Featuring books by Chuck Tryon
200 Missouri Smallmouth Adventures
Figuring Out Flies
Fly Fishing for Trout in Missouri
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Think Small For Big Results |
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Featuring books by Chuck Tryon 200 Missouri Smallmouth Adventures Figuring Out Flies Fly Fishing for Trout in Missouri |
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Bass On Top, Sometimes We Forget
In my earlier outlaw years of bassin' in west St. Louis county golf course ponds, subdivision lakes and landscape ponds on certain corporate campuses, traveling light was essential. One rod, a pocketful of lures and I was fishing. As we age we get burdened and blessed with large tackle boxes, boats, electronics and years of experience that sometimes cloud our judgment on what to throw at the bass on any given day. Most of the bass we have ever caught have been caught on a select lure or style of lure. Our busy lives dictate far fewer trips to the water than we would like and less time to put a few in the boat. We make a few choices, tie on our favorites and really do little changing on the water or between trips. Instead of a pocketful of lures we have the four or five that are tied on to our four or five rods in the boat. The tournament guys came up with this one. It is easier and faster to pick up a rod with a different lure tied on it than it is to tie a different one on, thus we can maximize our time with lures in the water rather than tying a "double improved palmar knot" on the end of our line every new fishing situation we come across. Certain lures sit in the box seldom used. Many outings we might just as well have had our pocket full of lures because we only used four different ones anyway.
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| That is the way it has been with me and top water lures,
until recently. I have always had them in the box, but unless my
over conditioned mind was thinking the time was just right for top water
action they remained tackle box orphans. Sure, over the years I have
caught many bass on surface splashers and developed a specific set of rules
that dictate when they will most likely work. The same holds true
for every other type of lure in the box.
My rules for using top water lures had been:
Top water bass fishing is so old fashioned. That Jitterbug and Hula Popper in your box came from your grandpas tackle box. Grandpa didn't know anything about modern ways and means of bass fishing. Grandpa only used those lures because he didn't have a choice. |
He had two plastic worms, (pre rigged with beads, two weedless hooks,
and a little propeller) three or four top water lures, and a Mudd Bug for
a deep diver. How could he know anything about the vast array of
stuff we have in our tackle boxes today. The thing is that grandpa
did catch bass.
None of us can deny the thrill of a bass boiling on a top water lure but it is easy to push them back on our list when we have caught so many bass on all the other lures in our box. Let us see if we can expand the number of situations in which we use top water lures. Glassy smooth water The picture in our minds of a popper sitting in the middle of disappearing rings on a glassy smooth lake surface at dawn just before Mr. Bucket Mouth makes it his breakfast is what dreams are made of. This dream is as it should be, it makes sense. Of course every bass in the lake knows about that pop on the silent surface and you know in your heart one of them is not going to let it get away unscathed. Sometimes this dream comes true often times it does not. A little chop on that surface or even a lot of chop and waves doesn't fit our perfect little dream. We can't see that popper as easily as we could if there was a smooth surface so we assume the bass can't see or find it either. |
Troy VanRie with a nice Forest Lake keeper. On the buzzbait! |
| Actually they can and do find surface lures when there are unsmooth
surface conditions. The bass may have a harder time finding a surface
lure under these conditions but they are more likely to bite it when they
do particularly in water that has high fishing pressure. A bass lurking
under a surface lure in choppy water doesn't get a chance to see it for
the phony it really is he just reacts and takes it.
I came to this realization a number of years ago when my brother-in-law came back from a business trip to Lake of The Ozarks. This business trip included some recreation and the company paid his way on a little guided fishing excursion. The guide took him to a place that was definitely not off the beaten path. In fact the spot was the boating equivalent to standing on the shoulder of a super highway during rush hour, the tip of Horseshoe Bend mid afternoon. Not only did they catch fish but they caught quite a few, and keepers too. When I heard his recounting of the excursion and how they had to struggle to keep their footing in the boat and all the fish coming with surface lures I could not believe it. This opened up another situation for me to try to use top water lures that I would not have thought of before. |
These extremely rough conditions are not suited for all surface lures.
A buzz bait rides waves to a certain extent but gets difficult to handle
and probably moves too fast to be the best choice. I have settled
in on the ones that allow a slower retrieve like the Jitterbug or a Torpedo.
You can time your retrieve so you are not popping the lure off the crest
of waves and you can keep the lure in constant contact with the waters
surface.
LOW LIGHT If the surface is choppy less light penetrates the surface.
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New Product News
Yamamoto Upgrades Finesse
New 7L-Series Cut Tail Worm Targets Better Bass
Story by Russ Bassdozer
It used to be "finesse" meant gossamer lines, wispy wands and noodle-thin weenie worms out West. Not any more! Gary Yamamoto has just ratcheted finesse up to a medium grade application good for bass across the North, East, South, Central and Texas too! Not just for the West, it's American finesse fishing now!
Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits has released a new larger size of the company's Cut Tail Worm.
Available in 13 fish-catching colors, and measuring in at 5 inches, the new 7L-Series Cut Tail Worm is heavy enough to be used weightless near the surface, or on a darter jig head, and as an exciting upgrade to your dropshot fishing! Truly use it any number of ways you would fish a worm.
| There really isn't another worm on the market with a tail shaped like
the Cut Tail Worm, says company spokesperson Russ Bassdozer. This style
of soft plastic bait is unique to Gary Yamamoto's product line. The body
proportions are intentionally engineered like a skinny minnow. A tapered
head, sway belly, and prominent diamond-cut tail fin are all designed to
say this is a baitfish to bass.
As the name implies, the original Cut Tail Worm was made by wisely cutting the tail off a longer worm, creating a bittie 4" finesse bait for tough conditions in Japan and the Western USA, places where Gary Yamamoto began his bass fishing career and soft bait business. As Gary moved to Texas, his attention turned to tournaments in the South, Central and East. The original 4" Cut Tail Worm proved too small to have an impact on the bigger bass in Texas and places across the USA. That's why the new, larger 5" 7L-Series Cut Tail Worm has been designed and it has been proven to be more of a mouthful for these bigger bass.
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Upgrade your finesse. Target a better grade of bass with the larger 7L-Series
Cut Tail Worm. Not just for the West, it's American Finesse fishing now!
For more info on these baits http://www.insideline.net/articles/7l-cut-tail.html
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