baitfish or crawdad shaped, that wiggled underwater in what to me were very ‘realistic’ ways, that could be cranked right down into the fish’s lair, and that had not one, but two deadly treble hooks attached. And I could not catch a Bass on it.

Whether I cranked the bait through open water, ripped it through weeds, bounced it off of rocks and stumps, plowed along the bottom in the sand or mud, sped it up or slowed it down, I hardly ever got even a bite. My first ‘success’ was a hapless little dink of a fish that somehow got too close and got one point of one treble hook stuck in the top of its head. How humiliating! What the heck were those Bass Pros doing with crankbaits that I couldn’t do?

What I eventually learned was that while each category of Bass bait requires time on the water, and each has a learning curve associated with it, the crankbait demands an attitude of determination, dogged perseverance, curiousity and attention to detail. You can drag a jig-and-grub or a Texas-rigged worm through the weeds, you can strain the water with a spinnerbait, you can sputter or twitch a topwater and learn fairly quickly how to produce a hit on them. The crankbait, not so much.

The key to crankbait success, in my opinion, is lots of specific study and practice coupled with a willingness to develop a ‘feel’ for each type of crankbait in your tackle box. My earlier mistake was to expect such beautiful baits to automatically produce a fish whenever I wet them and turned the handle on my reel. They looked good and produced a satisfying vibration through my rod, so I felt they should immediately grab fish. After a few big buildups and disappointments, I put crankbaits back in my box and went back to what I knew would produce some action. Sure enough, not one of those gorgeous crankbaits ever caught a fish while laying there unused!

But defeat has never set well with me, and those pictures of guys grinning while holding up big, fat, dripping Bass with crankbaits stuck in their jaws just would not stop haunting me, so almost in spite of myself I started paying more attention to articles and shows and advice about crankbaits. It slowly dawned on me that each kind of crankbait, even each size of crankbait, had to be approached with a different mindset. Once I started paying attention I realized that the ‘feel’ of one crankbait could be radically different from that of another. I also discovered that water temperature, water clarity, depth, light levels, available forage and bottom contours all play a role in lure selection and presentation. Line sizes and varieties, along with rod compositions and actions must also be considered.

Maybe all this seems obvious to you, but they say that success can spoil a person and that had certainly proven true for me. I had expected crankbait fishing to be as easy as the other methods I had tried, then I had given up. I urge you not to repeat my mistake if you don’t want to miss out on a great challenge and a lot of fun.

The quality and variety of crankbaits continues to grow, but there are some basic categories that all aspiring anglers should familiarize themselves with: Lipless, floating/diving, suspending/diving, sinking/diving, minnow, and last but not least if you fish the Columbia River for Smallmouth, crawdad crankbaits.

Lipless crankbaits dive because of the flat, downward-sloping surface on the top of the head of the bait. Most contain rattles, with some being louder than others. I was with a friend in his aluminum boat retrieving a lipless bait and it actually produced such a loud echoing sound in the boat that it was irritating. Lipless baits are often called ‘searchbaits’ because their racket and tight, vibrating commotion have a tendency to bring in any active fish in the area. A lipless crankbait retrieved super fast in the Spring in the Columbia can produce jarring strikes from large, aggressive, pre-spawn Smallmouth.

Floating/diving crankbaits are the originals, the ones you see in classic Bass fishing art. Your cranking action causes them to dive and activates their wiggling, vibrating or wobbling action.

Suspending crankbaits are relatively new to the Bass fishing scene, and they can be deadly because of the ability to ‘park’ them momentarily before making them seem to ‘escape’ from an interested fish. They will not rise quickly to the surface as floating baits do, so they allow longer ‘hesitations’ during the retrieve.

Some crankbaits sink like a rock. Most lipless baits are in this category. Some wily Bass fishermen will actually ‘thump’ the bottom with such baits, giving them a vertical or traveling ‘hop’ that can entice fish to bite.

Minnow style crankbaits are designed to resemble baitfish, though some are highly effective in frog or crawdad color patterns.

Crawdad crankbaits come in body shapes that clearly resemble crayfish. These can be deadly when retrieved around rocky, prey-holding areas. No Bass fisherman should ever forget that for both Largemouth and Smallmouth, crawdads are a recognizable, very desirable, high-protein food source. The fish in the picture fell to a River-to-Sea, crawdad-pattern crankbait and hammered it like a fullback on steroids!

Diving actions on lipped crankbaits depend upon the angle, length and width of the bill. A short bill angled steeply down from the head of the bait will produce a shallow diving action. A long bill proceeding straight forward from the front of the bait’s head will produce a steep, deep diving action. Wider and narrower bills will alter the depth and action of the bait. Most manufacturers give you a ballpark estimate of diving depths for each bait.

Not all baits travel straight right out of the package. They can be tuned with a gentle, small redirection of the line-tie eye using needle nose pliers, usually in the opposite direction the bait wanted to angle. An encouraging word here: Baits that quickly come into compliance after a tiny adjustment will usually be your good producers. Don’t be afraid to experiment to get the travel you desire. Some folks do not tune a particular lure and keep a separate spot in their box for a ‘left-hand’ or ‘right-hand’ bait. These can be useful for working a dock or rock wall.

