I first started thinking about the idea seven or eight years ago. I was ice fishing with a sponsor. That’s the first time I ever tried it, and I noticed that we were not only catching bass but we were catching them on lures that looked to me like they might work in warm water. The thing is, though, I really didn’t know much about what we were doing so I was a little hesitant to get out too far […]
It’s no secret that as bass fishing at all levels gets more and more popular the bass get harder and harder to catch. In some cases that’s because of cold, clear water. In others it’s because of pressure from boats and the noise they make or it might be because bass become conditioned to popular baits. Regardless of the reason, however, we need to do something different if we expect to be consistently successful. Looking for something different has led […]
You hear a little something from time to time about tackle storage but the reality is that most of us use what we already have in our boats to store our lures and terminal tackle. The fact that it’s 20 years old doesn’t seem to make much difference to us even though everything else we fish with is new and cutting edge. Using that old stuff is a mistake. Those boxes were mostly made from ordinary plastic. Over time they […]
Last time — Part 5 of Fall and Early Winter Baits Choices — we talked about boot tail swimbaits. They’re super important so I devoted a whole blog to them. But then I started thinking that there are other finesse swimbaits that deserve attention. In fact, the whole subject of finesse swimbaits deserves more attention. We’ll start by taking a quick look at the big picture. Finesse swimbaits have been around for years. We just didn’t call them swimbaits. We […]
My final pick for a fall and early winter bait is a boot tail swimbait. They have a unique action to them and a thump from the tail that’s subtle but feels real to a bass. And, if you throw the standard sizes, most of them will pretty well match the hatch. I’ll fish them from now until the water gets hard. The only time I won’t have one on is when the water’s muddy or heavily stained. This is […]
Sometimes one or two blades isn’t enough on a spinnerbait, especially when they’re turning one behind the other. For those times I worked with Molix to design the Mike Iaconelli Lover Triple Willow spinnerbait. It’s design is unique. It has three arms running from the head of the bait back to three blades that are turning alongside each other, but not eating into each other. The idea is to make something that looks like a small school of baitfish that’s […]
The thing about spinnerbaits is that they are versatile. I know that you’ve heard and read things that say they’ve been replaced by other lures. Nothing could be farther from the truth. They’ve caught bass for decades and they’ll be catching them for decades into the future. One of the best things about a spinnerbait is that it can be fished on the fall or horizontal. I’m partial to the horizontal presentation and it works best in the fall and […]
Last time we talked about buzzbaits. This time we’ll look at walking sticks. The allure of a simple stick sliding from side to side across the water’s surface is something we humans don’t fully understand. My thinking is that it looks exactly like a baitfish feeding along the surface. Other anglers believe it looks like something — anything — in distress so a bass strikes at it out of instinct. I say simple stick because that’s what I like to […]
We’ve had a few cold nights here in New Jersey. Fall has arrived. I’m excited about that because it’s one of my favorite times to fish for bass. Big or little, they’re aggressive so you don’t need a tackle box that weighs 40 pounds to catch them. All you need to do is find the forage and throw any of the five baits I’m going to tell you about over the next month. You can’t put too much importance on […]
You hear a lot about knots in this business. Everyone has their favorites and, if given the chance, they’ll tell you why. Like everyone else I have mine. But, the truth is that if you don’t want to suffer break-offs there are only two things you need to worry about: Start with good line and then tie your knots carefully. I’ve got the line part nailed. I only fish with Berkley lines. As far as I’m concerned they’re the best […]