TIPS & TECHNIQUES
PRESENTED
BY
FISH
ON
BASS
ANGLERS
Gaithersburg,
Maryland
Author:
Fish
On
Club
Members
Photos:
Greg
Greene
–
Club
Photographer
Editor:
Eric
P.
Remian
Subject: FISH ON MEMBER TIPS - Volume 1
Tuning Spinner Baits: By Taylor Hale
Unless you strictly use titanium spinner baits, at some point you will have seen a spinner bait coming back to the boat laid over on it's side. With the metal wire custom baits I've been using it happens after almost every bass. Fortunately it's a simple matter to get your bait back into alignment and running straight. If you grab a spinner bait by the lead head and hold it so that you are looking straight down the bait (as if it was running straight towards you) the wire for the blades should be aligned with the hook. For a spinner bait to run true, the main wire, blades, and hook should all be in the same plane in the water. By slightly bending the wire back to true your spinner bait will work in a more vertical orientation (and be more effective at the same time).
Like
all
fishing
lures
you
should
pay
attention
to
your
bait
all
the
way
back
to
the
boat.
Just
like
you
would
straighten
a
worm
on
a
Texas
Rigged
hook,
tune
a
crankbait
to
run
straight,
or
make
sure
your
slider
head
is
rigged
just
perfectly,
spend
a
couple
of
seconds
straightening
out
your
spinner
baits
and
you
may
just
catch
more
fish.
Spinner
Baits
and
Trailer
Hooks:
By
Taylor
Hale
Maybe the most popular bait out there among anglers across the country is a spinner bait. It really is a versatile bait that allows you to fish many different types of cover, structures, and depths in the water column. When fish are in the mood there are few harder and more positive hits than a spinner bait bite. The problem is when bass are finicky and not taking it. One of the quickest and easiest ways to increase the percentage of fish caught with spinner baits is to use a trailer hook.
While I will fun and pre-fish spinner baits without trailer hooks, I rarely fish a spinner bait in a tournament without a trailer hook. I may snag wood and weeds a little more often but it is worth it for the increased percentage of fish caught. I've had days where close to half the fish caught were on the trailer hook - that can add up to a lot of bass and, in my mind, is well worth the extra aggravation. You can rig the trailer hook such that it picks up less stuff.
The "traditional" way (at least the way I learned to put trailer hooks onto a spinner bait) is to thread the eye of the hook into the rubber hose and then thread all of that onto the spinner bait hook itself. This creates a fairly static trailer hook but certainly works and can't slide off the main hook. What I've started doing this year is to put the trailer hook onto the spinner bait first and then hook a small piece of the rubber tubing through the spinner bait hook itself. By doing this the trailer hook can move on the main hook more freely and snags things a little less. You will occasionally need to slide the rubber piece back to the middle of the spinner bait hook. An added advantage is that with the trailer hook more or less free, the spinner bait runs a little truer.
Use
What
Works:
By
Jeffery
Wible
My tip to any fisherman in the club would be the following - use what works. If your fishing partner is catching fish using “the magic bait” and you can't buy a bite - ask for one of your partner’s baits. Most guys carry multiples of the same bait and would gladly share. I don't know how many times I've heard of partners being offered “the magic bait”' only to get turned down because "I've got something that looks like that." Don't be shy - ask for one of the working baits and in the end you'll be better off.
Different
Rigs
for
Different
Folks:
By
Bob
Fisher
I hear different people talk about their various ways to rig up their Texas rigs. I use a pre-rigged hook with good results. It is the Owner brand Bullet Head 1/0 worm hook. It comes in 1/8, 3/16, and 1/4 oz weights. As I usually throw with a baitcaster, I normally use the 3/16; however, this will depend upon the wind. I'll use this with all my worms and also with the Yamamoto skirted grubs. You can either drag on the bottom, or swim your bait back. I also use the South Bend round wire clips for quick changes. The Owners hook is extremely sharp and usually results in a good hook set.
Top-Water
Smallmouth:
By
Ed
Snider
Here is a tip for top water fishing for deep or suspended smallies. Target Points with deep water close by, offshore humps or reefs with deep water close by. Smallmouth will come up from along way down (20 plus feet) to hit top-water baits such as Spooks, poppers, torpedo & buzzbaits. This tactic works very will in smallmouth country – New Hampshire, Minnesota and Canada. The tactic is a fast, fun and exciting way to fish for the aggressive smallmouth bass, but may not apply to all water - i.e. Conowingo on 9/7/02.
Red
Baits:
By
Logan
Summers
Be
careful
with
red
colored
baits
in
deep
water,
red
light
only
penetrates
about
15
ft.
deep
(even
in
clear
water),
therefore
a
red
lure
in
20
ft.
of
water
will
appear
gray.
(I
have
seen
this
while
scuba
diving,
they
also
teach
it
when
getting
dive
certified.)
Sounds
crazy
but
its
true!!
