Bladerunner 1 ¾ -ounce Morning Dawn and black shad jigging spoons
in spotting suspended
bass and bait away from the
boat. If the bass disappear from your sonar screen, make a sweep by turning your trolling motor to relocate the school of bass and move your boat to where they went.
My usual SpotlightScan settings are to use the 455 kHz frequency, and set the range at the same distance as the depth of the water you are in.
Realize that forward scanning sonar (which SpotlightScan provides) paints a different image than other sonar images, so it takes time to learn how to read the image. Once you learn how to read the images, you have a big advantage others don’t have; because you will be able to follow schools of bass and know where and how far to cast. Make slow, smooth sweeps to get the best images.
VERTICAL VS. HORIZONTAL TECHNIQUES
Spoons, Ice Jigs, and even worm rigs (both Doodle and Dropshot) are generally considered vertical techniques in which your boat usually stays in one place.
There are other lure
choices that allow you
to catch suspended
bass while covering
more territory;
because they
are horizontal
approaches.
These are cast
and retrieve
techniques,
and some of
the best lures
for horizontal
approaches are the
Blade-Runner Spintrix,
Lucky Craft Screw Pointers
(spy bait), deep spinnerbaits,
swimbaits, and using the Dropswimming technique.
DROPSWIMMING
Dropswimming is a technique that I developed in conjunction with former tournament partner and FLW pro Ronald Hobbs Jr. which involves a dropshot rig that is retrieved mid-water column for suspended bass.
Although most people think of dropshotting as bottom oriented, they are missing out on a deadly method to solve tough suspended bass bites. I designed and manufacture QuickDrops dropshot weights eight different sizes, specifically to allow swimming a dropshot rig at any depth and at any speed.
Most people probably don’t own a 1/16-ounce dropshot weight, or 3/8-ounce and heavier; but if they knew how much tournament money was won on these sizes, using the dropswim technique, they would be on it.
Put simply, dropswimming means casting your dropshot rig, counting it down to the depth the bass are suspended, and then slowly swimming the rig, maintaining the same depth while constantly shaking your rod tip.
Because the weight is below the lure, the lure will twitch while swimming forward,
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