How to Spoon for Bass

Is there a more fun or cost effective way to catch a ton of fish in the Fall or Winter? Probably not! Spooning is often over looked in favor of finesse tactics but don't be fooled, its a technique you need to get comfortable using.

When the bass are schooling on baitfish, even when they're just scattered on deep water points and ledges, a spoon is hard to beat. When the fish are suspended around bait, it can't be beaten. A spoon perfectly imitates a dying or injured baitfish, fluttering toward the bottom. Bass are hardwired to react to this quick fluttering action, often resulting in jarring strikes! So why should you be using a spoon during the colder months?

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First, its cost effective. Unlike soft plastics which tear up easily, spoons hold up over time. Assuming you don't snag and lose them, you can use the same spoon trip after trip. Second, they're deadly. When the fish are lethargic and don't want to feed you can often draw the "reaction" strike with a few quick hops off the bottom.

Over the years I've used a lot of different brands and models of spoons. For deep water vertical jigging the best spoons I've found are Blade Runner Duh Spoons. They're offered in a variety of colors but my personal favorites are Morning Dawn, Black Shad, and Electric Chicken. The most consistent sizes are the 1 1/4 and 1 3/4 ounce but experiment with the fish on your lakes to see what works best for them.

One other point to consider is that spoons can even work around busting fish. The temptation is to pick up a spook or whopper plopper in pursuit of the fish you can see but often times the largest bass in the school will be holding back, below all the others, waiting for the smaller fish to stun the bait and provide them an easy meal. The next time you see active fish on the surface consider dropping the spoon below and you might just be surprised by the biggest bite of the day.

Winter Fishing: Top 5 Baits for Cold Water Bass

With winter fast approaching most lakes have turned over and the bass have headed for warmer deep water haunts. "Deep" is a relative term that varies lake to lake but when bass head for the depths a lot of anglers lose confidence.

In this week's video we break down our favorite baits for seeking out those deep water bass. This list may be missing some baits you expect but when the going gets tough, these 5 options are consistent producers.

1) A Football Jig: Tim and I vary a little on our specific choices. I lean toward a 1/2 oz or heavier Dirty Jigs Finesse Football (Give "Go To" or "Super Matt Brown" those colors are deadly). Tim takes it a step further and will occasionally go as light as 3/8 oz with his Dirty Jigs HP Football Jig. Why go with a light weight in deep water, you ask? With the lighter weight comes a smaller hook, allowing you to drop to lighter line and even throw the jig on a spinning rod if conditions require.

2) A Drop Shot: Tried and true, this bait is deadly in deep water! Tim likes to downsize, often using a size 2 Owner Mosquito hook with a small tungsten weight. He insists that the light hook allows his bait to have maximum action in deep water. As for baits, he uses a wide range of options but a 6" Roboworm Margarita Mutilator is a proven winter time color.

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3) Ball Head: The ball head is such a simplistic way to fish and consistently catches quality fish in the cold water months. Much like a darthead, you should thread the worm on so the point of the hook is left exposed. The difference between a ball head and virtually every other head design is that it has almost no action of its own. This is a drawback most of the year but when the water is cold that "dead action" drives the fish crazy. Tim and I both agree, a 5" senko is your best option with this presentation. Day in and day out, it gets a significantly larger bite than smaller worms.

4) A Jigging Spoon: The spoon is a deadly bait throughout the fall but don't lose faith as cooler temps take over and the bass become lethargic. Using a very subtle flip-flop approach, keeping the jig on bottom at all times, is a phenomenal way to get a big bite in winter. Matt prefers the Blade Runner DUH spoon for its ideal weight, size, and color schemes.

5) The Small Swimbait: I prefer the 6" Basstrix or the 4.8 Keitech coupled with 1/2 oz Matt Allen Signature Swimbait Head. With an exposed lead head its very easy to maintain bottom contact. From rock to gravel, sand to mud, you'll feel every change in contour and the bite will be unmistakable. For this method I maintain constant bottom contact and swim the bait as slowly as I can stand. It presents a sizable but slow moving meal to the bass that is hard to resist.

This Winter, consider not getting your boat winterized. Instead, head for the lake! The bass are still there and they still need to feed. You may be surprised to find that some of your biggest bites of the year come when the water temperature is below 50 degrees.

Which Jerkbaits Work the Best?

On a recent trip to the Bay of Green Bay I got on a great jerkbait bite while fishing with Curt Demerath, owner of Dirty Jigs. Both of us were catching fish but I noticed Curt was doing a few things differently than I'd seen in the past. Most importantly, he was swapping back and forth between different jerkbaits rather than sticking to the favorite. By the end of the first day it was clear that it was having a huge impact on catch rate.

When we got off the water I began asking questions about why he had been making adjustments. He started giving some very in depth responses. That's when I realized we needed to pause the conversation until we could turn the GoPro on  so you could learn from him as well. Here is what happened once he got in front of the camera...

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Curt breaks down the differences between the Megabass Vision 110, Pointer 100, Staysee 90, Flash Pointer, and more. He goes on to cover not only how each one moves in the water but how your cadence and retrieve should vary with each. Some shine in warm water, others in cold. Some should be ripped, others should just be pulled. This approach opened my eyes to a whole different world of ripbait (jerkbait) fishing. Often I give up on the jerkbait bite because my confidence bait isn't working, its clear now that I'm leaving a lot of fish uncaught. Switching models to achieve different actions can turn on a jerkbait bite even when a particular bait isn't getting bit.

I think every angler can glean information that will help them catch more jerkbait fish this coming year! Huge thanks to Curt for taking some time out of his day to shed light on this topic! If you're not familiar with Curt or his awesome products, you can see it all at http://www.dirtyjigstackle.com

The First 5 Rods Every Bass Fisherman Needs

The truth is, not every angler needs to own dozens of rods. You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on combos, and you certainly don't need 5 of the same rod. In this industry, its easy to get caught up in the hype of fishing tackle.

From TV to magazines to websites (including Tactical Bassin) you're bombarded with anglers who own dozens upon dozens of high end fishing rod and reel combos. Its not hard to fall into the trap, believing you need all that equipment to be successful. The great news is, you don't.

If you don't plan to fish the elites this coming year you can probably get by with a lot less tackle than you'd like to believe. For the anglers just getting started, you need even less. Here are top 5 fishing rods that you need to become a well-rounded bass fisherman.

1) 7' Medium Light Spinning Rod: You can use this rod for dropshot, split shot, tubes, worms, even poppers and other very small hardbaits. This is going to be your most frequently used rod when you're getting started. Its also the rod that you'll still have in your rod locker as a back up 20 years later.

2) 7' Medium Heavy Spinning Rod: This rod will cover larger worms, senkos, light texas rigs, and even branch into medium topwaters, jerkbaits, etc.

3) 7' Medium Baitcaster: In no time this will become your go-to rod for everything from a crankbait, to a topwater, to texas rigs, worms, etc.

4) 7' Medium Heavy Baitcaster: You can use this rod for jigs, heavier texas rigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and other reaction baits.

5) 7'6" Medium Heavy to Heavy Baitcaster: If you even need a 5th rod, this will be the one. This rod is going to let you branch into frogs, small swimbaits, flipping and pitching.

Personally, we use Dobyns Rods for these applications. We recognize that every angler is different and needs vary but these are a great base line for you to make your decisions. In the beginning, consider the Fury or Savvy series then work your way into the higher product lines as you begin specializing at your favorite techniques.