TAKEOFF
TECHNIQUES
SMALL SWIMBAITS FOR AUTUMN SCHOOLERS
ALEX DAVIS’ ADVICE ON WHEN TO SHUN THE BIG STUFF AND MATCH A SMALLER HATCH
Big bass chase big baitfish and you catch them with big baits in the fall … right? In many cases, that classic strategy holds up, but the bigbig-big approach in the transition period of fall doesn’ t always guarantee a limit, and there are other tactics tournament anglers should consider during their end-of-season events.
For instance, in T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Super Tournaments on Lake Guntersville and Smith Lake in Alabama, FLW Tour pro and guide Alex Davis might spend some time chucking big stuff for kicker bass, but first he targets 12- to 13- pound limits that can get him through the cut. His basic approach is to fish a 2.8- or 3.8-inch Jackall Rhythm Wave swimbait or a small Keitech rigged on a light ball-head jig to go after schooling bass foraging for 2- to 2 1 / 2-inch young-of-the-year shad.
Small Size, More Bites
Big gizzard and threadfin shad are attractive meals to kicker largemouths, but many quality keepers take advantage of clouds of smaller shad that hatched earlier in the season. Davis figured that out a couple seasons ago when he downsized from Zoom Flukes to Fluke Jrs. on his double-Fluke rig.
By Curtis Niedermier
“ I went from catching one every 10 throws to doubling on every cast, one on each hook,” he says.“ They were schooling on grass edges. That’ s what clued me in to the whole downsize, match-the-hatch deal.”
The Switch to Swimbaits
The double-Fluke success prompted Davis to experiment with small swimbaits such as the Rhythm Wave, which became his go-to once FLW outlawed the double-Fluke rig in Tour competition. It’ s perfect for targeting schoolers because it casts far and stays up near the surface.
“ I put it on a 1 / 8- or 3 / 16-ounce ball-head jig with a 2 / 0 hook,” adds Davis, whose favorite Rhythm Wave colors are prism shad and sexy albino.
Last season, during practice for the September BFL on Guntersville, Davis put the rig to work. Other anglers were chucking big, more traditional ledge-fishing baits with little success. One evening, he figured out those fish would eat the small swimbait, even though they wouldn’ t touch anything else.
“ I’ d catch one every cast,” he says.“ They [ other anglers ] were throwing typical ledge stuff. Nobody was downsizing.”
Big bass eat big baits, but sometimes the better approach is to downsize and match a smaller baitfish size.
PHOTO BY SEAN OSTRUSZKA
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FLWFISHING. COM I OCTOBER 2017