Before purchasing a bait, examine it closely, look for uneven seams, bad paint jobs, loose or un-evenly mounted eyes, suspicious tie eyes or hook mounts. Don’t start out with trouble, if you can avoid it. Some fishermen argue that only the snap ring should be used to tie on to. I believe a snap such as a Duolock attached to the snap ring will give a crankbait better performance, though sometimes they will ‘foul’ on the cast. Balsa or plastic composition is another debatable topic, but I am convinced that an angler who pays attention can make either one perform satisfactorily. Thin bodies on either one usually produce a tighter wiggle. Thick, wide or bulging bodies will produce more of a wobble. Something to consider is that you can order bodies and components online to build your own crankbaits from the ground up. Tempting, during these long dark coldweather days, eh?! If you are interested try Jann’s Netcraft or Barlow’s Tackle online.

The weight, attitude or action of a bait can be adjusted by customizing one or both treble hook sizes. Some anglers will remove one of the bait’s treble hooks for better travel in some kinds of cover. It is possible to use extra weight, such as adhesive-backed Suspend Strips or Suspend Dots by Storm, to get a crankbait to perform better. One of the pictured baits simply refused to dive how I wanted it to. After customizing with Suspend Strips, then clear coating that area, this bait behaves just like I want it to! Because of variations in manufacturing and different lots of the same bait, some baits will simply perform better than others. Those are the beat-up looking, worn old baits in crankbaiters’ tackle boxes!

As I became more effective with crankbaits I usually wanted a larger size, simply because I could keep track of it and feel it better. As my ability improved, I was able to have a good ‘feel’ even for the smaller cranks. For the beginner, I recommend practice with a larger bait at first. I recommend getting out on the lake or river, using your electronics to mark fish, then experimenting with baits and retrieves. Make sure to watch a new bait in clear water, getting an idea of its movements at various retrieve speeds and remembering what those movements feel like to your hands. When you do get struck, remember the water temperature, remember what you were doing, whether steady retrieves or pauses, at what depth, near what structure and at what retrieve speed. Over time you will be able to use this information to choose specific crankbaits for specific conditions.

Do you have that ‘can do’ or ‘never give up’ attitude? Can you keep learning and trying, even if your first efforts are not productive? Are you willing to spend time on the water getting the feel of your crankbaits and what they can do? Then you have what it takes to become an accomplished crankbait fisherman. That ‘cranky’ attitude can pay off in big fish and big fun!

From your friendly, fanatical, Bass fishing buddy,

Bob Larimer

Many kinds of ‘spinners’ are used effectively for catching different kinds of fish, but the ‘safety pin’ Spinnerbait is one of the best lures ever invented for catching Largemouth Bass. Even Smallmouth Bass fall prey to this amazing bait. While the Spinnerbait is really only a bent wire with blade(s) on one side and jig head, hook and skirt on the other, it does not take much experimenting to realize that the reasons for the lure’s effectiveness are many:

1- By varying retrieve speed, a fisherman can cover the entire water column from top to bottom.

2- The ‘hidden’ hook means spinnerbaits can be deliberately ‘knocked’ into cover, which attracts Bass.

3- The bait can resemble a baitfish, an insect, a bird, a bat, a crawdad and other prey Bass like.

4- In heavier weights it casts like a bullet, giving the shore-bound fisherman a new reach to fish-holding areas and offering the boat fisherman a long-distance search weapon.

5- Blade sizes and shapes can be varied for specific conditions.

6- Skirt sizes, materials and colors can be varied for specific conditions.

7- A hard strike on the bait’s large hook usually means a caught fish.

8- The weighted head can have different shapes, colors and eyes.

9- Spinnerbaits can be dropped, jigged, pumped, hopped, retrieved straight or even trolled.

10- Addition of a ‘grub’ or other trailer can slow the fall rate and change the look and feel fish perceive.

I can think of no other bait that offers so many advantages.

Up here in the North country it can be difficult to find a Spinnerbait weighing more than ½ ounce. Wholesale Sports in Vancouver does have some baits weighing in at ¾ ounce and that is my preferred weight. Unfortunately some manufacturers seem to imagine that a ‘heavy’ Spinnerbait must either be a bottom-dragging bait or a night-fishing option, so often they only have one blade which is usually a ‘thumper’ Colorado-style blade.

I prefer a heavy, twin-blade Spinnerbait. I like the long castability of the heavier bait, I can feel it’s progress through the water, I can feel the blades turning, I can sense how high or low it is in the water column, I can tell what type of cover the bait is contacting, I can even detect a following Bass when the rear blade first ‘tickles’ his nose and this prepares me for the hookset, though often fish crash the Spinnerbait like a freight train with no warning at all. I have had the rod nearly yanked from my hands on Spinnerbait strikes.

After ‘discovering’ the Spinnerbait (I think I saw Bill Dance using them), I first used ½ ounce spinnerbaits and caught fish on them but I soon realized that they were not quite heavy enough for my purposes. Not satisfied with baits I could find in stores or online, I began building my own. Adding up the cost and time spent, I don’t think I am saving any money, but I am creating a bait that does exactly what I want it to. It’s not difficult and I enjoy using free time in the off-season building baits and thinking about what is to come in the Spring.

