The dropshot is without a doubt one of the hottest finesse techniques. I don’t care whether you’re fishing in shallow, dirty water or deep, crystal-clear water, there’s a time when it can outproduce just about anything else. Why is it so good? Well, it presents the bait off the bottom and keeps it horizontal. There are not many other presentations that accomplish that. It’s a very natural representation of a baitfish. To use it to its maximum effectiveness, though, you need to choose the right leader length. It’s a critical part of making it work. You need to know when […]
In the first part of my Ultimate Spinnerbait Series, I outlined when and where I use different kinds of spinnerbaits. It’s one of the greatest categories of lures ever made, but if you don’t dial in the proper retrieve, having the right blade style, color and other components really doesn’t matter. The good news: with three basic retrieves, you can maximize your effectiveness. I tailor them to the different zones of the water column – top, middle and bottom – and by thinking of it that way, you can really improve your game. For the top of the water column, […]
The show this week was with UFC fighter Jim Miller. He’s a tough dude. I’ve been a fan of his for a while now, but I really didn’t have any idea of what it was all about, how technical mixed martial arts is when it’s practiced correctly. When he’s actually fighting, he looks completely disorganized. It’s like it’s just a bunch of arms and legs flopping around. In reality, though, it’s a number of carefully choreographed moves that he practices over and over so that when he needs one he’s ready to do it right, and his record shows he […]
Most of you know something about the chicken rig. Traditionally, the chicken rig was a weedless way to Neko rig a straight tail worm. I’m in love with doing that but I’ve expanded the concept to include one of the most effective and natural looking bass baits on the planet — the craw. We’ll start with the hook. My favorite, by far, is the VMC Finesse Neko hook. The thing I really like about it is that there are two pieces of heavy fluorocarbon line on the top of the shaft of the hook up towards the eye. That keeps […]
This is one technique I never wanted to give up to anyone, but you fellow bass-heads make all of this possible, so it’s only right that I let you in on one of my most effective cold water techniques. That is the Rapala Shallow Shad Rap. It’s the perfect crankbait for cold water conditions. It has a tight wiggle and no rattle. I do, however, modify it a little bit. First off, by cold water I mean anything from the middle 50-degree range on down. And, by little modifications I mean swapping out hooks and adding a split ring or […]
Fall is a great time to go bass fishing. The weather is cool but it’s still comfortable, there are fewer recreational boats around and the bass are feeding like crazy. It’s also a great time to catch a giant, maybe the biggest one of your life. If you want to catch one like that, though, you have to use the right lure. Here are my three very best fall baits for giant bass. But here’s the thing — one of them isn’t necessarily any better than the other. It’s about which one will best match the hatch. The first one […]
I had another experience fishing the Upper Mississippi River that I want to talk to everyone about. It was late summer when it happened but I think it’ll be pretty much universal as long as there are bass back in really skinny water. There were some places in the backwaters and sloughs that were super shallow — I’m talking less than 2 feet of water — that were holding a good number of keeper bass. The thing was, though, that they were so choked with thin, slimy vegetation and drift that had washed into the water that it was hard […]
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