kind of lake where you can really do whatever kind of fishing you want.”
Woods regularly uses the lake to test out new baits. Although he has caught fish on just about everything that he has thrown, Woods prefers to target Skinner’s bass by throwing Basstrix swimbaits on either a Yum Flash Mob Jr. Alabama rig or single ½-once lead jig head. He throws a five-inch Basstrix Paddle Tail in Alewife or Hologram Shad. He fishes them on a Daiwa Tatula rod and reel spooled with 15-pound Yo-Zuri fluorocarbon.
The lake also boasts healthy green grass that can provide canopies for throwing frogs and punching mats. “I like to rig a one or 1 ½-ounce weight, 70 pound Daiwa Samurai braid and a Missile Baits D Bomb on my Daiwa Steez punch rod,” said Lain describing his punch rig, “You can tell that those fish are not used to seeing the big weight punched through the grass mats or dead tules; because the strikes will knock the rod out of your hand.”
Both Lain and Woods agree that color and style of bait does not really matter. According to both, the lake is chock full of
bass that can be easy
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caught by anglers who like beating the bank with their favorite lure.
SIGHT FISHING
Lake Skinner’s clear
waters are prime for sight
fishing during the spring
months. Most of the lake’s
shorelines offer visible
cover and anglers will be
able to see the bottom
down to about 20-feet of
water. However, most of
the banks in the lake are
rarely deeper than 10-feet,
which make spawning bass easily picked off via
sight fishing.
Lain targets the lake’s spawning bass with a six-inch Morning Dawn Roboworm. “Last spring, I was averaging 15- to 20-fish off the beds during the spawn,” recalled Lain. “I like to use a Roboworm on 15-pound Toray fluorocarbon line, paired with a Daiwa Tatula baitcaster and medium-heavy Tatula rod.”
Woods relies heavily on his sunglasses when sight fishing the lake. “Skinner is the type of lake where I can ease around on my trolling motor and actually see schools of bass in front of the tules,”
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