Summer 2022
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same leader three or four days in a row without retying, swinging four-pound fish into the boat. I never have to set the hook and worry.”
He’s remarkably particular and precise about the rest of his terminal tackle. In Florida, he’ll use a tungsten weight, but up north he likes the noisemaking capabilities of a Bass Pro Shops brass weight, which he pairs with a round glass bead and a brass ticker. He connects the leader to the main line with a #6 Owner Pro Parts Micro Hyper barrel swivel.
“That’s what’s between you and the fish,” he said. “I’ve never broken one. It’s amazing how much force it can take when you set the hook.”
His lures also differ depending on what he’s fishing for an where. In the south, where it’s primarily a largemouth game, he uses a variety of worms, including swimming models and curly tails, but his go-to options are the Xzone Deception Worm and the Xzone Fat Finesse Worm, typically in green pumpkin or junebug. Up north, when smallmouths are often the target, he’ll go to something more compact. That might be an Xzone Adrenaline craw, particularly in
rougher or harsher conditions. When it slicks off and there are high skies, he’ll go back to a Ned-style worm or a finesse worm. “Either way, I keep it very basic – either black or green pumpkin,” he said.
When he wants the soft plastic to stay closer to the bottom, he’ll stick with a conventional leader in the 24- to 36-inch range, but if the bass are finicky and he want the bait to float away more he’ll go as long as 4 feet. While he experiments with cadence and speed, ultimately the cardinal rule is to maintain contact with the cover – both to understand what’s down there and to trigger the fish.
“At all costs, don’t lift the weight off the bottom,” he cautioned.
Given how effective it is, why don’t more anglers rely more consistently on the old cannonball?
“You have to build some confidence in it,” Kelley opined. “If you get bit on it on your first cast, or catch your first big fish with it, you’ll probably love it. But otherwise, you’ll have to build some confidence in it. I didn’t like it right away, but eventually I started realizing how good it can be. Now it’s a main player.” •
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