It’s Buzzbait Time

It’s Buzzbait Time

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 with a wire back to the shaft it has a short bend down and the wire drops right into the […]

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

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 Bassin’ Calls for a Plastic Minnow-like Jerkbait

Fall Bassin’ Calls for a Plastic Minnow-like Jerkbait

I fish a plastic minnow-like jerkbait under almost any conditions from now until the water gets real cold, and even then one will get you a few bites. The only time I don’t fish one is when the water’s real cloudy or muddy. They don’t work very well for me under those conditions. Basically, I rig my bait one of two ways. The first is with a 4/0 or 5/0 offset worm hook in the usual manner. If I want the bait to ride high and touch the surface occasionally, I’ll push the hook into the plastic all the way […]

My Sleeper Crankbait

My Sleeper Crankbait

Every so often I think about a lure that everyone who want’s to catch a bass should know about, and so it is with the David Fritts designed Rapala DT Thug. It’s a small balsa crankbait — 2-1/2 inches long with a weight of 3/8 of an ounce — that’ll dive to between 4 and 8 feet on a normal retrieve. It has a hard, wide wobble, is hand tuned and comes in 15 colors. I don’t care where you live or where you fish you can match the local forage with one of them. What really makes it special, […]

Subtle Topwater Fishing for Postspawn Bass

Subtle Topwater Fishing for Postspawn Bass

It’s the postspawn all around the country and with that comes a topwater bite. The thing is, though, sometimes a noisy, splashy topwater plug runs them off rather than fills the livewell. When that happens I go subtle. That means I reach for a Berkley HAVOC Subwoofer. It’s a unique bait in that it has a short (4 inches), fat body with a classic cut tail that’ll move a lot of water when you crank it fast. And, you can do that with this lure because of the way the body is designed. It not only has a fat, shad-like […]

Bass Fishing with Rapala’s Original Floater

Bass Fishing with Rapala’s Original Floater

I have to make a confession here. I hadn’t thought about Rapala’s Original Floater in forever — until recently. I had them, for sure. I’d just been using other baits. But then something happened that reminded me of why I should put a handful of them in my boat. I was fishing with another pro angler who was wearing me out with a floating jerkbait. His was made by another company. Nevertheless, watching him I was reminded of my Original Floaters.  The next day I fish with them. The butt whoopin’ stopped. They’re good baits. They’ll catch bass from early […]