3 Paddle Tail Swimbaits That Catch Fish In Tough Conditions + Road Trip Fishing!

Jump in the boat for a wild day on the water! Matt is on a road trip in the North and has no idea what he’s in for. What begins as a beautiful day on the water quickly spirals into a snow storm, but that doesn’t stop him from catching fish! Come along and see how he adapts to the changing conditions to catch some beautiful bass in ugly conditions.

Today is a great example of a natural Northern lake. There seem to be a ton of fish in the shallows that are willing to bite, but it takes some adapting to catch the bigger bass. Notice how Matt cycles through baits and locations to fine tune a pattern to catch the bigger fish, ultimately using the wind to his advantage.

Below you’ll find links to all the baits and gear he used throughout the day. We’ve included the exact rod and reel combos, the baits, as well as specifics on hooks and bait colors. All the links go directly to Tackle Warehouse where you can see detailed photos and descriptions of each item.

TACTICALBASSIN GEAR...

•TacticalBassin Merch: https://bit.ly/3ZxEI0z

•TacticalBassin Lure Designs: http://bit.ly/38YpPIz

THE BAITS…

•Megabass 3” Dark Sleeper: https://bit.ly/2TyR1GT

Color: Wakasagi

Weight: 1/2 oz

•Megabass 3” Spark Shad: https://bit.ly/2XcLZk4

Color: Ayu

•Dirty Jigs Guppy Head: https://bit.ly/2nyUJRS

Size: 1/4 oz, 1/0 Hook

•Yamamoto 3.2” Shibo Swimmer: https://bit.ly/4txT8vy

Color: Rainbow Shad

•Dirty Jigs Tactical Finesse Swimbait Head: https://bit.ly/2Pqrq3n

Size: 1/4 oz

•Great Lakes Finesse 3.25” Dropkick Shad: https://bit.ly/4ncjtg0

Color: Ayu

•Dirty Jigs Tactical Finesse Swimbait Head: https://bit.ly/2Pqrq3n

Size: 1/4 oz

DARK SLEEPER COMBO…

Rod– Megabass P5 Dark Sleeper: https://bit.ly/2wVOSbY

Reel– Daiwa Steez A 100: https://bit.ly/489D4rb

Line– Sunline FC 12 lb: http://bit.ly/2h4LNjm

LARGE PADDLETAIL COMBO...

Rod– St. Croix Legend X2 7'1" Medium Heavy XFast: https://bit.ly/4farXAh

Reel– Shimano Vanquish 2500: https://bit.ly/4sAmR5X

Line– Sufix 832 Braid (10 lb): https://bit.ly/2ae93Ji

Leader– Seaguar Grand Max (12 lb): https://bit.ly/46eb98G

FINESSE PADDLETAIL COMBO...

Rod– Dobyns Champion XP 7'9" Medium Light Fast: https://bit.ly/2j7EBXD

Reel– Shimano Vanquish 2500: https://bit.ly/4sAmR5X

Line– Sufix 832 Braid (10 lb): https://bit.ly/2ae93Ji

Leader– Seaguar Grand Max (8 lb): https://bit.ly/46eb98G

TACTICALBASSIN LURE DESIGNS (AND APPAREL)

We have a variety of custom lure designs and apparel available! Everything from Swimbaits and crankbaits, to apparel and merch! See it here…

•TacticalBassin Apparel and Merch: https://bit.ly/3ZxEI0z

•TacticalBassin Lure Designs: http://bit.ly/38YpPIz

Swim Jigs and Senkos - Summer Fishing The MidWest

We're fishing in a new state! Today we're breaking down Patoka Lake in Indiana. The lake is flooded with high water deep in the trees, the bass could be anywhere! With only a few hours to fish, we have to move quickly to locate the bass and develop a productive pattern to catch them. We begin by fishing offshore but quickly realize that's a big mistake.

Upon realizing the offshore bite was non-existent Matt headed shallow. He picked up a swim jig and began searching the backs of creeks. After getting his first bite and several additional followers he turned to the senko to complete his pattern. While Patoka Lake may not have an abundance of fish, the quality is excellent. Matt was able to catch a handful of really nice bass and is confident he could have caught quite a few more given another day or two on the lake.

Next Stop: Wisconsin! Matt, CC and Sierra are headed North to meet up with Tim's family as well as a few friends in search of giant smallmouth. Keep your eye out for our next video, its going to be fun! Below is a breakdown of the baits and equipment Matt used on Patoka Lake.

Electronics...

Humminbird Solix 12: http://bit.ly/2AE2YDB

Humminbird Solix 15: http://bit.ly/2Hazsej

Lakemaster Plus Digital Map Card: http://bit.ly/2Dk5Erc

Baits...

-California Swim Jig 3/8 oz (Crappie): http://bit.ly/2auXfmx

-Keitech 3.8" Fat Swimbait (Electric Shad): http://bit.ly/2ab7s8v

-Yamamoto 5" Senko (Green Pumpkin Black Flake): http://bit.ly/2axAmNS

-Gamakatsu Wide Gap Superline Hook 2/0: http://bit.ly/2ac92XG

Swim Jig Combo...

