BLACK MARABOU JIG
DUO REALIS G-FIX SPINBAIT 80
DUO REALIS JERKBAIT 100SP
JACKALL CROSSTAIL SHAD
X ZONE LURES PRO SERIES FINESSE SLAMMER
TUBE
Z-MAN FINESSE TRD ON
FINESSE SHROOMZ WEEDLESS JIGHEAD
STANLEY THE GOBY
BERKLEY MAXSCENT FLATNOSE MINNOW
Z-MAN TRICK SHOTZ
Z-MAN PRO SHROOMZ
NED RIG JIGHEAD
REINS TUNGSTEN
NED RIG JIGHEAD
Z-MAN TROUT TRICK
ECO PRO TUNGSTEN
FULL CONTACT
DROP-SHOT WEIGHT
GOLD MEDAL BAITS
The 2019 Pan American Black Bass
Championship – featuring Olympic-style team
fishing – occurred on the St. Lawrence River
near Cornwall, Ontario, last October. While
Team Canada won the overall gold medal
among participating nations, primarily with
ChatterBaits in shallow milfoil, Team USA
members Brian Latimer and Mark Daniels Jr.
won the individual two-angler team gold with
a variety of Z-Man Ned-rigged plastics.
Most of the anglers keyed on late-fall
backwater staging zones near shallow milfoil
flats and associated isolated holes with rock
and sand. A key adjustment by Daniels and
Latimer was to make extra-long casts toward
less obvious holes within the vegetation.
Earlier in the season, anglers targeting
shallow structure near current rely on jerkbaits
to find fish. Spy baits, black hair jigs,
drop-shots and Ned rigs shine for triggering
bass that follow but hesitate to bite fastermoving
lures. Scott Dobson wields a size 100
DUO Realis jerkbait, because it’s simple to
work and easy on his wrists.
For deeper drifting, prominent drop-shot
baits include an X Zone Lures Pro Series
Finesse Slammer, Berkley PowerBait
MaxScent Flatnose Minnow and Jackall
Crosstail Shad. Stanley’s The Goby offers an
incredibly lifelike baitfish shape.
Grae Buck prefers Eco Pro Tungsten
drop-shot weights and a Z-Man Trick ShotZ
on a No. 1 drop-shot hook. He’s also experienced
recent hot bites with a Z-Man Trout
Trick – a finesse-sized inshore saltwater bait.
All the usual Ned-rigged baits produce
shallow and deep, though anglers often opt
for slightly heavier jigheads with beefier
hooks, such as a 1/3-ounce Z-Man Pro
ShroomZ or Reins Tungsten Ned Rig Jig Head.
On bright, sunny days when bass are
especially spooky, Dobson turns to translucent-colored
baits or natural colors that
blend into the bottom. Dobson notes the goby
exhibits a chameleon-like ability to change
colors to match substrates.
JUNE-JULY 2020 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING.COM | FLWFISHING.COM 45