Category Archives: Advanced Bass Tactics

Advanced Bass Tactics, Fun Fishing, Tips and Techniques

Winter Bass = Blade Baits & Hair Jigs

December 20, 2012 hellabass

As air temperatures become almost unbearably cold and water temps
dive into the 30′s, I have found that few baits produce bass like Blade
Baits and Hair Jigs. Far too often these baits are forgotten in our
tackle boxes and rarely get the playing time they deserve. Even for me
they had become such an after thought I found myself having to do an
emergency restocking for my early winter bass fishing.

For hair jigs, I like a hand tied football jigs with a blend of hair
and round rubber in blacks and browns. There are some places that make
nice jigs, but for the most part, I like to tie my own. In my last few
smallmouth trips, a custom nearly all black combination combined with a
subtle compact trailer like the Evolve Kompak Craw
was the ticket. I generally fish these baits so slow on the bottom, it
is like counting rocks on every cast, you almost can fish slow enough
on some days. My usual setup is 15lbs flouro and a long rod with a
moderate tip for feel and strong back bone for hooking up in deep water
on long casts, but a balanced rod with light tip is critical for the
light bites in cold water. My rod of choice is a Champion Extreme DX 744 from Dobyns Rods. Here is a video of a buddy & I catching some smallies with this deep football hair jig technique – Watch Video.

Football Hair Jig w/ Kompak Craw Trailer

On the flip side, blade baits can really trigger fish and you can
actually fish these pretty fast in comparison to hair jigs and still get
bit. Depending on depth ranges, I like a 1/4 to 3/4oz blade baits can
be casted and worked on slow deliberate hops almost like speed worming
to find and catch good quality fish, plus you are likely to catch just
about any fish that swims in the waters you are fishing. Your rod and
line setup can vary depending on size and weight of your blades baits,
for 1/4oz or smaller baits, you may want to consider a spinning rod. As
I usually throw 1/2oz or heavier blade baits, I like to use a moderate
cranking rod like the 704CB or 705CB from Dobyns and fish them on 10-12 lb fluorocarbon.

1/2oz Blade Bait

So once you fill your hunting tags, consider getting out on the water and trying this dependable One-Two Punch!

Oh yeah, Have a Merry Christmas!!!!

Advanced Bass Tactics

Have you heard about the new 10XD?

October 23, 2012 hellabass

UPDATE 1-10-13 – Stike King 10XD are available in online stores, like here!

If you are plugged into bass fishing, you have probably heard about the last FLW Open event won on Lake Sam Rayburn, where on the last day Phil Marks blew away the field and caught several of his bigger fish on a new Strike King 10XD super deep diving crankbait prototype. Get some more details here on W2F.

Among bass fishing circles, the Strike King 6XD is already largely considered the deepest diving stock crankbait out there. Not to mention KVD and many other pros have cashed a ton of checks on the 6XD.

The new 10XD is much larger then the 6XD as you can see in the picture above, but word on the street is that it is not much harder to crank in then a 6XD, DT20 or DD22. I am not a deep cranking aficionado by any means, but I am baffled that it took this long for something like this to come to market. I mean we are already going big with swimbaits and giant worms, why has it taken this long for a monster deep cranker like the 10XD?

And are you going to jump on this bait or are you going to hold out for the 12XD or 15XD? Also, better question, what depths are attainable if you long line a 10XD? Last parting though, this 10XD on 15-20lb fluorocarbon should be a Falcon Lake Bass Killer!

Advanced Bass Tactics, Announcements, Contests, General, Product Reviews, Tips and Techniques

Kompak Craw Review & Evolve Contest Winner!

July 12, 2012 hellabass

Those that have been following along on the blog for the last few months, you are aware of some contests and product reviews in the works with Evolve Baits.

Of the samples sent, I was immediately attracted to the Kompak craw. While I consider myself a pretty versatile angler, when permitted I will always look to power fish with jigs and soft plastics. At first glance, the Kompak craw can seem pretty simple and unassuming as a craw bait. Upon further inspection, there definitely was plenty of thought that went into this craw design.

