Swim a Worm

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Swim a Worm

This time we’re going to talk about an old technique that’s not used much anymore outside of Florida. It’s pretty basic, all you do is wind a Texas rigged worm through the water instead of letting it sit, quiver, hop or drag along the bottom. I used this technique when I won the 2003 Bassmaster Classic on the Louisiana Delta. It was one of three that were critical to my success. The place to start when you want to make a swimming worm is with the weight. I go light. My lightest selection is 1/16-ounce and my heaviest is a […]

Ice Fishing Lures for Warm Water Bass?

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Ice Fishing Lures for Warm Water Bass?

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 in front with the concept. I kept things to myself but every so often I’d give one of them a […]

Micro Jigs: The Newest, New Thing

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Micro Jigs: The Newest, New Thing

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 me to begin working with John Crews and Missile Baits on a new lure — the micro jig. They’re a […]

Flambeau Boxes Are My Pick for Tackle Storage

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Flambeau Boxes Are My Pick for Tackle Storage

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 allowed moisture to seep in and they became brittle with age. They fog, crack and the latches break. There’s no […]

More about Finesse Swimbaits

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More about Finesse Swimbaits

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 called them grubs. Look at any of the old grubs — most are still made today — and you’ll see […]

Fall & Early Winter Bait Choices Part 5: Boot Tail Swimbaits

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Fall & Early Winter Bait Choices Part 5: Boot Tail Swimbaits

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 a sight feeding lure. Bass need to be able to see it. Otherwise, they won’t bother to try and find […]

Fall & Early Winter Bait Choices, Part 4: The Triple Willow Spinnerbait

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Fall & Early Winter Bait Choices, Part 4: The Triple Willow Spinnerbait

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 ripe for the taking. It’s not wrong to call it a small umbrella rig or to say that it’s a […]

Fall & Early Winter Bait Choices, Part 3: Spinnerbaits

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Fall & Early Winter Bait Choices, Part 3: Spinnerbaits

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 early winter, so I’ll talk about it. Lots of times you’ll see baitfish on top in the early morning before […]

Fall And Early Winter Bait Choices, Part 2: Walking Sticks

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Fall And Early Winter Bait Choices, Part 2: Walking Sticks

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 fish. In truth, however, you can walk any number of baits if you have the experience. But, we aren’t going […]

Fall/Early Winter Bait Choices, Part 1

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Fall/Early Winter Bait Choices, Part 1

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 what I just said about the forage. There is no time — and I do mean NO time — of […]