Bass Fishing Tip of the Week Official Post.

[polarsusd81]

I got my first bass on a walk the dog bait last year. I will never forget it. I just never pulled them out and gave them their time before, and the first time really using it last year I was workin it for about 15 minutes over a shallow weed flat. I was just getting ready to pull it in and tie on something new when my buddy turns and looks at me then down at the water saying, "Come on bass, bite that thing." About 1/2 a second after he said that a little 2 lber jumped clear out of the water with the spook in its mouth and dang near landed in the boat. After unhooking the fish, he turns to me and says, "That bass has good ears!"

One I will never forget. It is very exciting to catch one on a walk the dog bait.

[TonkaBass]

Nice job Carl! What is your favorite type of walking bait?

[CarlWBL]

My favorite walking bait would be the Heddon Spook . I have caught so many fish on that lure that I haven't even really explored too many other options. I know that there are some sweet options out there, but the ones I really want to try are too expensive, ie Lucky Craft's Sammy. My favorite color is "Spectrum" but I also use one with a chartruesse head and all white body.

[Craigums]

Hey Carl, where is the best place to use these baits? Ive got some spooks in the frog color but never get bit. Thanks for the tip.

[CarlWBL]

Craigums,

I typically fish these baits under a few different conditions/situations. I usually fish these in fairly shallow water, usually because I'm looking for vegetation that comes close to the surface of the water. The treble hooks will snag vegetation, so I'm looking to walk the bait just above the tops of the vegetation. Many people use these baits in deeper water, but I tend to stay close to the bank. The outer edges of emergent veg. is also a great place to work these lures. Don't forget to try these while in between docks when traveling to your next dock. Often I'll throw a dock lure, then when I'm moving to the next dock, I'll pick up my Spook and aggressively work it back to the boat.

First light and dusk are great times to work these baits. The water is calm and the low light will mask the bait. Fishing these baits midday can be very successful as well when there is a slight breeze. The wind moves the water and again masks the bait. If you ever fish sporadic and sparse pencil reeds, try throwing this and "walking" the bait around and into the pencil reeds, slightly bumping a reed every now and then. You'd be surprised at how you can maneuver these baits with practice. I can literally "walk" my bait around sticks, leaves, reeds, ect.

Give those spooks a try!

Carl

[Craigums]

Thanks, I know the perfect spot to try...by the way I see your from WBL, im in Woodbury. I've seen you post about your bass club in the past. Do you guys always fish the east metro?

[CarlWBL]

We fish all over. There are a decent number of events on the east side, but we go all over including early in Wisc.

[st.crioxfishin]

Anybody throw walk the dog baits in the heat of summer on dead calm days for smallies? Sounds crazy but it sure works!

[TonkaBass]

St.croix, Yeah it does. I remember getting on a suspended school in 30' of water and nailing them with a blue and white super spook. That was a blast!

[goblueM]

Smallies LOVE calm hot sunny days in rivers for some reason. Some of my best fishing for them is on those 100 degree days in clear, small-medium rivers

[EBass]

A couple days early, but what the heck. Let me know what you think and if something I wrote is hard to follow and you like what is he talking about. C-ya on Monday.

Bass Tip of the Week – March 29th 2009

THE PARALLEL APPROACH – River Edition

Boat position plays a key role in lure presentation. Couple boat position with casting angles and you’ll up your odds immensely. I will attempt to explain why, where and how paralleling deeper river shoreline will put extra bass in your boat in the coming paragraphs.

The first question a novice might ask is why would I want to get so close to the shoreline if that’s the area I’m casting too? One answer is because if you’re casting perpendicular to the shoreline, that lure isn’t in the “Strike Zone” long enough on deeper embankments. Plus I don’t think the presentation is natural. I’m not saying it won’t work, but I don’t see minnows swimming down into the depths. I see them swimming parallel to the shore. By being parallel and casting along the length of the deeper shoreline you’ll present your lure naturally and leave it in the strike zone longer.

What you want to look for is a rip rap shoreline that drops off quickly into deeper water and has current. The current pushes the bass behind the riprap nook and crannies and they wait to ambush whatever comes along next. Once you’ve located an area, put down the trolling motor and start by positioning the boat perpendicular to the shoreline. Cast to the area you are going to, because you don’t want to spook said bass. Get close to the shore and face the boat so you’re parallel to the shore which more than likely is facing upstream. (To me close means 7-2 feet from shore and sometimes I bump into the shoreline riprap from the waves, wind or current. It happens. So fancy fiberglass bass boats you’ve been warned.)

Now that you’re parallel this opens up a lot of casting angles that the fish haven’t seen or aren’t accustomed to. At 12 o’clock you now have the entire length of your cast in a higher percentage area as any bass staged along that depth will see your offering. A cast at 1-2 (or 10-11 depending on what side of the river you’re on) o’clock will put the lure right next to shore and works that slightly shallower water for those bass that hug the shore. As you continue working down you can cover a lot more water while efficiently by having your lure in the strike zone longer.

What I like to do is take a DT-6 and cast at 1 o’clock to get close to shore (sometimes hit the shore, but not on purpose) and work the DT-6 banging off of the underwater riprap triggering reaction strikes. On Pool 2 this will produce a ton a Sheepies and the occasional Walleye, and oh yeah a few Smallmouth Bass. If the crank baits aren’t working try a slightly weighted tube or small jig in the same area, or maybe even a spinnerbait.

Now you have another trick up your sleeve that you can try to pattern it else where on your favorite waters. I also apply this parallel approach to lakes and other structures like the edge of a lily pad field, weed lines, underwater points, wing dams, etc… But mainly rivers as they have consistent areas of deep shoreline structure. The reason I chose this topic is because I don’t see many people fishing parallel. It’s has worked for me in the past, so I thought I’d share. I hope this “Bass Tip of the Week” will put a few more fish in your boat this coming season.

[Cecil]

Good stuff E!

[Craigums]

Makes sense. Should work in all situations really including lakes

[Cecil]

Angles play A LOT larger role than people think!

[OTBASSER]

Good stuff E!

I agree....good stuff!

[goblueM]

love the DT series... shad raps do well in that situation too

[Daze Off]

You da' man EB!

[Keith_MN]

Good stuff, EBass!

[TonkaBass]

A little late on reading it, but I wanted to be able to soak it in without all the background noise of work I liked it, and will give it a try for sure!

[Muddog]

You wouldn't believe how many large bass I catch in the shadow of by boat when worming in water around 12'deep. When you have the white puffy clouds coming over and making shade 20-60% of the time, try it. I’ll bet if you don’t 90% of you bites will happen right as the cloud starts to cover the sun on day like this. It’s a great time to be fishing short grass in 10-15fow.

[Ray Esboldt]

You're right on muddog.

I call the phenomena "catching a cloud." I can't tell you the number of times where I have been trying to pitch deep into heavy cover, get some brief cloud cover and end up catching a nice fish or two right on the edge of the cover as the cloud blocks the sun.

[polarsusd81]

I have noticed this with the least bit of light adjustment in my little boy's fish tank. He has a bluegill in there, but the second the light dims, he goes nuts and gobbles down two or three crappie minnows. Dang bluegill eats easily 5 minnows a day, and he is only about 5 1/2" long.

[TonkaBass]

lol, sounds like he wont be 5 1/2" for long!

[polarsusd81]

He has grown to 5 1/2" from 2" in November. That thing is growing at an incredible rate. This is only in a 16 gallon tank too.

[Craigums]

I wonder if the size of that tank will limit his growing capacity. I would like to have a fresh water aquarium someday