Tips For Approaching A New Lake

New Lakes can be intimidating! Where should you start? What should you throw? How many rods should you bring? Tim answers these questions and more...

Its not easy to choose what tackle to bring to a new lake. To simplify Tim employs a top down approach. Any time he approach a new lake he starts with his favorite topwater. This allows him to cover water and look for active fish. If he's not immediately successful he'll drop down the water column and try reaction fishing. If reaction bait fishing fails to catch fish its time to begin slowing down and fishing the bottom. This simple approach lets you break down the entire water column very quickly to locate the most active group of fish.

While it seems like a lot of baits and options you can literally fit all of these baits into a single box. Combine them with 3-4 rods and you're ready to jump on a boat and hit a new lake without crowding the boater and overstaying your welcome.

Baits We recommend bringing:

Topwater...
-Rover
-Whopper Plopper
-Rico

Reaction...
-Favorite Squarebill Crankbait
-Favorite Spinnerbait

-Favorite Chatterbait

Swimbaits...
Keitech Fat 2.8
Keitech 4.3 Fat
S Waver 168

Favorite Dropshot Bait

Favorite Finesse Jig
Favorite Tube
Favorite Spoon

Topwater Rod-704
Dropshot Rod
Spoon Rod-7'2" Medium Heavy

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Proving Which Baits are Best For the Fall Transition

A few weeks ago we shot this video about the "Best Baits For the Fall Transition". Today we hit the water with that box of baits and find out if they really work!

So... what did we learn? We learned that Fall bass are aggressive! From jigs to squarebills to underspins the bass were crushing all of the baits we threw! We shot this quick afternoon video on beautiful Clear Lake. If you ever get the chance to fish it in the Fall take full advantage of the opportunity!

Below are the baits and colors in the box...

-S-Waver 168 Swimbait in "Light Trout" color

-Whopper Plopper 130 in "Bluegill" or "Loon"
-Bully Wa 2 Frog in "Dirty White", Yellow/Black, or "Little Allen" (Little John)

LV-500 Lipless Crankbait (Ghost Minnow, Chartreuse Shad, American Shad)

-Lucky Craft RTO 4.0 Squarebill (Chartreuse Shad)
-Biggie Smalls Squarebill in T1000 or TS Minnow
-Jackall Aska 70 Squarebill in "Super Shad"

-Staysee 90 Jerkbait (Ghost Minnow)
-Pointer 100 DD Jerkbait (Chartreuse Shad)
-Pointer 100 Jerkbait (Gun Metal Shad)

-Bling Spinnerbait 3/8 oz (Abalone Shad)

-3/8 oz Pitchin' Jig (Go To or Norcal Craw)
-3/4 oz Flippin' Jig (Molting Craw)
Sweat Beaver Trailer (Green Pumpkin Red Flake)

Matt Allen Swimbait Head
Blade Runner Spintrix
4.8 or 4.3 Keitech Fat Swing Impact

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Huddleston Swimbait Retrieves

Are you trying to catch a big bass on a swimbait this year? These 3 retrieves are all you'll need to make it happen. Swimbait fishing is very simple it just takes a solid foundation and some dedication.

The 3 retrieves are as follows:

1) Steady Retrieve: Think of the Swimbait as nothing more than a spinnerbait. Simply chuck and wind, mid-column.

2) Bottom Creeping: As the name suggests this retrieve is all about going slow, and then slowing down some more.

3) The hop: This retrieve doesn't work often but in a pinch, it catches the giants! It involves burning the reel handle then killing the bait, much like fishing a hair jig.

Use the following links to the products we're using and support Tacticalbassin at the same time...

-Huddleston 8" Swimbait
-Huddleston 68 Special

Other Swimbaits we highly Recommend...

-JSJ Hitch 6
-Osprey Tournament Talon
-S-Waver Glidebait
-JSJ Siren Glidebait

Swimbait Rods...

-Loomis 956 and 957
-Economical Option: 795

Swimbait Reels...

-Reel #1 (Round Option)
-Reel #2 (Low Profile Option)

-Line- 65 or 80 lb Braided

-Leader- 30 lb

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The Story of Tim's 15 lber!

Some anglers spend years in search of a trophy bass. Tim put in his time as an angler but on his first day with a swimbait he boated two bass for 25 lbs!

Tim's first swimbait fish ever was a 9.8 lber from Collins Lake. It was the biggest bass he'd ever caught but somehow it was still bittersweet. He had high hopes for his first 10 lber and to come so close was tough to swallow. Hours later, lined up on the same spot he got his chance!