Reaction Innovations Big Dipper
Reaction Innovations
Sweet Beaver Poor Boy ’ s Erie Darter right size and numbers of baitfish coming into the river mouth and , of course , that means weather plays a big role in whether the bite comes off hot or slow .
“ It all depends on how fast the season changes ,” says Nelson . “ Some years we ’ ll have a long , drawn-out , gradual transition , and other years winter moves in quickly .”
Generally , the worse the weather , the better the bite , as bad weather causes baitfish to pour into the sheltered water from Lake Michigan , with big bass right behind them .
“ If you get a lot of rough , cold north wind it provides an unstable environment in the lake ,” he adds . “ That ’ s when you get a big push of both bait and bass coming in . On the other hand , if the weather turns mild , that bait starts filtering back out of the river mouths . You can pretty much predict when the bite ’ s going to be on just by the weather .”
Nelson says in years when bait migrates en masse into the river mouths the smallmouths can be found pretty much anywhere , from shallow sandbars in just a few feet of water , to ledges in 12 to 20 feet of water .
“ When there ’ s a lot of bait those bass will ‘ wolf pack ,’ and you can see them chasing bait on the sandbars . When it ’ s like that it can be some of the best fishing of the year . It ’ ll definitely make you get out of your tree stand .”
pattern and baits
To find fish , Nelson first finds the bait , utilizing his Lowrance electronics to mark baitfish schools on the ledges , bars and shoals that are the predominate features in river mouths . Once he finds them he uses a number of baits , including silver-colored blade baits , umbrella rigs , swimbaits and what he calls “ glide baits ” – in this instance soft photo CouRtesy oF RoN NeLsoN plastics with a planing surface that causes them to glide through the water as they sink .
“ I love starting the fall off by throwing a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper on a straight ball-head jig ,” says Nelson . “ The weight of the ball-head depends on the conditions . In the fall , when we have the weather-induced mass migrations , the fish come in and they ’ ll hit the first sandbar they can find , and it could be in 2 or 3 feet of water . In that case , I ’ ll use a 1 / 8- ounce jighead or something light . When baitfish movement is light and they ’ re scattered out I tend to use heavier ballheads on the deeper ledges .”
Later in the season , once water temperatures start getting into the 48- to 47-degree range , Nelson starts throwing a mix of umbrella rigs and glide baits .
“ The A-rig is one of those magic baits that you just can ’ t beat for schooling fish in the fall . I use a 6-inch Reaction Innovations Big Dipper in bad shad green as the middle attractor , with 5- inch Skinny Dippers as outer baits .”
He fishes the soft-plastic glide baits on light ball-head jigs of 1 / 16 or 1 / 8 ounce .
“ I use pretty much anything , whether it ’ s a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver or a Poor Boy ’ s Erie Darter , that I can fish on a light ball-head weight that lets me glide it through the water column ,” Nelson says .
To accomplish that , Nelson sets up on a ledge , casts toward the fish and lets the bait glide to the bottom .
“ No shaking or hopping it ; just sweeping the rod and letting the bait pendulum back to you is how I fish it . That is an ideal cold-water presentation , and the fish will just jump on it ,” he says . “ It ’ s very similar to a Ned rig in that it ’ s a bait that ’ s designed to wobble in the water column and just glide its way forward .”
Ron Nelson tracks fish up into river mouths off Lake Michigan from early fall until mid-winter .
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