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GAPEN’S
Bass Tips
(continued)
KNOWLEDGEABLE TIP:
enough to cause a reaction from the bedding bass, and because of design, holds its
position in the bed when worked. There isn’t a bass alive which will allow this monster
to remain in its bed!
All that is required of the angler is accurate cast placement of the lure. Make sure
you’ve dropped the lure dead center in the BED. Allow the Nasty Wacker to sit
there. Even if the bass isn’t on the bed, she’s nearby and once you jiggle the lure up
and down a couple times, creating a dust cloud, she’ll charge in to expel the intruder.
Surprisingly, even after the female is done laying her eggs and she’s left the nest, smaller
males which tend to hang around the nest site will react to such a presentation by the
angler.
WORKING OTHER STRUCTURES
Stands of lily pads pads are an excellent target for your Nasty Wacker. By using a
lighter weight Nasty, a cast is made laying the lure on top of a distant lily pad. Next,
very carefully, the angler begins to reel line in - which, in turn, drags the multi-legged
creation across the surface lily pads. Any bass below is alerted to the movement above
and comes to follow. Then as your lure drops off the next lily it instantly becomes a
target for the prowling bass.
If you don’t get and instant strike, as the jig drops, try jigging it ever-so-slightly as
it hangs 12 inches below the lily pad which is holding it. That will do it! Remember,
bass are notorious eaters of strange critter-like food objects. In other words, they love
those weird things in life.
WORKING OTHER SPECIES
If there is a species which is susceptible to the charms of the Nasty it’s those
FOLLOW-TO-THE-BOAT NORTHERN PIKE. You know the ones I mean! They
swim all the way up to the boat inches
behind your favorite pike bait, but refuse
to bite. Then they just sit there daring
you give them something better.
Here’s my solution. Give ‘em a black
or purple Nasty Wacker. Place it 24
inches in front of them and twitch it
ever-so-slightly every fifteen seconds.
Pike may not know what the Nasty is
but they damn sure will want to kill it;
if not to feed on it, just because of
their meanness.
Another presentation is to use a
Nasty Wacker, preferably a 3/8 oz. size, in tall stem reeds
when stands of this style weed hold pike and bass in goodly numbers. The presentation
of a Nasty Wacker drawn through them sees this lure jump around, at the
point where water surface hits the reed and as it refuses to stay down within the water
depth. Because of the fantastic action by the Nasty two species will come up and
strike. Make sure the line you use is heavy enough to haul the bass or pike out as well
as a bunch of those rugged reeds.
There are dozens of other ways to present a Nasty Wacker to different species of
fish. One is to work sunken brush piles for crappie. This is done by vertical fishing.
Another is to entice suspended walleye as they rise up from bottom to feed on late
day ciscoes in northern lakes.
Let your imagination run wild. AND if you find a special trick for your special fish,
drop Dan a line. He can always be reached by calling toll free: (877) 623-2099 or email
him at: dan@gapen.com.
A weird lure -
the Nasty
caught this
weird
saltwater
fish
for Bob
(the camera man)
GAPEN’S
Bass Tips
(continued)
WORKING SALTWATER REEFS WITH A NASTY
BRINGS TO BOAT SOME STRANGE ONES:
Black rockfish caught on white
Nastys - off Alaska.
Maybe they thought the Nastys
were tiny octopus . . .
Black, yellow, purple & orange Nasty bodies
can be found on page 163
Vertical jigging
caught the
trophy saltwater
yellow-eye rockfish
But, ‘Bobber’
Anne caught
the oddest
saltwater
fish - a China
rockfish off
Kodiak
Island in
Alaska
w w w. g a p e n . c o m
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F i s h G a p e n ’ s w w w. g a p e n . c o m F i s h G a p e n ’ s
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