accomodates greater tip speed on the
casting motion that results in much
more distance.
Why the need in the first place?
Because bass are the most popular
gamefish in America, and all that fish-
ing pressure they get leads to spookier
fish, especially in clear-water fisheries.
Case in point: The Sturgeon Bay
Open (SBO) Bass Tournament is held
in May on northern Green Bay, where
a guy with fairly good eyesight can
count the pebbles on the bottom 20
feet below. Tim Dawidiuk and I won
the SBO in 1998 by making long casts
with the wind using 7 1/2-foot rods,
10-pound-test braid main lines and
matching fluorocarbon leaders,
which was considered light tackle
back then. Five years later the fish we
targeted were patrolling flat-calm
waters. We needed 4-pound-test
mono on light-power, 8-foot St. Croix
Avid Series rods to make casts long
enough to reach bass without run-
ning the risk of getting too close.
Fishing pressure and clean water
make a real difference. We took third,
by the way.
Applications
In the waters of the Upper Midwest,
1/16-ounce hair jigs and jig-plastic
combinations (grubs, soft jerkbaits,
finesse worms, etc.) fished on light line
and long rods put more bass – even big
largemouths – in the boat than many
other baits out there.
The technique is simple: Make a
long cast past the target zone, and
allow the jig to sink to the bottom or
the desired depth. Begin an ultra-slow
retrieve, keeping the jig moving on a
horizontal plane. If it taps or drags bot-
tom, speed up slightly. If it never touch-
es bottom, slow down. Don’t jig it, snap
it, pop it or twitch it. Occasionally let it
fall to bottom and rest for a few sec-
onds before resuming the retrieve. This
simple tactic produces strikes from
bass at every activity level, from revved
up to extremely wary.
Those are simple, classic methods,
but more modern long-rod, light-line
tactics imported from Japan and else-
where are winning all kinds of bass tour-
naments worldwide and coast-to-coast.
Spybaiting – a hard-bait technique
typically employed with 5-pound-test
fluorocarbon and 8- to 9-foot rods –
has won, or helped win, several high-
profile tournaments. Jackall also
recently imported the similar I-Motion
technique that was already winning
tournaments in Japan, using the com-
pany’s hard-bait Seira Minnow or the
soft iShad, either of which is retrieved
with a slow, steady pace and no wig-
gling, snapping or ripping. Japanese
pros use 4-pound-test braids as main
lines with 4-pound-test fluorocarbon
leaders with this method.
Greg Gutierrez, who won the 2016
Costa FLW Series event at Lake Shasta
fishing spybaits on light line for spotted
bass, is a fan of the approach.
Light-Line Recommendations
APRIL 2018 I FLWFISHING.COM
Long-Rod Options
Rod makers are offering an
ever-increasing selection of long
spinning rods for light-line finesse
techniques. Here are four long
sticks that launch record-class
casts with 4- to 6-pound-test lines
and leaders.
1. St Croix Avid Series Spinning
AVS80MLM2
8 feet, medium-light power,
moderate action
$220 stcroixrods.com
2. St. Croix Legend Tournament
Bass Spinning LBS86MLXF
8 feet, 6 inches, medium-light
power, extra-fast action
$280 stcroixcrods.com
3. Fenwick Eagle EA86M-MFS-2
8 feet, 6 inches, medium
power, moderate-fast action
$69.95 fenwickfishing.com
4. Millerods BassFreak
7 feet, 6 inches, fast action
$295 millerods.com
“You can cast a 1/