Wacking the Fish

It’s finally “wack-em” time, we made it through the winter and it’s starting to warm up fast. This means the bass are coming to the banks in huge numbers. Now is the time to take a buddy fishing that has never caught a bass and introduce him to the game of bass fishing. You will see more Nitro bass boats on the water in the next two months than all the rest of the year. The reason is because this is primetime to be bass fishing at its best.

I love to throw lipless crankbaits this time of year. Go back into the back ends of shallow water pockets, especially if they have a creek channel coming in and throw your Bagley’s lipless baitfish and hold on.  I like to fish this lure on a Bass Pro Shops’ Extreme Woo Daves’ 6’ 6” medium baitcaster with an Extreme 7 to 1 ratio reel and Bass Pro Shops’ 12 lbs. test Fluorocarbon line. Look for baitfish flicking on the water for a prime area or seagulls in a pocket is another key that bait is in the area. If the water is stained go with a reddish color and if it’s clear, a natural finish. Two things I like about Bagley’s baitfish, it is the most natural looking lure ever made and it sits on its nose when dropped to the bottom.  Vary your retrieves from a yoyo to a fast burn until you figure out what the bass want and it is easy from there out.

Next I will be looking for secondary points in creeks or longer tapering points near spawning areas and here is where I’m throwing a Zoom 6”or 8” lizard. That’s almost a give-me in the spring. If possible, I want to fish red clay, rocky, or stumpy areas. I like to use an Extreme 7” medium/heavy Woo Daves’ rod with Bass Pro Shops’ 12 lbs. test Fluorocarbon line.  I also use a ¾ oz. Lindy’s Rattlin’ No-Snagg weight, a two foot leader and a 2/0 Mustad Ultra Point off-set hook. Pull up to a point watching your Raymarine DS500X until you feel you can hit the four to eight foot range with your rig and fan cast. This is probably the number one fish catching technique in the spring. Don’t be afraid to put a Zoom ultra-vibe speed craw on your rig as this little bait has produced a lot of big fish for me in the last two years.

Now is the time to also learn to fish a jig.  The bass like to get in bushes, willows, around logs and stumps and you can catch some jumbos with a jig. I fish a 3/8 oz. or an ½ oz. Bagley’s jig with a Zoom Super chunk trailer in black/blue or green pumpkin on a Bass Pro Shops’ Woo Daves’ 7’ 6”  flippin’ stick with Bass Pro Shops’ 20 to 25 lbs. test  Fluorocarbon line. I also want to soak my jig with Jack’s Juice crawfish formula. This is a must! Another great pattern with a jig is to swim it around boat docks, especially floating ones and over grass beds. When I fish over grass, I like to use a ¼ oz. white jig, as it is easy to keep the lighter jig just under the surface. Use a lot of rod tip shaking when swimming a jig in this fashion to create movement.

Another very good technique is to fish floating worms. This is when I especially like to use Bass Pro Shops’ Woo Daves’ 6’6” medium spinning rod with an Extreme EX4000B reel using Bass Pro Shops’ 10 lbs. test line. It’s also the time to get wild with your colors such as yellow, pink, white or merthiolate. For some reason spring bass like these wild colors and one of them will usually work a lot better than the others but you just have to find out which one so alternate them. Ninety percent of the time I will use a 2/0 off-set Mustad Ultra Point hook, other times I will go bigger or smaller depending on how I want the bait to fall. Also you can add lead nails in different sizes to get the proper fall the bass want. With this method I just head down the bank fishing and looking for what I call roamers. I have caught many good stringers doing this.

Good luck on your next fishing trip. If you want to feel comfortable and look good, get yourself a pair of Wrangler Angler pants and a pair of Woo Shoes by Proline. May God Bless!


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