Rod- Megabass Orochi XX Braillist: http://bit.ly/2OSVNwH

Reel- Shimano Chronarch MGL HG: http://bit.ly/2n8DghB

Line- 50 lb Power Pro Maxcuatro: http://bit.ly/2clBRiQ

Leader- 17 lb Maxima Ultragreen: http://bit.ly/2ae97J9

Senko Combo...

Rod- Shimano Expride has 6'10" Medium: http://bit.ly/2nTq9FL

Reel- Shimano Aldebaran MGL 50 HG: http://bit.ly/2uQ4oH8

Line- 12 lb Assassin Fluorocarbon: http://bit.ly/2h4LNjm

Insane Crankbait Bite! Fishing Lake Fork, Texas!

We're in East Texas and the big bass are biting! Our 3rd stop on this bass fishing adventure is Lake Fork! It only takes a few minutes to discover the shad are spawning on shallow points and the bass are ambushing the baitfish. We put our electronics to work and located a big school with BIG fish in the mix. Out came the crankbaits and the pattern unfolded from there.

May is an awesome time to fish large bodies of water. If there is deep water access you'll almost always find bass in all 3 stages of the spawn. In this case we found a secondary point leading out to main lake structure that had a large school of fish. Some of the bass were heading in to spawn, others were already done and headed back out, but all of them were making a stop to ambush Threadfin and Gizzard Shad as they spawned along the wind blown point.

We've explained in recent videos that the shad spawn is an amazing time to catch big fish that are aggressively feeding in shallow water. Today we put that video to work and caught them on squarebill crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and paddle tail swimbaits. Below is a breakdown of the gear we used to catch these fish.

The baits...

-Biggie Squarebill: http://bit.ly/2ahCzvo

(Gizzard Shad, Abalone Shad, Horizon Shad all have the necessary flash)

-Bling Spinnerbait 1/2 oz: http://bit.ly/2diSwqq

(I Know It, Abalone Shad)

-4.8" Keitech Swimbait: http://bit.ly/2ab7s8v

-Owner Flashy Swimmer 5/0 Hook: http://bit.ly/2e8O4Y7

Upgraded Treble Hooks...

-Owner ST-36 Size 2: http://bit.ly/2cWpeyw

-Hyperwire Split Rings Size 3: http://bit.ly/2v8ArBX

Matt's Crankbait Combo...

Rod- Zodias 7'2" Medium Heavy Glass: http://bit.ly/2cgmMAe

Reel- Shimano Bantam MGL XG: http://bit.ly/2H44yjG

Line- 20 lb Power Pro Maxcuatro: http://bit.ly/2clBRiQ

Leader- 12 lb Maxima Ultragreen: http://bit.ly/2ae97J9

CC's Crankbait Combo...

Rod- Dobyns Champion 805CB: http://bit.ly/29OVD4V

Reel- Shimano Curado HG: http://bit.ly/2tHewEh

Line- 15 lb Sunline Assassin: http://bit.ly/2h4LNjm

Electronics...

Humminbird Solix 15: http://bit.ly/2Hazsej

Humminbird Solix 12: http://bit.ly/2AE2YDB

Giant Texas Bass! Fishing Lake Alan Henry

Our first day in TEXAS and the GIANT Largemouth have already come out of the wood work! The day started like any other as we searched for fish on a brand new fishery. We knew we only had a few hours so we went from broke with swimbaits and topwater. After making some quick adaptions we found a point that was loaded with monster bass. Come along to see how it played out!

When we approach a new fishery the first step is to set goals. Are you looking to catch as many fish as possible? Do you want to catch a big fish? Are you looking for more than one species? Once you've set goals the day will define itself. In this case we only had a few hours so we knew we were looking for a big bite to kick off our Texas road trip. CC started with a glide bait hoping to call a big fish up out of deep water and Matt began probing the shallows with a topwater. When the bass proved to be small they started making quick moves to other parts of the lake but continued probing outside structures hoping the big, post spawn females would be stacking up, and that's exactly what they found.

The baits and tackle used in the video are broken down below.

Lures...

-Mattlures Hammertail Shad: http://bit.ly/2vM8cKF

Stinger Hook- Owner ST-56 Size 1: http://bit.ly/2cVg7xW

-River2Sea S-Waver 168 Light Trout: http://bit.ly/2aiu8Sh

Upgraded Hooks- Owner ST-56 Size 2: http://bit.ly/2cVg7xW

-River2Sea Bully Wa 2 Frog: http://bit.ly/2axyR2a

-Yamamoto Senko 7" Green Pumpkin: http://bit.ly/2axAmNS

Hook- Owner Jungle Gap 6/0: http://bit.ly/2sBsR1Z

-Rover Topwater: http://bit.ly/2acSVea

(128 Funky Tiger)

Swimbait Combo...

Rod- G Loomis IMX Pro 966: http://bit.ly/2x9kxuS

Reel- Shimano Tranx 300 HG: http://bit.ly/2kYsvRw

Line- Power Pro Maxcuatro 80 lb: http://bit.ly/2clBRiQ

Leader- Sunline FC100 Shock Leader 35 lb: http://bit.ly/2O4UElB

Frog Combo...

Rod- Expride 7'3" XH: http://bit.ly/2nTq9FL

Reel- Curado 200K HG: http://bit.ly/2tHewEh

Line- 65 lb Power Pro Maxcuatro: http://bit.ly/2clBRi