tabs have a hole at each end, and the hook point is passed
through either hole. instead of grabbing the bare hook of a
rigged Bass shooter, the angler takes hold of the pull tab,
which is unobtrusive and doesn’t affect the bait’s action.
When shooting a dock, it’s essential that the rod is parallel
to the surface at the release of the line, or else the bait is like-
ly to hit the bottom of the dock or splash down short of the
intended target. once the technique is mastered, an angler
with otherwise marginal dock-skipping skills can shoot a bait
into the smallest, darkest holes with the best of them.
“i use the dock sniper rod from lew’s,” notes upshaw. “it
comes in four different models, and the one i like is the Mach
speed stick that’s 6 feet, 11 inches [MhdsR]. it has a fairly
short handle and a medium-fast-action blank. it builds up
power as you load it, and it’s good for shooting from several
yards away. it also has enough backbone that you can get a
fish out from under the dock or whatever pretty quickly.”
upshaw pairs the rod with a 3,000-size team lew’s pro
speed spin spinning reel loaded with 10-pound-test braid
and a 6-foot-long fluorocarbon leader of the same breaking
strength. the leader is relatively long because upshaw teams
it with bright yellow braid – for an important reason.
“a lot of times when you skip a Bass shooter under there,
a fish will grab it as it falls,” he says. “so i can see the yellow
braid a lot better, and, when it hops, i set the hook.”
Rigging Up
various soft plastics and jigs are skipped under docks, but
the Bass shooter offers another alternative when bass have
shad or other baitfish in mind. the bait is available in 10 col-
ors, and upshaw favors gizzard shad or mad bluegill. Gene
larew also offers a matching jighead called the Bass shooter
pinhead in 1/8- or 1/16-ounce sizes – with or without a weed-
guard – that incorporates a 3/0 Mustad hook.
“i’ve also fished the Bass shooter with a belly-weighted
hook, and it looked pretty good in the water,” adds upshaw.
“Really, there’s no bad way to rig it, though i prefer to use as
little weight as possible.”
JULY 2018 I FLWFISHING.COM
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