SCENARIO 2: Bass are schooled up, but not actively feeding on top
TECHNIQUE: When the surface schoolers dropped back down at the Cup, Lawyer adjusted his approach.
“When they were down I was slow-rolling it; just kind of bouncing it off the bottom in 3 to 4 feet of water,” he
says. “I couldn’t catch them just barely winding, so instead I’d crank it three or four times real fast then kill it to make
them react.”
3-4 FT
3 to 4 fast cranks
SCENARIO 3: Bass are suspended in
the tops of timber
TECHNIQUE: Using Table Rock as an exam-
ple, Lawyer often finds fish suspended 20 to
30 feet deep around trees rooted in 60 feet or
so of water. He says the fish will come up to
eat the bait, so he counts down the bait and
keeps it near the tops of the trees.
His retrieve is a slow reel with the rod tip
at 2 o’clock, occasionally pausing and letting
the bait “pendulum down.” The pendulum fall
is key, and deflecting it off cover helps.
“When I feel a limb I crank it two or three
times real quick and then kill it and let it pen-
dulum, or drop the rod back to it. That allows
the bait to fall back in their face,” he says.
kill retrieve
kill retrieve/
pendulum fall
2 or 3 fast cranks
when bait hits cover
kill retrieve/
pendulum fall
20-30 FT