Choosing skirt and head colors will be up to you, as will your blade shapes, sizes and colors. I believe contrasts can be important. For instance, a different color skirt than grub trailer can be a fish-getter. Also, I prefer a very small Colorado blade in front, with a large willow leaf blade in the rear, again in contrasting colors. I think brass, copper or gold in front and nickel in the back is the best combination. I believe that this combination can look like feeding activity and stimulate fish to strike. Remember that baitfish grow throughout the season. I increase blade sizes as the Summer wears on in order to match the feed Bass are eating.

If you decide to build some of your own baits, here is what you will need:

-Spinnerbait heads and wires. You can really start from scratch and mold lead heads onto wires and hooks or like me, you can simply order pre-painted wire heads in the weight you want. The ones I prefer are not only painted, but they have eyes painted on as well. I prefer ‘open-eye’ Spinnerbaits. They have a bent wire line tie, as opposed to a twisted wire loop tie. I believe that open-eye baits allow the entire wire to ‘pulse’, giving more action to the head and skirt on one side and to the blades on the other.

-Metal or glass beads, plastic spacers, high-quality ball-bearing swivels, wire clevises, blades, skirts- and some kind of wire-bending tool. I simply use my Leatherman Charge tool. It is titanium tough, but the nose on the plier comes down to a fine point, allowing me to make a nice, small loop at the blade end of the wire. Larger loops or twist ties will gather moss or weeds which then foul in the blade, stopping their action. You can obtain all these components from stores, catalogues and online sources such as Jann’s Netcraft or Barlow’s Tackle.

Assembling the pieces can be tedious, and it requires concentration and attention to detail. You don’t want to end up with a bait that is missing a component. But the finished product is a satisfying sight to behold. Just imagine the odd looks you can get from friends and family as they watch you madly assembling and playing with your beautiful lures. I’ve even had ladies hold them up to their ears like jewelry!

The best part? There is nothing quite like the feeling of a jarring, yanking strike on a Spinnerbait that you put together yourself! You have just fooled a fish with a bait of your own creation.

Now that’s real Bass fishing!

Well another September is coming, with its cooling temperatures and shorter days. Bass will go into their weight-gaining feeding frenzies and it will be more comfortable daytime fishing. Take some Spinnerbaits with you, present them in various ways and be prepared to haul in a monster Bass. I often make many, many casts before nailing a good, heavy fish. That’s Spinnerbait fishing.

We’ll discuss another kind of bait next month: The Crankbait. Until then, keep your line tight, your dry side up and your wet side down.

Best of luck from your fanatical Bassmaster friend,

Bob Larimer

I thought April showers were supposed to bring May flowers, not monsoon rains and record-setting cold temperatures? It’s the third coldest May on record around these parts. Friends and I were wondering if plunging water temperatures might just put Bass on rewind, back into pre-spawn mode.

If you take a look at my most recent Largemouth picture, you will see that this big female is still carrying eggs and has a sore tail from preparing a bed for the spawn. Definitely a pre-spawn fish. Though all fish do not spawn at precisely the same time, even on the same body of water, I think we will find a similar story in most Southwest Washington waters. Every cloud comes with a silver lining, and the cold rain might just extend some crazy spring Bass fishing. I can deal with that.

The pictured fish could not resist a new River-2-Sea, double-jointed, floating stick bait in Rainbow Trout pattern. I had placed it right next to a corner of flooded brush. She hit near the surface of 3 feet of water after I gave up on twitching the bait. I had just started to move it toward me when she grabbed it and then tried to dive back into the brush. Even in chilly water, this fish had plenty of fight. Three times on the way to the boat I had to wrestle her back out of different spots along the brush line. The water was dingy with new run-off and because of our tangles in the brush, I was not really too sure how big of a fish I was dealing with. After finally being forced away from the shoreline she made a dash for the boat, freight-trained underneath and right out the other side. When I tried to pull her back to my side, I had to pull so hard that I thought maybe she was wrapped on something. No, just a strong, heavy fish. I netted her, amazed at the depth of her body and the thick hump of her back. The backwaters of the Columbia hold such treasures, but finding high enough water and pre-spawn-attractive flooded brush can be a challenge. With all the recent rain, it wasn’t too much of a challenge this time. Who knows? Maybe the water will stay up as the temperature comes up and we’ll have a few more weeks to try such areas?

I still have some more River-2-Sea baits to try out, including some really detailed, realistic salamander imitations, complete with adjustable brush guards. There is also a dandy, sinking, single-jointed Rainbow Trout patterned bait that seductively ‘walks the dog’ underwater with a little practice. It has a hard body, but it comes with a replaceable soft plastic tail. Now that’s attention to detail! If they are as productive as the floating version, I’ll be very pleased. I have not tried them yet but there are also some very highly detailed soft plastic crawdad imitations as well. This new line of baits is available at Wholesale Sports in Vancouver, and I know I’m not the only guy picking them up.