Kompak craw pictured in Pumpkin Oil color

My first inclination was to put it behind a hefty tungsten weight and flip it around heavy vegetation. The bait has a long body for it’s small stature, allowing you to put a large 4/0 flipping hook into the bait and it puts the point right in the back of the bait, where it should hook a large percentage of fish. Also, there is a slight bias to the bait front to back where the hook point goes, allowing a little extra meat for you to hide a big hook point. The subtle appendages also move enough water to get noticed in the thick cover.

A comparable bait that I like to use for similar presentation would be the old Yum Big Show Craw. Although the soft yet durable plastic of the Kompak craw holds up much better then the Big Show craw. So the introduction of the Kompak craw is welcomed in my boat, as it appears to be a better bait and Yum appears to have stopped producing the Big Show for the time being. If you love to punch milfoil or other vegetation with a craw, this is a must try bait!

Kompak craw flipped w/ Dobyns 805 Flip/Punch Rod

The setup I used to fish the Kompak craw was Punch rigged with a 4/0 Trokar flipping hook, 20-25lbs fluorocarbon, 1/2-1oz Tungsten flipping weights, and predominantly rigged on my Dobyns Champion 805 Flip/Punch rod, when I would fish it on the 1/2oz weight, I would drop down to my Champion 734C.

In practice for the Madison Chain event, the Kompak craw produced several bites and fish worked in milfoil and docks. Our flipping bite fell apart during tournament, but I am excited to try them this weekend down on the Mississippi River! I also hope to give the DarkStar swimmer as a go as well this weekend, check back in the future to learn more about the Swimmer and VibraGrub.

As for our contest winner……

Merideth Gifford is our big winner, so here is the selection of Vibra Grubs, DarkStar Swimmers & Kompak craws she will get a chance to tempt Oklahoma Bass with!

Hopefully Merideth will be posting some pics to my Facebook wall with here results soon!

Thanks again to Evolve Baits for their support of this blog, you can find most of their baits online for purchase here.

Advanced Bass Tactics, Bass Fishing Podcasts, BASS Tour, Contests, Fantasy Bass Fishing Corner, Fun Fishing, Multimedia, Tips and Techniques

Bull Shoals Fantasy Picks and much more…

April 18, 2012 hellabass

Recorded the Fantasy Fishing Insider podcast earlier this morning, hopefully it edits and drops in time for all of you to listen in, but if not, here are my picks.

Last Saturday was so beautiful, had to get out on Pool 2 if only for a few hours. Tried some new water, for the most part unproductive, caught a few fish though.

I am also excited for the Minnesota Bass Expo this weekend, looks like it is going to be a really cool show, check out the list of vendors. I will be there from 4-8pm on Friday, probably find me walking around or hanging near the TBF or Kruger Farms booth. FYI – Kruger Farms had some killer deals at the Northwest Sportshow, do yourself a favor and stop by their Bass Expo booth, they might surprise you, plus they should have some Dobyns Rods on display if you have not checked them out yet.

Don’t forget about the Aquateko contest, you still got 12 days to enter that contest for free tackle!

Last but not least, I did another quick video showing my system for organizing and storing my soft plastics for bass fishing. Check out the video.

Advanced Bass Tactics, General, Multimedia, Tips and Techniques

On the move

April 5, 2012 hellabass

Been traveling and busy doing many fishing related activities, but have not been on the water in a few weeks. First off all, thanks for all that visited me at the Kruger Farms booth during the early part of Northwest Sportshow. If you are not familiar with Kruger Farms, they are making a big push into fishing, they are one of the newest Dobyns dealers, plus they have tons of other great hunting & fishing gear.

Been lots of activity in the background on the blog, look from some contests and chance to win free fishing stuff reel soon (probably next week), so if you are not a subscriber, you might want enter your email on left side of page next to orange button that says Subscribe.

I have also been doing tips videos in my boat out of the garage, check out the following video tip for managing Alabama Rigs. I think you will find it to be quite the time saver if you are gonna throw these multi-armed contraptions. Basically how to make any Alabama Rig Better!

