Summer 2022
He’s done the same thing on northern smallmouth waters, going for miles, scanning for rock either from the console or on the trolling motor – finding rock, feeling rock.
“With LiveScope you can look around, keep moving – find cover, find fish, and drag at a fast pace.” A dropshot or Ned Rig might catch as many fish, but it’s nowhere near as efficient. Once it comes tournament time, he may slow down and pinpoint the rock with those tactics, or he can stick with the one that got him there.
He almost always fishes a 3/4- or one-ounce weight.
“That’s what makes me classify it as power finesse,” he said. “There’s no reason to go lighter.” That enables him to use a 7’6” Ark Invoker Limited heavy-action rod.
“Some guys use a medium-heavy, but with the heavy weight there’s no reason for me to go lighter. If I were to drop down to a 3/8-ounce Texas-rig in those same places I might
use a 7’3” or 7’6” medium-heavy, but in
that case, you’re not trying to drive it as
much.”
He pairs the rod with a Bass
Pro Shops Johnny Morris Platinum
Signature baitcast reel with an 8.3:1
gear ratio. He never uses the reel to
manipulate the lure, but rather to pick
up slack, catch up to a charging fish,
and get the rig back quickly to fire out
another cast.
“Two years ago, I switched entirely
to reels in the 6:1 or 8:1 categories,” he explained. “I eliminated the 7 in the middle to make it easier on myself. When I want to slow down, or I’m
fishing moving baits, I use the six, and when I’m
fishing heavy cover, I go to the eight.”
He spools it up with 17-pound test P-Line
Tactical Fluorocarbon. In the south, he uses
a leader of that same material,
in the same size, but in
smallmouth country he uses
P-Line Halo.
“It’s kind of an
overlooked fluorocarbon.
It’s a little bit thicker with
more abrasion resistance.
In practice, I’ve used the
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