A few weeks ago my friend Ken and I went East up the Columbia Gorge to see if we could find some Smallmouth. We found three foot waves and cold wind, but we also found some good fish. Using the old standby lipless crankbaits, we found fish around the usual suspects: Underwater humps and small rocky islands. Sheer rock walls that work for me in warmer water seemed to hold no fish at all. Though I fished them with confidence, soft plastics such as grubs or tubes produced only a few fish. The water was barely 50 degrees and probably too cold for a good grub bite. But it was great to get smacked by Smallies chasing the crankbaits. Lucky Craft seemed to produce the best, and I also did well with a blue and chrome Rapala and a red Rattle Trap. The size of the fish was nothing to write home about, as you can see in the picture, but the rollicking, racing, yanking fight of a Smallmouth of any size is always a thrill. Just a week later, my friend Josh was able to blast a 5+ pounder in the same general area. It’s just going to keep getting better as the temperature rises, and I recently heard a rumor of Salmon fishermen complaining about ‘nuisance’ Smallmouth hitting their baits!

Every Spring has its own character. Usually May is a dependable, uniformly warming month, but not this year. I suspect that we will snap back into more ‘normal’ weather and a rapid warming spell in the next few weeks. This means that Bass fishermen will need to stay adaptable, ready to hunt pre-spawn or spawning fish, and ready with either foul-weather gear or shorts and T-shirts!

I recommend having several rods baited up and ready to go. Have a stickbait rod, a soft-plastic rod, a spinnerbait rod, a crankbait rod and a top water rod with a Zara Spook, a River-2-Sea floater or a buzzbait ready to tempt surface-striking fish. Low-light hours will probably be better for your top water offerings. Remember, never give up after being short struck on any hardbait. Immediately put a soft plastic such as a worm, a tube, a creature or a lizard right back into that same area. You might just score big on the second strike! Use scents! They work, and the lubrication helps your baits move through weeds and snags more freely. Vary your retrieves, especially with spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Short pauses and bursts of speed will arouse fish more than a steady, predictable retrieve. Remember that Largemouth can have spawning beds anywhere from 1 foot to ten feet deep. If you use your Polarized sunglasses and look for them, you might just find them. When fishing flooded brush during midday, cast to the deepest shade areas and don’t pass up indentations or ‘pockets’ in the brush. Even small changes in a brush line  or any weed line or shoreline – might hold big fish!

If it stays cool and rainy, just put your rain gear on and get out there! I hustled off the water when the thunder and lightning started today, but the rain wasn’t so bad. Catching a nice big fish can make you forget having to wear a raincoat!

Your fellow Bassing fanatic,

Bob

Bass fishing with fly tackle is unlike trout fishing. Trout fishing is a lot about style and finesse, where as bass fishing is more chill and relaxed, making it easier for more of the beginner class of folks. With bass fishing presentation isn’t everything, gear has a big deal in being successful in adverse spring conditions.

Rod selection for bass is much different than for trout fishing. Trout is more of a slower action rod, and can get away with a 2-5wt rod with any type of line. Bass you want a shorter rod with a stiffer butt and fast action tip preferably 7’6”-8’ in length and in a 7-8 wt with mainly sinking line, or sinking tip to make it easier for casting larger more wind resistant flies.

A fun and action packed way to catch bass as everyone knows, is on top water gear. There is a good variety of top water flies for bass, from poppers to foam frogs to deer hair mice. Popular colors for flies are basically the colors in the rainbow, something that is going to stand out to the bass and say come eat me.

More flies for subsurface are the deke’s bead leg, softshell crayfish, and marabou streamer. The deke’s bead leg is basically a bead head woolly bugger with round rubber legs and can be presented same as a standard bugger although for bass you would want a sinking line, with slow or fast retrieve. Crayfish patterns are best used in a slower retrieve using full sinking line nearer the bottom pausing intermittently. Marabou flies are preferably a mid range fly using float line and a sink tip with a retrieve with short fast strips and pauses frequently imitating injured prey. Mainly fished over weed beds or submerged structure.

Bass are ambushers, they mostly hide out and wait for their prey, so we must go to them. Fish the structures such as sunken logs, rock out-cropping, and docks, find the best ambush points offering some safety and seclusion and typically you will find bass. Not all structure is below the surface either, bass like to sit up under low hanging trees awaiting prey also, lily pads and weed lines are good places to find the aggressive predators also.

During the spawning spring days a good method is dragging sub-surface flies through the spawning beds of bass, but beware their is an angry mother bass watching and waiting.

Bass fishing is an explosive hard hitting experience in itself, add the combo of a fly rod to the deal, and it’s a whole nother ball game. Spring time into the summer months is the best time to fish for these guys, but really there is no better time than the present. Go get your gear, sneak into your neighbor’s frog pond, and give it a whirl (jk always ask permission). Good luck!

written by,

-Tight-lines

-Troutbum89

As my friend Jim would say, you can’t make a rod work for everything from Tuna to Trout.  Anyone who has been fishing for a while has come to realize that even going after just one species requires more than one rod.

A Steelhead fisherman might have one rod for side-drifting, one for pulling plugs, one for bouncing bait and another for jig and float fishing. And if he’s anything like us Bass fishermen, he’ll still want more rods!

