FISHING
BASS SKILLS
By Curtis Niedermier
t
HOW TO SLING BLADES ACCURATELY AND EFFECTIVELY WHEN THE WATER IS IN THE BUSHES
he spinnerbait enjoyed a good old-fashioned revival
in 2018 thanks to a couple of high-profile events
that landed just on the cusp of the spawn. the most
prominent showcase for the classic “blade” was the Flw
tour event at lake cumberland, where a pre-tournament
deluge left many anglers little choice but to bushwhack
their way into flooded brush and trees. even though
bryan thrift won the derby by catching smallmouths off-
shore, many of the top 10, including indiana pro Allen
boyd, who finished runner-up, relied on spinnerbaits in
the woods to earn their paychecks.
When to Bust out the Blade
32
high visibility can kill the spinnerbait bite in flooded
cover, so boyd won’t pick it up in gin-clear water or on
flat-calm days. without chop or stain, he thinks a swim jig
is a better tool.
seasons also factor in. At cumberland, the largemouth
bass were moving up in numbers toward spawning areas,
but the spawn hadn’t fully begun (though boyd thinks a
few were spawning by the weekend).
“At cumberland it was so perfect for that spinnerbait
deal. i really felt like i could have run about any flat pock-
ets – well, flat for cumberland – and caught them doing
what i was doing. there were so many fish up,” he says.
CLOSE-QUARTERS SPINNERBAIT FISHING
“As they get more locked down and start to get on the
beds they’ll kind of turn off of the spinnerbait. you’ll have
to go with the swim jig or start flipping some sort of bot-
tom bait to get them to react.”
find the pattern
spinnerbait patterns are twofold in flooded cover. you
need to figure out where bass are within the lake (spawning
flats, main-lake pockets, staging areas in creeks, lower or
upper end, etc.) as well as what type of cover they prefer.
some of the clues to finding bass within a body of
water come from the season, local history and water tem-
perature. For dialing in on cover types, boyd tries to cover
water quickly.
“every fish you catch will tell you something,” he says.
“sometimes they’re on the bushy stuff; sometimes on the
harder trees. sometimes they’re on outside trees; some-
times inside trees. one time in a spring tournament on a
local lake, i got on a pattern where every bite i had was
on a maple tree. i didn’t throw to any other type of tree.”
Keys to success: stealth and efficiency
success in the trees is all about making as many good
casts as possible. A good cast is accurate and stealthy,
which is why boyd prefers a roll-cast whenever possible.
fLWfisHing.com i spring 2019