I’ve been catching bass on a drop shot rig for years, and until a couple of years ago I always rigged it the same way. I tied a fluorocarbon leader to a braid main line and tied the hook somewhere down the leader. Then, I nose hooked my bait, or maybe hooded it in the middle, and went fishing. It worked. I caught my share but I was dissatisfied with my hooking percentage. I just felt like I could do […]
All bass use a wide variety of their senses to find their prey, but smallmouth primarily use two — sight and smell. We’re going to save the sight part for another day. Right now I want to talk about scent. I’ll start by telling you that I never fish with a plastic bait that isn’t scented or to which I haven’t added scent. That’s an absolute rule of mine. Never means never, not ever. It wouldn’t make sense. I want […]
When it comes to bass fishing there’s no better late summer and fall topwater bait than a frog, and there are no better frogs than the Molix Sneaky Frog and the Molix Supernato. The Sneaky Frog is a super good open water or sparse cover lure. It has a kind of elongated body and a center weight. Both of them combined let it walk in a smooth and sexy way, but without much forward movement. It’ll attract bass from deep water […]
OK, starting in October, Friday the 12th to be exact, my new TV show will debut on Nat Geo WILD. It’s called FISH MY CITY WITH MIKE IACONELLI. And, as its name implies it’ll be all about fishing cities around the country and the world. I’m super excited about it for a couple of reasons. Nat Geo WILD does an extraordinary job putting together TV shows so you know it’ll be a first-class operation all the way. The other reason […]
We all know that hard jerkbaits will catch bass when conditions are right. But we also know that they are finesse or light tackle lures in most cases. True, there are a few bigger ones, heavier ones and ones that run deep. However, those baits are the exception rather than the rule. Rapala has corrected that issue with their new RipStop. You’ll remember that the original RipStop was revolutionary in its design. The lip on its tail made a bait […]
The Berkley Powerbait Jester Craw is not a “me-too” bait, and it doesn’t look like anything else I’ve ever fished. It’s listed at 4 inches but really fishes much bigger than that. The body is ribbed and fat. There are three feet-like looking things on each side of it and it has two big flappers as well as two long, skinny tentacles coming off the back. It’ll be offered in at least eight colors, some of which are striped. And, […]
Finally! Someone has made a high-quality titanium spinnerbait, and we all know what that means — lots of vicious strikes and a bait that’ll last forever. Here’s the thing: Titanium is a super non-corrosive metal with a natural silver finish, a low density and incredible strength. Basically this means that the wire on our new spinnerbait is thinner and stronger than other metal wires. That gives it increased vibration and makes it darn near indestructible. The vibration thing is really […]
The Neko rig has pretty much taken bass fishing by storm, and for good reason. It gives plastic baits a different, more natural look as they fall and as they move along the bottom. I am the biggest ever fan of the Neko rig. I’ve caught bass with it all over the country. But, like everything else in bass fishing I knew it could be made better. And so, with my partners at VMC, we developed a skirted weight that’ll […]
Have you ever wondered why so many bass fall for a black or black and blue jig? I have, and I think I know why. Black, along with black and blue, is really the absence of color. It’s nothing more than a shape or a silhouette to the fish that’s looking at it. They really don’t see much of anything when it comes to color. At the same time, though, they see everything. The silhouette gives them what they need […]
From now until winter, buzzbaits will prove to be some of the most effective lures you can throw. They are good in a wide variety of cover situations, or when there’s no cover at all, and they’re easy to fish. This is the way I see it… My preference in buzzbaits is the Molix Lover Buzz and the Lover Buzz SS. They’re a little different from any of the others that are around. Instead of having a sharp bend down […]