The reason is that varying conditions and tactics require varying equipment. It’s just that simple.

When I am fishing a jig-and-pig, I want a stout rod that can take a smash-mouth attack from a big fish, then wrestle him out of heavy cover with enough authority to prevent the him from see-sawing away from me and down into an area of hazardous pad stems, rocks, sunken logs or limbs and make his escape. My brother calls such rods ‘pool cues.’

If I am fishing light soft-plastics or drop-shot rigs and finessing the fish, I want a rod with a tender, sensitive tip that will help me detect subtle taps or movements, yet with enough power to ‘stick’ the hook in when I make my move.

When I am fishing a crankbait, I need a flexible rod that lets the bait work and ‘dance’ in a way that allows me to see and feel the action, making sure that the crankbait is working how I want it to, and that will allow the fish to grab and go, without yanking the lure away before the Bass really has time to crunch it.

When I’m throwing a spinnerbait, the rod must have the flexibility and power to launch the bait as far as I want, and it must have the sensitivity to allow me to feel the bait contacting cover and feel my blades spinning. I have caught more than one Bass because the bait was still coming toward me without resistance, but the blades had stopped turning. Setting the hook – because nothing was happening! – I found that sure enough, a big fish that had taken the spinnerbait and maintained its course and speed was there on the other end!  It is crucial to be able to sense such changes, and a good rod will give you that ability.

Do you want to fish a floating, minnow-immitating stick-bait?  You’ll need a rod that will help you give subtle twitches to the bait, yet will be powerful enough to give you a good hook-set when the time comes.

Sound complicated?  It really isn’t. Choose your line size and application, and you can choose the right rod.

Almost all good rod manufacturers give you helpful information near the butt of the blank.  This includes length, power, line weight ranges,  bait weight ranges and sometimes even specific designations such as ‘Crankbait.’  There will also usually be some information, sometimes on a tag, regarding the composition of the blank and guides.

A fiberglass rod, for instance, might be a good choice for a crankbait rod, though many graphite blanks will perform extremely well too.

Here is some useful technical information about how a rod bends:

http://www.fries-rods.dk/lang/uk/rods_action.htm

And here is more good information about composition and rod flex:

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/rodselection.html

I don’t get too caught up in the technicalities.  I simply look for a rod that will do what I want it to. Most of the time I can tell right away by first deciding whether spinning or baitcasting best suits my application, by looking at the specs on the blank, and finally by hefting, flexing and examining the rod for the characteristics I’m going to need. Sometimes I will do a little research and find out what other fishermen are using for a certain application.

If you live in or around Southwest Washington, another great resource can be found in the Fishing Department at Wholesale Sports in Vancouver.  With combined experience of over 175 years of fishing, the experts there can offer information and suggestions on all species of fish and the right rods to catch them.

You can make a rod serve several purposes, but I strongly suggest that as you become more experienced it is best to demand exactly the right rod for the right situation.  This will give you more success and help you to get more satisfaction out of your fishing.

But then, you’ll still need another rod!  Right?

When our Northwest water temperatures dip below 50 degrees, we have well and truly entered Winter’s chilling grip, and Largemouth fishing presents two major problems: Coldblooded, lethargic fish that are slow to respond to any presentation, and cold, shivering fishermen who would rather stay extra active to keep warm! What a combination! Just when you feel an urgent need to move around a lot and keep up speedy casts and fast reeling in order to stay warm…..you have to slow way, way down if you want to catch a big Bass.

It’s not that the fish do not want to eat at all. They do, but just not as much or as often as in warmer, more active seasons. And the ‘Strike Zone’? Well, it is pretty much right in front of their noses, even when they are in what passes for an ‘active’ mode in Winter. Even with the urge to eat, or to strike at an irritating, intruding bait, the Bass just can not muster the energy or speed to move very far or very fast. When hooked, most cold water fish are logy and put up a slow-motion fight. But a big fish can still give you a satisfying, worthwhile battle!

The one common denominator of all big Bass is still in effect even in chilly water: They want to use their well-developed, efficient ambush skills to get an easy meal with the least amount of effort on their part, and with the least amount of exposure to possible predators. Experiencing success in these areas is how they have grown so large and stayed alive so long.

While I will discuss warm weather ‘Thermoclines’ later in 2010, the truth is that in our local lakes and streams, Largemouth location will be determined by water temperatures and depths near available food and cover. Cover becomes more scarce in Winter. The lily pads, underwater weeds, cattails, bulrushes, floating weed mats and leafy, overhanging trees and brush of Summer are mostly all gone. Now Bass are reduced to finding hiding places such as leaner logs extending from shore down into the depths, underwater wood such as submerged limbs or stumps, rocks, ledges, deep steep banks and areas in or near underwater creek channels.

Some fish will simply seek the confidence of a lot of deep water over their heads in any area where baitfish are still available. The fish can also take refuge near man-made structures such as bridges, pilings, culverts or shoreline riprap that runs steeply down to sufficient depths. Winter can provide a slight advantage then: Bass are often concentrated in these premium areas during cold months.

