Author: Mike Iaconelli

The Excitement Never Ends

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The Excitement Never Ends

The excitement of this industry and bass fishing never ends. I suppose I should say that I’d rather be at Lake Hartwell where the other guys will be fishing the 2022 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk. Instead I’m fishing the Kayak Series Championship, and I can’t say I’m totally disappointed about it. This is being written on Tuesday. Competition starts tomorrow. If I finish high enough, I’ll get to the Classic stage on Friday. I’m grateful for that opportunity. Kayak fishing is a part of our sport and I’m proud to be a part of it. […]

Blade Baits: Tackle and Techniques

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Blade Baits: Tackle and Techniques

Last time we reviewed blade baits by looking at the lure in detail. Now we’re going to talk about what tackle to use and how to fish them. For starters let’s review the holes and clips on the back of the lure. It doesn’t make much difference whether you use a clip, a split ring or a swivel on a blade bait. They’ll all work. I like clips and snaps because you can change holes on the fly easy. Split rings are a little harder to take off and put back where you want them, especially with cold fingers. The […]

Blade Baits: The Lure  

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Blade Baits: The Lure  

From some time in the late fall through the early prespawn, a blade bait is one of the most effective lures you can throw. There isn’t much to them, just a chunk of metal and a couple of hooks. But don’t let that fool you. They do get the attention of the bass. My first introduction to them was back when I was a kid. We all had a Silver Buddy or two that we fished with, sometimes from shore but sometimes from a small boat. Back in those days we called it metal fishing. A Silver Buddy was a […]

Colors for Cold Clear Water

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Colors for Cold Clear Water

Last time we talked about cold muddy water baits and colors. This time we’ll talk about the exact opposite, cold clear water baits and colors. Before we get into that, though, we need to define clear water. In my world it’s water with 10 to 14 inches of visibility. But there’s also ultra-clear water. That’s water with clarity down to 10 feet. The difference between the two is mostly academic. They’re both tough. I deal with both conditions the same way. My colors don’t change regardless of how clear the water is that I’m fishing. I will admit, however, that […]

Colors for Cold Muddy Water

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Colors for Cold Muddy Water

Is there anything more challenging than cold muddy water? I don’t think so, but that doesn’t mean you can’t catch a few. You just have to approach things a little differently. When it’s cold and muddy the fish have to use their senses, just like when the water’s clear — vibration, sound, scent and sight.  All those senses are important but the one that’s not talked about enough is sight. It’s like anglers think that the fish are blind in muddy water so there’s no reason to take that into consideration. Well, they aren’t blind. They just need a little […]

Modify Your Soft Jerkbait for More Bites

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Modify Your Soft Jerkbait for More Bites

I know it’s the middle of December and that means winter in much of the country. Nevertheless, the bass might not know that. They might be in their fall feeding patterns, especially where it stays relatively warm through the winter. And, if they are, one of the best ways to catch them is with a soft jerkbait. Here’s how I modify and rig my soft jerkbaits in the fall for maximum effect… It’s important to start with the right soft jerkbait. For me that is a Berkley Powerbait Jerk Shad. Size is simply a matter of matching the hatch. If […]

Hard Cover vs. Soft Cover

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Hard Cover vs. Soft Cover

This is really a continuation of my thoughts about fishing the moment. It’s about where the fish are on any given day or any given hour, and how to find them. In most waters that we fish, there’s hard cover and soft cover. Hard cover is stuff like docks, laydowns, rock, and concrete. In the video I want you to watch along with this blog — you can view it here — the bass were on laydowns. Soft cover is stuff like weeds and other kinds of vegetation. I fished that off and on but the bass weren’t relating to […]

How To Fish The Moment

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How To Fish The Moment

In the fall there’s one issue with bass fishing — baitfish. The thing is, though, not every day on the water is the same. Just because it’s fall and you think you know what’s going to happen doesn’t mean you don’t have to fish the moment or that you can predict what the fish will want with any degree of certainty. That’s what we’re going to talk about in this blog. There’s a video that goes along with this discussion that shows everything happening on the water in real-time. You can link to it here. It’s important that after you […]

The Best Fall Lure!

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The Best Fall Lure!

The fall season is here. The nights are getting cold, the water temperature is dropping and the water is getting clearer. That all adds up to mean that bait is what bass fishing is all about. With that in mind let’s talk about the best fall bass lure. And yes, there is only one. It’s the great baitfish imitator — the spinnerbait. The way we need to fish our spinnerbait is by burning it. That can be done the best with an ordinary, but heavy, size spinnerbait. The key to this technique is weight and a size that’s not too […]

My Top Three Shallow Water Baits

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My Top Three Shallow Water Baits

Fall is here. The water is cool. The fish are shallow, or at least moving in that direction. It’s time for shallow baits to take advantage of that. Here are my top three… But, before I start talking about the baits we need to think about shallow water. It’s different in different parts of the country and in different lakes. It’s a term of art, not science. For this blog I’m going to tell you that I’m talking about water that’s no deeper than 3 feet. That’s pretty skinny, I know. Nevertheless, it’s fall and that’s the water I’ll target […]