Deadly Bass Technique You’ll Never Use

My son and I often fish a body of water with a lot of shoreline brush. While fishing for crappies in the spring time, we frequently catch bass around this brush on a Keitech jig tipped with a Gulp Minnow, suspended under a slip bobber; many times fishing behind bass guys who just fished the same brush unsuccessfully. Then, we started noticing how well the slip bobber rig worked in the Fall, better than other more traditional bass tactics. In fact, just this weekend we pulled up to a brush pile targeting crappies and proceeded to catch probably a 15lb bag of both smallies and largemouth together. We often speculate half jokingly that we would win any bass tournament on this body of water simply by using these ‘crappie’ techniques. Both our PB’s on this body of water came this way, too. I speculate that the bass are keying in on the abundant shiner minnows and the Gulp suspended under a bobber perfectly mimics this natural forage.

Anyone else have an off-beat tactic for bass – that no self-respecting basser would ever think to use?

I have played around with using a dropshot along side of docks and between the docks and the boat lift. Strange but effective. the only problem is that you tend to lose a fair amount of sinkers doing it. I normally just use pinch on split shot when doing this – Save the good dropshot weights for open water

I’ve caught Smallies on the river that way. In Fly Fishing circles, of course, it’s an “indicator” not a bobber. I’ve suspended a small hair jig under an “indicator” and fished that along rip rap banks and caught some Bass when the water was quite cold.

Tim Holschlag covers this in his book :

Book: River Smallmouth Fishing

S.R.

Ha! I’ve watched people to that to me after coming in behind my boat. Same thing, bobber with gulp or live bait and they’ll pull a nice fish. Definitely can catch them in the right conditions.

fishthumper wrote:

I have played around with using a dropshot along side of docks and between the docks and the boat lift. Strange but effective. the only problem is that you tend to lose a fair amount of sinkers doing it. I normally just use pinch on split shot when doing this – Save the good dropshot weights for open water

This is pretty much how I learned to drop shot. Definitely not what it’s intended for but it is effective. Not all bass sit on the bottom under docks. With a drop shot you can get those suspended fish that a jig or texas rig will pass right by on the way to the bottom.

In Mn sometimes I’ll kick back with a jumbo leech under a bobber and catch bass.

Now that I think of it, it would probably be a Carolina rig. I know it would catch fish but you have to drag it sooooooooo slow I don’t think I would have the patience for it.

They sometimes like it to fall to the bottom-they sometimes like the thing to suspend-slayed SMBS in the BWCA with a bobber and a jig.

I had a Uncle that would fish a Rooster tail spinner under a slip float and “jig it vertically in place along weed edges for Bass,Pike and walleyes
then tried it with bucktails for Muskies they all laughed at him till
he came in with a 48” one in No. Wisc. back in the late 70s

Another technique bass dudes will not use is trolling-Banned in most tournaments because why? Because it DOES’NT work? Hmmmm-So because they can’t use it in a tourney they tend not to do it pre fishing.

Sure spring crappie tubes/flukes can catch bass. But an orange and green bass jig will destroy that pattern. Spawning bass hit lures that look like egg & fry eaters. I have fished everything, and you might “think” a bass tournament is easy. But they aren’t if there is a pattern 12 people already figured out better ones. If you want a deadly bass pattern, I would say use a bass jig in mid November. It’s never too cold for bass.

I would put just about anything under a bobber if the pattern get’s down to a slow jigging or suspending. Spoons, both jigging and flutter style, any soft style swimbaits like mimic minnows, soft plastic worms like power bait trout worms, small rattle traps.

If need be, I bring out that space bobber…bring in fish and both space bobber is a fight in itself.