Stan Fagerstrom
10-22-2001, 07:54 AM
Bass, Panfish & Products
By Stan Fagerstrom
Sometimes just a small change in the lure you’re using makes a big difference in how many bass you put in the boat. That applies to lures like the Johnson Silver Minnow I wrote about last week as well as other bass baits.
Never have I seen that proven more dramatically than at one of the Bassmasters Classics I had opportunity to participate in years ago. That particular contest was held in the early days of Classic competition. If memory serves, it was on Ross Barnett Lake in Mississippi.
If you’re familiar with the way the Classic is conducted, you know that each contestant is accompanied by an observer from the media. I was an observer for the Mississippi Classic. I’ve done the same thing at many these interesting events. The Classic, of course, is often referred to as the “World Series of Bass Fishing.” I’ve only missed attending the Bassmaster Classics three times since they began way back in l971.
As good a bass fisherman as you have to be to get into the Classic, it doesn’t mean you’re going to run out and boat a limit of fish as soon as the shooting starts. Just the opposite is usually true. A few anglers manage to find fish and discover what it is those fickle suckers will take. Those few fishermen do all right. The rest catch a fish or two and many often get skunked.
What the special lure turned out to be at the Mississippi Classic was a weedless spoon like the Silver Minnow, but with one all-important addition. Note the picture that accompanies this column. See that little spinner attached to the front of the Silver Minnow? That’s the combination those Mississippi bass wanted.
Another of the competitors had told the contestant I accompanied on the second day of the event that the weedless spoon and spinner combination was getting results around pad cover. The pro I was with knew where a pad field was located and that’s where we headed as soon as they turned us loose in the early morning.
The pro eased our Ranger up next to the outside edge of a big patch of pads. I watched as he picked up a rod already rigged with the spoon and spinner set up. He flipped the lure ten feet back in the pads, then kept his rod tip up as he swam it back through the heavy cover.
The lure had neared the outside edge of the field when the water erupted. Fish on! As I recall, that first fish weighed just under 4-pounds. He caught three or more good fish that morning, every darn one of them on that spoon and spinner combination. If my memory is correct, the pro I was with finished in fourth place on that day of the Classic and well up the line when it was all over. As it turned out, the guy who won it had used the same lure set up.
http://www.ifish.net/SilverMinnow.jpg
Sometimes just a little change in a lure makes a big difference where largemouth bass are concerned. Note the small spinner attached ahead of the black Silver Minnow pictured here. On occasions this set up has been really effective.
I couldn’t wait to get home to try the same combination on Silver Lake. As I’ve mentioned before, I lived right on the shore of Silver Lake at the time. Did I have the same kind of success with it in pad cover there? No way! Nor have I found it to be an especially effective lure in the other places I’ve tried it.
But that morning in Mississippi it was just what those buggers wanted. And that, of course, is the real key to successful bass fishing each time out. You’ve got to figure out what they want. It won’t always be the same. It’s also why I, like so many other anglers, find bass fishing so fascinating. You know the fish are there. And you know that if you find the right lure and present it in just the right fashion you’re going to catch fish.
Go after migratory species like steelhead and you can’t be certain they are out there in that drift you’re looking at. They might have been there yesterday, they may be there tomorrow, but right now maybe they’re not.
If you don’t have some spinners to go along with your Silver Minnows, keep what you’ve just read in mind. I’m making no guarantees. You may never get a hit on the darn things. But you might also be in for a pleasant surprise. It sure provided one for some of the participants in that Mississippi Bassmasters Classic.
Let me know if it gets results for you.
---
Short Casts---I’m heading back into Mexico for another whack at bass fishing south of the border. This time I’ll be fishing Lake Aguamilpa. It’s in the Sierra Madres north of the Mexican city of Tepic. This is a big lake that is just now coming into prominence. Last year it wasn’t uncommon for visiting anglers there to take 80 to 100 bass per boat per day. The fish averaged 3 to 6-pounds. The lake size record is now in excess of 12 pounds. I’ll be telling all about it when I return…Tenmile Lake on the Central Oregon Coast continues to produce fair bass fishing. I was on Tenmile two mornings last week. My fishing partner was Mike Pedersen, of Longview, WA. We had a little trouble finding fish the first day. The second morning we wound up with a dozen bass. The fish took spinnerbaits, blue worms and a variety of crankbaits. Water temperature in all of the coastal lakes is dropping. Last week it was in the high fifties and dropping. If you head for Tenmile, avoid North Lake. There has been a toxic algae bloom on the lake in recent weeks and North Lake, at least while we were there, was a mess. South Tenmile, while it isn’t as bad as North Lake, also has some of that green gunk. I expect once the usual heavy rains start along the coast that the water will return to normal.
