by Bruce Middleton, June 15, 2009

Don’t just cast and reel, rip the lure instead…

When it comes to bass fishing there are as many techniques as there are lures. But if you don’t already know, you can fish each lures in different ways to attract bass to that lure. One of the most common complaints most bass anglers have is that the bass seem lethargic and always seem to bite better on slow moving baits and lures. This limits the amount of any body of water you are fishing because you have to go this slow. Well all that can be a misconception on your part. A lot of the time it is better to fish for bass by burning your lures in a take it or leave it approach.

We know that a bass’s metabolism will determine how fast it will digest a meal and therefore how often it tends to search for something to eat. Since most bass are digesting a meal more than they are looking for one, the use of slow feeding type baits and lures like plastics and jigs are limiting. A reaction triggered strike however, can happen much more often. A reaction strike when it comes to a bass is something that is naturally triggered when a bass sees a curtain sight, hears a curtain sound or something else that triggers it to strike no matter how hungry it is. Reaction strikes are based on instinct and have been hard wired into the bass’s brain. This is what we want and try to duplicate with these fast moving and often loud lures. So trying to catch bass using a reaction method makes a whole of sense to me. Now don’t get me wrong, drop shotting, jigs, plastics and other slow moving baits and lures can and do catch bass at the same time a fast reaction type lure can. But I think the odds are with the reaction strike method especially if nothing else seems to be working. And since you are covering so much more water by going fast you stand a much better chance of catching more bass.

When fishing and strikes are hard to come by, most anglers assume you need to slow down and fish very intently on any structure you can find. This is good advice and I myself have often recommended it. But there is a second school of thought here that works just as well. Many professional bass anglers agree and they will change from slow moving baits to ones they can cover the water with and try to find those active bass to add to the live well. If you doubt me just look at the results of the 2002 and 2003 CITCO Bass tournament results. These two tournaments were fished under the most extreme cold conditions and yet all the top winners used this take it or leave it fast approach. Now that is saying something about slow verses fast.

Lets start in the morning on your favorite lake as you start to fish. In the morning with its low light levels most of us prefer to use top water lures to attach bass. Soft swim baits, a Zara Spook ™ and others are great lures to start with or any other walk the dog type lures that you use. But instead of walking the dog try ripping the lure across the top of the water and cover a lot of water in as short a time as possible. This takes it or leave it approach can and does draw huge smashing strikes from hungry bass. The same can be said for any search lure. Instead of just casting it out and reeling it back in slowly, rip it with huge spurts of speed and erratic changes in motion. For one thing if you are using a rattle with this type of presentation the noise it makes is changing all the time. Unlike a sound that drones on and on that the bass perceive as back ground noise and dismiss, this erratic noise attracts bass form long distances. So about the only thing you have to understand is that you need to make your casts fairly close together so as to let the bass know the bait is coming to them. By making your casts too far apart you may let bass slip through the lines as it were.

Now not just crank baits are a good approach for this take it or leave it approach. A jig can and is a great tool as a swim bait. You never let it come in contact with the bottom but rather use a yo-yo action to get the desired look to the jig. Yes you can use it on the bottom to slow down and fish a specific piece of structure but fast fishing is different. This makes the jig a double your chances lure. Plastic swim baits with the boot type foot are also a fantastic bait to use since it looks like a crippled baitfish or one that is fleeing in panic.

A spinner bait is probably one of my favorite lures to use just about any time of the day. Since it is usually retrieved fast it sits right in the middle of these lures to use with a fast retrieve. But if you use a heavier than normal spinner bait, say a three quarter to one ounce size, you can retrieve it with much greater speed and again cover a lot of water in a very short time. Bulging the surface with such a heavy spinner bait causes extreme commotion and is a real draw. This is for reaction bites and they come at the most unlikely times. But reaction strikes are some of the most water-splashing, bass jumping, hard-hitting strikes you will ever get. And they are pure excitement. But remember that these heavy spinner baits make a huge splash as they enter the water so try and throw them all the way to the shoreline where they have less of an impact.

The real beauty of this approach is that it works even in cold water or during a cold front. No matter what lake you are on there will be hungry bass in the shallows and they will be aggressive. By covering a lot of water in a short time you stand a better chance of finding the aggressive bass and catching them. It works during the pre-spawn very well and can be used in the cold-water turn over too with outrageous results.

Most power anglers agree that no matter the water conditions whether that is dingy, dirty or worse, and no matter the time of year, you can power fish for bass with great success. Power fishermen love anything they can cover a lot of water with. This is because they are out after the active bass and not the neutral or inactive bass. Casting is the way they fish and the more casts they make the better they like it.

Lipless crank baits are known for catching bass when all other lures seem to fall short. The ripping action of this lure over the tops or in front of the leading edge of vegetation always seems to catch bass no matter the time of year or the weather or sky conditions. This makes a lipless crank one lure in your arsenal you need to know how to use and use well. You also need several colors and different sounds in the sound chamber, as this lure is a sonic attractor. By that I mean the sound of the lure is sometimes more important that the size or the color. Even lipless crank baits without a rattle need to be at hand too so you can have that option too.

Now to be honest a lot of anglers think a bass just can’t keep up with a fast moving lure. In fact a bass has a disproportionately large tail for its size. This makes the bass very fast and can sprint up to about 30 miles an hour. That’s right, 30 miles an hour. This is 5 times faster than you can reel in a lure. So you see a bass has more than enough speed to catch a fast moving prey or lure.