Colorful
Facts:
By
Logan
Summers
More Color absorption facts: orange and yellow also disappear fairly shallow, by 60 - 70' both are gone (this doesn't affect us to much, but if you ever fish out west or for walleye it could be a factor). The deepest running colors are purple and blue which stay true down to about 240.'
Environmental
Pressure:
By
Logan
Summers
Barometric pressure has virtually no effect on Bass: In freshwater, for every foot of water depth the pressure increases by 0.5 PSI*. This means that even the most drastic barometric pressure changes are equivalent to moving up or down in the water column approximately one foot, something a bass probably does several times a day. The things that effect bass behavior are the conditions that usually accompany pressure changes. (Falling pressure usually indicates an approaching cold front, while rising pressure means one has passed.)
*
The
standard
measure
of
Barometric
Pressure,
which
usually
between
29.8
and
30.5,
is
in
kilopascals
(k
P
A),
converted
to
PSI
it
is
approx.
14.8
PSI.
Shrunk Fish: By Logan Summers
When people say their big fish "shrunk" in the live well it is because light is refracted when it passes into the water making objects look slightly bigger. Once they get the fish in the boat they usually put them directly into the live well, so they don't get a good look at the fish out of water until weigh-in.
Bobber
Stopper
Finesse
Rig:
By
Peter
Price
When
rigging
a
finesse
Carolina
rig,
I
eliminate
the
need
for
a
swivel
or
Carolina
Keepers
by
using
a
string
bobber
stopper
knot.
String
bobber
stopper
knots
cost
a
lot
less
than
Carolina
Keepers
and
can
be
obtained
in
the
bobber
section
at
Galyans.
Stoppers
usually
cost
$1.95
for
a
25
pack
as
opposed
to
$2.25
for
8
Carolina
Keepers.
Here’s how:
1.
Put
selected
weight
and
bead
on
the
line
as
usual.
2.
Slide
on
one
of
the
tiny
beads
that
come
with
the
string
bobber
stopper.
3.
Slide
on
the
plastic
tube
(with
the
string
on
it).
4.
Slide
off
the
string
and
pull
the
knot
as
tight
as
you
can.
Trim
the
tags
close.
5.
Adjust
the
knot
to
your
selected
place
on
the
line.
You can slide the knot up and down the line to convert from a Carolina rig to a Texas rig. If you use Water Gremlin Bull Shot as your weight just leave the knot in place and put the weight by the hook.
So far this has worked great for 1/4oz or lighter rigs. I haven’t perfected 1/2 or 1 oz rigs yet.
Weed Bed Strategy: By Eric P. Remian
Keep an eye on the sun when fishing a weed bed. The weed bed itself blocks the sun creating shade along the farthest edge from the sun thus creating a larger strike zone for Bass to ambush prey. Bass will be more able to see your bait presented along the shady side because they won’t be positioned back inside the weeds. The edge without shade will force the Bass farther back into the weeds since they will seek a light level that will provide them an advantage over their prey. If you must fish a sunny edge on a weed bed, be sure to focus your effort back a few yards into the bed. Then hit the edge on points and bends along the edge where the weeds will create small little shade spots.
Drop
shot
with
a
bullet:
By
Richard
de
los
Santos
Instead of buying drop shot weights, lightly crimp a small split shot under a bullet weight at the end of your line.
Weedless Grub: By Peter Price
Here
is
a
tip
obtained
from
Florida
Sportsman
April
2002.
It
involves
threading
a
grub,
like
a
5"
Kalin
Salty
Lunker
on
a
worm
hook
with
a
metal
weed
guard
(Eagle
Claw
449WA
or
equivalent).
Basically,
you
thread
the
grub
on
the
hook
with
the
tail
pointed
toward
the
curve
of
the
hook.
Just
tie
it
on
along
with
a
bullet
weight
of
your
choice.
You
can
jig
it
or
swim
it.
You
can
get
EC
449WA
hooks
along
at
Galyans
or
Wal-Mart.
I
also
found
some
weedless
hooks
made
by
Matzuo
at
Sports
Authority.
River
Hotspots:
By
Eric
P.
Remian
The most consistent spots to target for many different fish species in a river environment are the wood snags that get piled up along the bank at the beginning of a turn in the river or at the start of a bend. Most bends have a fairly straight section of river just upstream that will most likely not have a lot of wood along the bank. This is due to the force of the current during high water that flushes most woody debris into the bend where it then hangs up or snags due to the change of current direction created by the bend. Don’t waste time in the straight section void of the snags because a greater percentage of the fish will be in the eddy water created behind the snag.
Bitsy Bugs: By Thomas Greg Greene
I have been having good success with a Bitsy Bug jig combined with a Baby Brush Hog trailer. The Brush Hog is cut short at the wings and then rigged on the hook just like any other trailer. The secret is that you must hum the song, “The itsy Bitsy Bug crawled up the submerged log, out came the Bass and swallowed up the jig, etc..” “Fish – On” - Use your imagination.
Editor’s
note:
Thanks
to
all
the
Fish
On
club
members
that
sent
in
their
tip.
Keep
them
coming
to
my
attention
for
future”Fish
On
MemberTips-Volume
II”