Each body of water is unique, but it will possess at least a few of these necessary features that are worth fishing. One Southwest Washington lake has a creek and well defined creek channel proceeding through the lake and down to a dam. The dam area offers steep banks and evergreen trees that still cast shade. Even shore-bound anglers can offer vertical presentations of small plastic worms, leeches, grubs or tubes fished conventionally or on a drop-shot rig here. Drop-shotting might work best, with a heavier-than-normal weight at the bottom that is kept in one place after the cast, while the soft plastic bait above the weight is repeatedly shaken or twitched at intervals. Large, slow-fluttering metal spoons might also tempt a fish, as can a lipless crankbait that is allowed to ‘sit and hop’ slowly on or near the bottom. A very slow-moving ½ or ¾ ounce jig and pork frog would also be a good choice. Keeping good contact and ‘feel’ with the bait are extremely imporant. The fish are not going to ‘freight train’ your bait, rocket to the surface and jump cartwheels. They will ‘tick’ or move the line slightly, and a prompt hookset is vital.

At the other end of the lake, the creek is a fairly wide, deep trench entering the lake, with a nearby submerged stump flat making up most of one side of the upper end of the lake. The channel and nearby areas will hold winter fish, and even fish that are not feeding can be susceptible to swatting at a deep-diving, lipped crankbait slowly rooting along through their domain. Start with big baits, then downsize if necessary. Firetiger or Citrus are both good colors for this duty, though chrome and black baitfish imitations might work too.

Middle reaches of the aforementioned lake also offer points and a few rocky or extended riprap areas. There are also some areas with car-sized underwater boulders.

The points will be among my first target areas, simply because I know that points reliably attract Bass year round. The fish only need to travel short distances to find the temperature, depth and feed they like. It may take some zig-zagging runs while watching my electronics, but eventually I’ll find the depth where most fish activity is located along the point. Then I can mount my campaign to fool a big, coldwater trophy. Often, a big, slow-moving spinnerbait will be my first ‘search bait.’ Like most lakes, there is a very deep area near a point. This is a good place to look for fish, then go vertical with spoons or drop-shot rigs.

Wherever you fish, on whatever body of water, one good rule of thumb to remember can be found in the advice of seasoned pros: “There will always be a few fish shallow, even in Winter.” Shallow may be a relative term in frigid water, but I would not neglect a few well-thought-out, probing casts into some likely, shallower areas!

As always, remember that a few days of warmer weather and sun on the water can produce enough of a temperature change to lure Bass into shallower areas. Be careful how you approach, don’t spook them, and go get them! I have caught good big Bass in these cold water months, and I know you can too. Remember to dress warm, be prepared for nasty weather, and if you feel yourself beginning to get numb or starting to move clumsily, time to head immediately for hearth and home. The fish will wait until next time!

See you in January, when we’ll talk a little about rods and reels.

No, that doesn’t mean that pollution and radiation have given the fish three fingers, or that I set the world record with a hundred pound fish! It means that even in the hottest weather, Smallmouth and Largemouth are biting.

The hottest day at my house hit 109 in the shade, and I saw on national news that Vancouver, Washington had broken it’s all time record with 108 degrees. But I hit the Willamette above the falls at Oregon City and found many Smallies volunteering to bite soft plastics, crankbaits and spinnerbaits. Rapala’s Shad Rap suspending Rainbow Trout worked great, alternatively sitting it and ripping it. A firetiger DT4 crankbait, bumbling along on the rocky bottom also produced. Gary Yamamoto grubs on ballhead jigs ticking the rocks also worked. Most volunteers were relatively small, but my friend Roy caught a battling 4 ½ pounder that nearly escaped the best efforts of two excited guys to net him. This was all in 100+ degree weather. We found shady spots and hid under the boat’s Bimini top. The river breeze helped out too.

I also fished some backwaters behind islands in the Columbia and caught quite a few Smallmouth. I have heard that the Columbia slough near the mouth of the Willamette is producing a mixed bag of Smallies and Walleyes too. More than one fisherman told me that they are getting big Smallmouth – 4 pounds and above – using topwaters early in the morning. Might be worth a try, if you like the adrenalin rush of a topwater attack!

We’ve got more hot August weather coming, and I don’t think we should let the heat keep us off the water. Also, there is an alternative to broiling in the heat.

Go West, young Bass man!

Many of Washington and Oregon’s coastal lakes and ponds are loaded with Largemouth. Some are hefty fish approaching 10 lbs., and you’ll be fishing in much more pleasant weather. In the past I have fished Loomis, Siltcoos, Takenitch and other coastal lakes, but this Summer I vacationed for a week with friends near Florence, Oregon and we fished a lake a few miles inland that proved to be a real producer. Combining our two families, we rented a home on the lake and were able to moor our boat and canoe at a private dock just across the lawn from the house. What a hardship it was, getting up in the morning, walking over to the boat, motoring a short distance and immediately catching fish!

When we asked an old guy who lives on the lake about launching he asked us if we were Bass fishermen, then informed us that the water was cold and no fish were being caught. We found the launch, got set up at the house, then caught fish at all hours of the day all week long. Can’t blame the guy for trying to shoo us away though!