[ 10-22-2001: Message edited by: Stan Fagerstrom ]
By Stan Fagerstrom
Sometimes just a small change in the lure you’re using makes a big difference in how many bass you put in the boat. That applies to lures like the Johnson Silver Minnow I wrote about last week as well as other bass baits.
Never have I seen that proven more dramatically than at one of the Bassmasters Classics I had opportunity to participate in years ago. That particular contest was held in the early days of Classic competition. If memory serves, it was on Ross Barnett Lake in Mississippi.
If you’re familiar with the way the Classic is conducted, you know that each contestant is accompanied by an observer from the media. I was an observer for the Mississippi Classic. I’ve done the same thing at many these interesting events. The Classic, of course, is often referred to as the “World Series of Bass Fishing.” I’ve only missed attending the Bassmaster Classics three times since they began way back in l971.
As good a bass fisherman as you have to be to get into the Classic, it doesn’t mean you’re going to run out and boat a limit of fish as soon as the shooting starts. Just the opposite is usually true. A few anglers manage to find fish and discover what it is those fickle suckers will take. Those few fishermen do all right. The rest catch a fish or two and many often get skunked.
What the special lure turned out to be at the Mississippi Classic was a weedless spoon like the Silver Minnow, but with one all-important addition. Note the picture that accompanies this column. See that little spinner attached to the front of the Silver Minnow? That’s the combination those Mississippi bass wanted.
Another of the competitors had told the contestant I accompanied on the second day of the event that the weedless spoon and spinner combination was getting results around pad cover. The pro I was with knew where a pad field was located and that’s where we headed as soon as they turned us loose in the early morning.
The pro eased our Ranger up next to the outside edge of a big patch of pads. I watched as he picked up a rod already rigged with the spoon and spinner set up. He flipped the lure ten feet back in the pads, then kept his rod tip up as he swam it back through the heavy cover.
The lure had neared the outside edge of the field when the water erupted. Fish on! As I recall, that first fish weighed just under 4-pounds. He caught three or more good fish that morning, every darn one of them on that spoon and spinner combination. If my memory is correct, the pro I was with finished in fourth place on that day of the Classic and well up the line when it was all over. As it turned out, the guy who won it had used the same lure set up.
http://www.ifish.net/SilverMinnow.jpg
Sometimes just a little change in a lure makes a big difference where largemouth bass are concerned. Note the small spinner attached ahead of the black Silver Minnow pictured here. On occasions this set up has been really effective.
I couldn’t wait to get home to try the same combination on Silver Lake. As I’ve mentioned before, I lived right on the shore of Silver Lake at the time. Did I have the same kind of success with it in pad cover there? No way! Nor have I found it to be an especially effective lure in the other places I’ve tried it.
But that morning in Mississippi it was just what those buggers wanted. And that, of course, is the real key to successful bass fishing each time out. You’ve got to figure out what they want. It won’t always be the same. It’s also why I, like so many other anglers, find bass fishing so fascinating. You know the fish are there. And you know that if you find the right lure and present it in just the right fashion you’re going to catch fish.
Go after migratory species like steelhead and you can’t be certain they are out there in that drift you’re looking at. They might have been there yesterday, they may be there tomorrow, but right now maybe they’re not.
If you don’t have some spinners to go along with your Silver Minnows, keep what you’ve just read in mind. I’m making no guarantees. You may never get a hit on the darn things. But you might also be in for a pleasant surprise. It sure provided one for some of the participants in that Mississippi Bassmasters Classic.
Let me know if it gets results for you.
---
Short Casts---I’m heading back into Mexico for another whack at bass fishing south of the border. This time I’ll be fishing Lake Aguamilpa. It’s in the Sierra Madres north of the Mexican city of Tepic. This is a big lake that is just now coming into prominence. Last year it wasn’t uncommon for visiting anglers there to take 80 to 100 bass per boat per day. The fish averaged 3 to 6-pounds. The lake size record is now in excess of 12 pounds. I’ll be telling all about it when I return…Tenmile Lake on the Central Oregon Coast continues to produce fair bass fishing. I was on Tenmile two mornings last week. My fishing partner was Mike Pedersen, of Longview, WA. We had a little trouble finding fish the first day. The second morning we wound up with a dozen bass. The fish took spinnerbaits, blue worms and a variety of crankbaits. Water temperature in all of the coastal lakes is dropping. Last week it was in the high fifties and dropping. If you head for Tenmile, avoid North Lake. There has been a toxic algae bloom on the lake in recent weeks and North Lake, at least while we were there, was a mess. South Tenmile, while it isn’t as bad as North Lake, also has some of that green gunk. I expect once the usual heavy rains start along the coast that the water will return to normal.
[ 10-22-2001: Message edited by: Stan Fagerstrom ]