Hooked 0403_Hooked 0403- - Hooked Magazine

cisco or shiners that smallmouths forage
on. Matching the jerkbaits we are fishing
to the top forage choice further increases
our chances for hooking up. For smelt
imitation the new Rapala Max Rap has a
slender profile that replicates the body of
a smelt better than any other jerkbait.
Every bass angler fishing in the Sunset
Country bass tournaments has an X-Rap
in their boat and it’s because they catch
fish under a variety of conditions. The
slightly bigger profile of the X-Rap emulates
a cisco or shiner effectively.
Play with different retrieve cadences
(twitch-twitch-pause – twitch-long pause)
and try to figure out what the fish want
on each day. If you are fishing a body of
water that you are not totally familiar
with, jerkbaits are the best lure choice for
finding fish fast. They will call fish up out
of much deeper water than you would
expect as well.
CRANKING
LARGEMOUTH BASS
A tournament secret that my partners
and I have kept quiet for several years
has been the effectiveness of using
crankbaits to find and catch largemouth
bass in the summer and early fall. We
have a steady run of bass tournaments
through July, August and September and
crankbaits are my go-to presentation for
finding fish. Once we find groups of fish
we then attack them with Jungle Jigs, soft
stick baits or texas-rigged plastics but in
most situations, those presentations are
to slow to cover water with during our
pre-fishing expeditions.
At the annual Bassin’ For Bucks tournament
last year on Lake of the Woods
Whitefish Bay area, my partner Mike
Reid and I found some big largemouths
a few days prior to the event throwing
crankbaits along a stretch of shoreline
leading out of a shallow bay that they
spawn in, early in the summer. We
were able to connect with some of that
group the first day of the tournament
and were in first place. The fish moved
on us after day one and we ended up
catching enough in the general area to
finish second overall after the three-day
event was over.
Rapala has a full line of crankbaits that
I have a lot of confidence in. There are
other good baits out there made by other
companies but Raps are all I ever throw.
The original #7 Shad Rap was the first
crankbait that Chris Savage and I had
success catching largemouths with in the
late 90’s. In recent years we have
switched to using the DT series of baits,
specifically the DT06 and DT Thug models.
I’m not to picky about colours and
usually alternate between natural shad
patterns and bright, gaudy patterns. Let
the fish tell you what they want.
Like I said earlier, crankbaits may not
put the most big fish in the boat for us on
tournament day but they are our most
effective tool for finding fish, especially in
pre-tournament practice sessions. And
they still do catch some big fish. They
will reveal schools of bass as well as show
you where fresh, green weeds (which are
magnets for largemouths) are located that
may not be visible to the naked eye.
Covering water to find biting fish is the
key to success, no matter which species
you target. Trolling, casting and scouring
with your electronics are all effective
forms to do this. Just remember, if you
aren’t putting your bait in front of some
fish you aren’t going to catch any so keep
moving until you find the honey hole,
then slow down and let’em have it! ■
Summer 2011 | HOOKED | 45