When using your favorite lure in this fast approach you need to change the cadence of the motion of that lure to one that is more go than stop. By shortening up these pauses you cover a lot more water. Changing the retrieve of any lure is the first thing you should do to try and improve your strike ratio. We do this because we don’t have to change lures or baits and we don’t have to change colors and retie everything. Just adjust the retrieve so it fits the circumstances, as this is the fastest way to alter the look of that lure. If this fails then it is time to change lures or add more or less noise to it. And remember that if you change colors, make that change big. Change from black to white or blue to orange. Change a wobble to a wiggle. Make a drastic change.

I don’t know how many times I have stated that depth is the number one key factor in catching bass. You have to fish where the bass are or your just wearing out your arm. We have all seen hundreds if not thousands of spawning bass in the lakes around here but after the spawn they just seem to disappear leaving only a few in water shallow enough to see where they are. In most cases these numbers of bass are in much deeper water than we expect, like 18 to 35 feet deep. It is not uncommon at all to find numbers of bass in the deepest parts of a lake especially if that lake is less than 60 feet deep at the deepest point. In fact most of the lakes up here are far shallower than that and they average around 20 to 30 feet deep. Going after these deeper bass is no really problem if you have a fish finder and a few buoy markers. After locating and marking these schools of bass then it comes down to lure choice as to how best to fish them. A spit shot rig is a wonderful way to go about this since you can add enough weight to get the plastic down quickly. Making long casts also helps immensely. Speed is the final item to key in on and then the catching can begin. Deep diving crank baits can get down to mid levels of the lakes and following the steep contours of the lake can easily be done using these lures. Lipless cranks and again a spinner bait are real go to tools as they can be fished at any depth. Don’t ever be afraid of going deep for bass. It is not uncommon for large bass to be taken in a hundred of water and deeper.

A buzz bait is what I caught my personal largest bass on, eight pounds. This lure is made for going fast. The real key to a buzz bait though is not so much the speed since you have to reel it in fast to begin with. The real key with them is sound. If you are getting no real action out of your buzz bait try switching to one that makes a different sound. Try one with bigger wings or one with holes in the blades so it makes more water splash as it moves. Try one with a clacker or one with a squeak. Now a buzz bait is one tool that can be retrieved with a steady speed. Since it is on top of the water making a “V” in the water and splashing about there is little need to vary the speed. But it may pay to try varying it just a bit to see what happens. Again the key here is to cover as much water as possible so make cast close to each other as you work your way along whatever you are fishing.

We all know that by hitting an object with a lure that that lure will 1- make extra noise as it hits, 2- make the lure stop for a brief time as the line goes tight again and 3- the speed varies back and forth until equilibrium in speed is achieved. This interruption in speed and noise is what triggers so many different reaction strikes. Try to duplicate that action with your lures at whatever depth you are in and any bass in the area will key in on it and possibly strike. This is what fishing like a madman is all about.

You also have to remember to try and find a pattern in what the bass like, what depth they are in and what the cadence is that they like. Once a pattern is established you can move all over the lake looking for those identical structures and depths. Deepwater patterns are a little harder to understand since they can’t be seen with the eyes. This is where your electronics come into their own. You need to be able to look at the depth finder screen and understand what you are looking at. You also need a good map of the lake so you can pick out other places that look about the same as the place you first started at. Once you know what the immediate topography looks like and the depth finder and/or GPS is showing exactly where on that set of co ordinates you are, you begin to see the big picture. This big picture has to be seen in your minds eye or you will never understand what you are looking at or for. You may see that you are in 20 feet of water just off of a steep bank that has point at both ends. Or you may find yourself looking at the map and it shows you are in about 30 feet of water just off of a sunken hump, which the sonar is showing you. You need the map and your electronics in combination to know exactly where you are and what the bottom looks like and only then do you get the big picture.

Say you are finding bass on the steep side of a lake where the side falls away rapidly to the deepest part of the lake. With a map you can see how far this ledge extends out and any shallow water before it drops off and with the fish finder you can see at what depth you need to fish indicated by the blips of bass showing up. Now that you can visualize this you can cover the entire length of that ledge with the presentation of your choice. After fishing the length of this area you will need to look at your map to see if the same type of ledge exists else where in the lake even though it may not go as deep. This is determined by the pattern you have going and if you can modify it to suit some other part of the lake to make it just as productive as the spot you just fished. Remember too that you can come back to the first spot after you give it a rest. Never leave a good area if the bass are still biting.

Like I stated earlier buoys are a real must have item in the boat. Since you can’t see the bottom you need some visual reference to cast in and around. Buoys are inexpensive and or you can build your own for just a few pennies. A piece of ridged Styrofoam cut into an H shape with a weight and string can make a really good buoy. Be sure to paint them with loud colors so they are easy to see.

And let us not forget the ever-popular split shot rig. I set the tiny sinker 2 to 3 feet ahead of the hook so the bass don’t confuse it for food. While it doesn’t create a lot of commotion this rig can cover a lot of water in a short time and even neutral bass will strike it if you are using the right swim bait or other plastic shape. I prefer to use 8-10 pound fluorocarbon line with 4-inch swim baits or 5 to 6 inch slim tailed worms. Either that or I keep a live worm on it for a backup rig incase I see a big bass or two swim out from under cover. Live bait cast in front of them is about the only bait that will draw a strike. I know, I have tried every lure I own to get them to bite and only live bait works. You can drag these plastics along the bottom or hop it short distances or swim it at any level of the water column. But this rig requires total concentration as a lot of the time the bass will just pick it up and then not move. You must be aware of any tick in the line as this may signal a strike. A medium action light rod and a light-spinning reel are the way to go here because of the line weight of this rig.

Well there you go. A different way to go after bass that just may improve you catch ratio. Good luck and enjoy!


Bruce Middleton

bpmiddleton@peoplepc.com