I am proud to report that I experimented with many types of baits. One of my biggest fish came on a Bill Dance’s Eel. I wanted a more subtle bait in a shallow cove, and the head-wagging, tail-rippling motion of the bait seemed perfect. Also, we had seen quite a few salamanders surfacing for air and the Eel has similar movements. I watched a huge shape move out from under a submerged jumble of limbs and logs, then felt the weight on my line. The treble hook under the Eel’s head did the trick and we had a monster in the livewell! (I have now caught a surprise backwater Chinook Salmon, Largemouth, Smallmouth and a Rainbow Trout on the Dance’s Eel). Jig and grub combos, crankbaits and floating and suspending stickbaits also lured in some good fish. Twin-blade spinnerbaits accounted for most of our bigger Bass and we found that concentrating on points seemed to be the best strategy. Shallow coves produced during low-light hours.

A bit of experience that might help on your next outing: Topwater splashes, chases and slurps might not necessarily mean that topwater baits will produce. On several evening outings on the lake, I noticed lots of noise and motion on the surface. Desiring to be as cooperative and adaptable as possible (I always try to help supply the fish with what they want!), I put on single, then twin-blade buzzbaits. Nothing. I tried a Skitter Pop baitfish imitation using varying speeds and actions. Nothing. I twitched a floating stickbait. Nothing. I tried a Spro frog. Nothing. I tried ‘burning’ a spinnerbait just subsurface through open water where I had seen baitfish being chased. Nothing.

As I was experimenting with these baits I noticed baitfish activity at the very tips of several laydown trees extending out into the lake. Active fish were using the swamped trees to hide from predators. We made a slow, quiet approach to one these half-submerged treetops and I made a cast beyond, then hurried my spinnerbait through the water, letting it bang among the smaller branches. Even without my polarized glasses on, I suddenly saw a big bass torpedo straight up from beneath the treetop and make a vertical hairpin turn as he smashed my bait and headed for the deeps of the lake. By the time I reacted and set the hook, he had already peened himself on the bait and disappeared. He was one of the strongest, best fighting fish of the trip, and we caught several others by using the same tactic on other laydowns. It is possible that the ultra-clear water made open-water surface baits a little too flashy. Also, we had noticed many predator birds such as Cormorants, Blue Herons, Ospreys and Bald Eagles. I saw Eagles and Ospreys tumbling through the air in mock battles, screaming at each other over prime areas. With so much danger in the skies, I think the bigger, smarter fish were reluctant to risk exposing themselves by chasing baitfish out in the open.

If your are prospecting and trying out new areas this Summer, remember to try different tactics. Even though one idea or bait might make sense, there may be some factor influencing the fish in another direction. Use your powers of observation, keep an open mind, experiment and don’t get discouraged. If you keep trying, something will work. Then you can duplicate that success elsewhere on the same water.

I am excited about next month. September can be one of the best months for intercepting turned-on, football-shaped Bass. Book-ending the strategies of Spring can yield deep-bodied, hard-fighting fish that are bulking up for the chilly Winter months ahead.

See you in September!

Your friend,

Bassmaster Bob

The mainstem Columbia is warming up, especially in the John Day pool, but you can also try the lower Columbia as well. Now is the time to try lipless crankbaits and conventional lipped crankbaits in blue and chrome or black and chrome baitfish patterns for Smallmouths, as well as firetiger patterns. Crawdad patterns do not seem to be working as well at this time.

