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Summer 2018
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are both proven fish catching lures and are easy to fish through the scattered grass.
Combs prefers to fish his vibrating jigs on a crankbait rod and says it is one of the most important pieces of equipment for this bait style.
“Most of the missed fish, using a bait like this, is from premature hookset,” he said. “I like a rod that has some give so when you pull back there is some give in the rod and it allows the fish to get the bait a little more. The rod I use has a good backbone and very little flex but has a soft tip to allow you to hook them better.”
His rod of choice is a Shimano Zodias 7’, medium glass cranking rod. He prefers a high-speed 7.4:1 Shimano Curado K and will spool it with 20-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon, instead of a braided line.
The reason he uses fluorocarbon versus braid is similar to why he likes a limber rod. The zero stretch quality of braid is one more
factor that could lead to pulling the bait away from a bass too quickly.
Keith Combs has a simple approach to fishing vast expanses of grass: find something different. He also has a basic approach to bait selection and simply adjusts it based on how thick the grass is. By narrowing his focus to finding the differences in vegetation he is able to more efficient and he avoids vegetation overload. •