TAKEOFF
IN SEASON
Seasonal tips and tricks
other odds and ends
By Paul Strege
Think Natural for River Runoff
Northern rivers play a crucial role in the spring, serving as natural pipelines for
collecting water runoff. When air temperatures rapidly climb, melting the winter
snowpack, rivers rage and water clarity subsequently deteriorates in a hurry.
FLW Tour rookie Josh Douglas of Mound, Minn., takes advantage of adverse
river conditions by bucking conventional wisdom. While bulkier lures might seem
to be easier for bass to locate, Douglas favors a more natural presentation.
“When the water is high and muddy in the
spring, I like to present something natural and
without much movement to it. The Reaction
Innovations Sweet Beaver is a good example,”
he says. “In my experience, compact baits will
out-produce baits with larger, more plentiful
appendages and tails. Baits with streamlined
profiles drop closer to your intended target,
especially when the current is strong. Think of
it as you bringing the bait to the fish rather
than requiring the fish to come to you.”
Under most conditions, Douglas pitches his
soft-plastic offerings on a 1/4-ounce Texas rig.
DID YOU KNOW?
Lake Cumberland, fourth stop of the 2017 FLW Tour season, boasts several
Kentucky state fishing records, including sturgeon (36 pounds, 8 ounces),
striped bass (58 pounds, 4 ounces) and walleye (21 pounds, 8 ounces). The
striped bass fishing on Lake Cumberland is considered truly world class.
THROW THIS NOW: 1/4-OUNCE BLACK BUZZBAIT
Wisconsin pro Tom Monsoor has used a small black buzzbait to earn big tourna-
ment checks from Wisconsin to Louisiana, and the bite starts early, even in his region.
Monsoor says he’s caught fish with it at times when there was ice along the banks.
“Early in the season, you can simply run the bank. It doesn’t matter what type of
cover you’re fishing, either,” notes Monsoor. “If the fish are there, they will bite it.
“My go-to color has always been black. That seems to work 99 percent of the
time. Every now and then, under sunny conditions in
particular, a white one will out-fish the black.”
Tom Monsoor’s
homemade buzzbait
18
PRO CHOICE:
BEDDING BAITS
1. Jimmy Reese
White 5-inch Yamamoto
Single Tail Grub
“While I usually rotate
through three to four differ-
ent types of lures, my
favorite is a Single Tail Grub.
It’s a simple but versatile
bait that takes care of busi-
ness for me on virtually any
body of water.”
2. Troy Morrow
Zoom Ultra-Vibe
Speed Craw
“It’s a smaller, compact
bait without nuisance
appendages that bass tend
to grab. It looks realistic on
the bed, and you can swim it
on a Texas rig. Every now
and then I will trigger a
bonus strike by swimming it
back to the boat.”
3. Jeff Gustafson
2 3/4-inch Northland
Impulse Fatty Tube
“For smallmouths, I keep
it pretty simple: a short tube,
in green pumpkin color,
Texas-rigged with a 2/0
Gamakatsu hook. It’s the
one I used at the Lake
Champlain Tour stop last
year. The smallmouths just
can’t resist that bait.”
FLWFISHING.COM I APRIL 2017