Westernbass Magazine - FREE Bass Fishing Tips And Techniques - Summer 2014, Page 13

Westernbass Magazine - FREE Bass Fishing Tips And Techniques - Summer 2014, Page 13

sense for what it is, I think they are really just curious.”

GLIDE EQUIPMENT

He separates his gear by the size of the bait. For his smaller baits, he opts for a 7’6” medium-heavy Dobyns 764 rod paired with a 7.1:1 Shimano Curado which he spools with 50-pound-test braided line and a 15 to 20-pound-test leader of Maxima Ultragreen monofilament.

For his larger baits, from one to six ounces, he beefs up to a Dobyns 806 matched with a Shimano Calcutta 400B and 65-pound-test braided line and a 30-pound-test Maxima Ultragreen monofilament leader.

SUMMER 2014

GLIDE RETRIEVE

He said that he recommends anglers start with as slow a retrieve as they can. “I want the bait to be reeled painfully slow; especially in the spring,” he said. “I reel the bait just fast enough that it doesn’t swim straight in the water.” He alternates an occasional tweak of the reel handle to add some erratic moves, but slow is the key.

What is really important about the approach is to retrieve the lure in an angle that gives the bass something to pin it against. “I always try to retrieve it around the cover so that the bass has something to pin the bait against,” he said. If it’s a grass bed, I retrieve parallel and bend it around points in the grass. If I’m on trout lake, I cast out and bring the lure back in towards shore, because it gives the bass something to use to corral the lure. That is their natural way to feed, so I try to do things that way.

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