Summer 2024
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along catching 3- or 4-pounders and then you’ll randomly catch a big one. There aren’t a lot of double digits, but your average fish is still 3 or 3 1/2, so it takes 22-25 pounds to win. You need a 4-pound average and you need a 6-pounder to go with it.”
MAIN GRASS OPTIONS
While Smith has his favorite lures and go-to techniques, there are days when it’s easier than others. His primary tools much of the time for initial guidance are not his high- tech electronics, but rather his eyes.
“Let the fish tell you their activity level,” he said. “Sometimes you can see them blowing up on bait all day long. Those are the days when you can catch them on moving baits. If you see them blow up, trolling motor over and you can catch almost every single one.”
FROG: When they’re chasing bait like that, he’ll start with a Strike King Sexy Frog – white if it’s sunny, black if
it’s cloudy. He allows the mood of the fish to dictate and intermittently alter his retrieve.
There are days when the frog hits the mat and it’s as if the bass were waiting for it – they eat before he makes a single twitch or pull. Then there are other days when they’re dialed into a specific cadence, speed or rhythm. He fishes the frog on 65-pound-test Strike King Contra green braided line with an Alpha Angler Zilla, a 7’3” medium-heavy fast baitcasting rod and a Lew’s Custom Pro reel.
SWIM JIG: His other option when he wants to cover water, and the grass is thinner, or has discernible lanes, is a Strike King Swim Jig.
FLIPPIN’: On those days when the fish
really don’t want to chase, however, or when
the majority of the better-quality specimens are buried in the thickest grass, he switches to “the big weight.”
It’s time to flip in the thickest grass he can find. He may have to fish a half mile of grass before he finds a 200- or 300-yard stretch that’s holding more or better quality bass. While he’s on the search, though, he’s sometimes able to rule out the mid-section of a mat, or an undistinguished straightway by keeping his eyes peeled. Again, visible signs of fish feeding or baitfish presence help him narrow his focus, but in the absence of those obvious signs he’s looking for two things.
The first is a topped-out canopy. That overhead cover provides shade and security for the fish and prevents some other anglers from exploring it effectively. The second factor again involves using his eyes. This time, as he goes along a solid grass edge, or an area which has plenty of quality greenery, he’s looking for larger clumps of grass under the water that aren’t topped out.
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