With just a few more degrees, the ballhead jig and single-tail grub combo will begin to score big. If you can get a 1/8 ounce jig to ‘tick’ the rocks, go with that and avoid the aggravating hangups you will get with ¼ ounce and heavier jigs. Remember to look for rocky points or underwater humps adjacent to sandy areas. On calm sunny days fish deeper, and on cloudy days you can fish a little shallower. Try putting on a dab of your favorite attractant on the grub portion, just to up the ante. I would avoid using too light a line, unless you want your heart broken by a big Smallie! We’re talking big, chunky, Columbia river rip-rap and bigwater snags. Save your tackle by rigging up with the appropriate pound test. I suggest ten pound for Smallies, unless you already have a great ‘feel’ for the bottom. For Largemouth in the mainstem Columbia, look behind islands and in protected coves in high-slack and outgoing tides. Fish a ½ ounce skirted jig and grub or jig and pork combo (the jig should have a weed guard that you can trim to suit if it seems too stiff), slowly to very slowly. Long casts and long retrieves work fine now. Find an eddy, seam or stillwater pool behind wing dams, logs or rocks, pitch the jig in from down-current and let it hit bottom. Bass will move to investigate this intruder. Count to ten before you begin to move your bait. Retrieve it slowly and steadily, feeling its progress over sand, rocks, limbs, etc.. You are imitating a crawdad, a favorite high-protein snack of bass. Big Bass will sometimes pick it up and move with it. Continue the retrieve. When the line tightens and you feel the least movement, set the hook. You should have at least 17 pound test for this technique. You will be yanking your bait off limbs and snags. You can also try tossing a baitfish-pattern floating stickbait such as a Rapala or Bomber Long A next to emerging grass on a point, or next to rocks and wood. Remember to barely twitch this bait. Then let it rest. Then twitch again. Then move slowly on the surface for short distances. Then try the sudden dive and slow-up retrieve. If one retrieve works best on a stretch of river, keep using it! Spinnerbaits might also work during this time. Throw the spinnerbait near brush and laydown trees and retrieve away from them, base to tip, to avoid snags. Bounce the spinnerbait over submerged sticks and logs. Retrieve it over submerged weeds. Try varying retrieve speeds. In cooler water, some Spring Bass fishermen put on a ‘stinger’ or ‘trailer hook,’ even when using a grub or other trailer, to avoid short strikes or hits that do not quite get the Bass’s mouth over the hook. Try the above ideas in lakes and ponds as well. I have described these and other tactics in my previous Spring Bass fishing articles on the Fishingaddictsnorthwest site. Reviewing pays off! Just try to bear in mind: Warmer water, more active fish, more active baits and retrieves. Colder water, less active fish, less active baits and retrieves. This is a general rule, and experimentation is encouraged! Friends and I have managed to catch some nice big Smallmouth and Largemouth so far this Spring, all in the SouthWest Washington area. Some of the Largemouth were in the 8 and 9 pound class, along with some nice 4-5 pounders. The Smallmouth have been hitting like freight trains! Pictures should be available in Galleries. These fish all bit jig and grub combos and spinnerbaits. I fully expect to slam a few big fish on my favorite topwaters as well, before Spring is over. If we can do it, you can do it! I will also be experimenting with the new hollow-body or hollow-belly swimbaits as well. If you are going to try them out, remember that they demand clear to moderately clear water. Fish will not find these baits in muddy water. Set them up to run as straight and upright as possible and just barely ‘skin hook’ them to run weedless. Try stop and go, jerk, or erratic swimming movements to trigger strikes. You are imitating a wounded or frightened baitfish. Now to this month’s promised topic: What topwater bait works best in Spring? I have already mentioned floating stickbaits in several articles. They qualify as topwaters, they are not difficult to fish, and they produce! That’s about the broadest hint I can give you. But right next to minnow-imitating stickbaits on my list is the Zara Spook. This bait is not as easy to use, and many Bass fishermen dismiss them as a bait for the warmest months of the year. It’s true that Spooks, Torpedoes and other propeller baits, inline and tandem buzzbaits, weedless frogs and other topwaters work well in Summer. It is also true that a Zara Spook, fished properly, will produce even in cool, May weather. The Zara Spook has no diving lip and the only action it will produce is the action you and your retrieving skill can give it. The classic Spook retrieve is called ‘walking the dog,’ and it is produced with a twitch-pause-reel-repeat technique that causes the bait to zigzag across the top of the water. Skilled fishermen can make the Spook zigzag in a controlled, consistent, side-to-side retrieve all the way to the boat or shore. There is no time like the present to practice this technique. Make long casts over likely Bass-holding water. The bait can trigger an aggressive surface hit from a Pre-Spawn, Bedding or Post-Spawn, fry-guarding fish. Try making your long cast (Bear in mind that the treble hooks will grab any snag an inch below the surface!) and then letting the Spook rest until all surface ripples have gone. Begin your retrieve and keep it going all the way back. What does this bait resemble to the Bass? Who knows what’s going on in his fishy little brain!? All I know is that whether he thinks it’s a wounded fish, a snake, a mouse, a bird, a bat, a salamander or some other hapless prey, big Bass will attack it viciously. You may see a swirl, a hump of water or slight wave movement indicating that Mr. Largemouth is heading to intercept your offering. Nerves of steel now! Continue your retrieve without stopping! Do not set the hook when the fish first begins to blow up on your bait! Wait! Let him take it down until you feel the line tightening, then cross his eyes and stick him good! In low-light, I use a black Zara with white herringbone pattern. In bright light I go with a blue back and silver or white belly. I have proven to my own satisfaction that the general rule, ‘big bait/big fish’ holds true, so I like the ‘Super Spook,’ but a regular Spook or even a Junior will work at times as well. Hint: Whether topwaters or other ‘hardbaits,’ always, a-l-w-a-y-s, keep a spare rod rigged up with a Texas-rigged soft plastic worm or lizard. If you get a swirl or short-strike on your bait that is not repeated in a subsequent cast, immediately pick up your soft-plastic rig and cast just beyond the area where the fish first hit. Let the soft plastic drop, then retrieve slowly. I have caught quite a few big fish that just couldn’t quite bring themselves to bite again on the big, flashy bait but fell for the helpless looking, subtler bait after revealing their position on a previous cast. Conventional wisdom is that the Spook is a ’45 minute’ bait for early morning or late evening. Try it during bright daylight hours in the Spring though. Stay at it. It may produce a Spring whopper (Smallmouth go for them too!), and a topwater bite that will bug your eyes out. And never forget that no matter what bait you’re using, each cast is a down payment on your next big Bass! {I’ll be talking specifics about other topwaters at the appropriate times in future articles. In the meantime, how about letting me hear your success stories on the Forums?

By: Bob Larimer, Your Friendly, Maniacal Bassmaster Basics Sportswriter