As you probably know, I have been phasing in more Dobyns Rod, but after Loomis rejecting a completely valid rod warranty, I have decided to ramp things up and sell off all my remaining Loomis rods. If you are interested, hit up my Bass
Fishing
eBay
Store. I will likely be adding some more tackle and possibly some reels as well. I got some crazy good deals at the Sportshow, need to make room.

Advanced Bass Tactics, Multimedia, Product Reviews, Tips and Techniques

What’s up with the Jika Rig?

October 24, 2011 hellabass

Not too much before being knocked off my pedestal seat by the Alabama Rig this week, I started seeing rumblings on Twitter and forums about the Jika Rig. It seems every couple years, there are new rigs, techniques, gear and technologies to keep up with in bass fishing.

As pictured above (Fork Craw, 3/0 EWG Hook, Voss 1/4oz Weight) – can be done w/ single or double split rings

The Jika Rig (also called The Jig Rig) is very interesting, it is actually very simple. While Owner company is marketing this, it began is Japan, much like the drop shot and the Neko Rig. You can buy this rig pre-rigged, but I really don’t see the point. You almost certainly have the stuff in your tackle box already to make them and if not, just about any local retailer would have what you need. If they don’t, order them online.

All you need is a good selection of offset wide gap worm hooks, some split rings and a weight with wire loop or attachment on top and put the three together. I have also seen, where people have used short pieces of braid to make a loop and tie the weight to the split rig, making it almost like an ultra low profile drop shot. I think you can use different shape weights to tailor your presentation and to the cover. You can also use one or two split rings to adjust the action as well.

To me, the Jika Rig is a cross between a Texas Rig, Football jig and a drop shot, also kind of like the Biffle Hard Head. I also think this rig will prove to be very versatile, can be flipped pitched, dragged like a football head and probably serves as a decent bed fishing rig among other things.

Here is a video of a JikaRig (JigRig) that I made and demonstrating underwater at a boat ramp.

I think its most attractive quality as it offers freedom to the plastic and offers it in a very horizontal and natural way. I think Byron Velvick does a great job explaining the features and benefits of the rig in this video.

So leave a comment if you have used the Jika Rig or think you have a good application where you think it would excel!

Advanced Bass Tactics, FLW Tour, Product Reviews, Tips and Techniques, Trend vs Mirage

Alabama Rig – Next Big Thing or Pushing the Limits?

October 21, 2011 hellabass

As I write this blog, Paul Elias is on the verge of blowing away the field on something called the Alabama Rig and after day 2, the angler in 2nd place, Robert Behrle, is also throwing the same rig. I had never seen anything like it in bass fishing before watching a live on the water video today from FLW. I expect much more on the Reel Time Reports from FLW soon. It was hard to see at a distance the type of swimbaits Elias had on his A-Rig.

So I did a little research to find out more about this rig. Turns out, there is a website for it, http://thealabamarig.com

From what I gather, its almost like the donkey rig (double fluke rig) on steroids. Similar to an umbrella rig used in saltwater, its painted minnow head with 5 wires protruding out the back with snaps to attach lures, allowing you to fish 5 baits at a time. It seems the most popular scenario is to fish 5 grubs or swimbaits at a time to mimic a small school of baitfish moving through the water.

The big kicker is that it seems to get quality fish and the potential to catch 2-3 fish at time more frequently then one would with any other lure setup.

There already have been a few mumblings and grumbling about whether this rig should be legal in tournaments. In some states, like Minnesota, this would not be allowed due to state regulations. Not sure on all states, but it appears to be legal in Alabama. Seems as though, if its legal for that state, and everyone has access, then fair is fair!

Not sure if this will be hotter then the chatterbait and the Basstrix hollowbelly put together, but I am sure it will make quite the splash and these will be a little hard to find in a short time! Either way, there will always be a supply of Alabama Rigs on ebay. What if Kevin VanDam starts throwing 5 Red Eye Shads at a time? How long before BassPro & Cabela’s have these on the shelf? Sworming Hornet Lures makes a version called the Sworm.

Here is a good video breaking down some rigging techniques for the Alabama Rig.

Advanced Bass Tactics, Tips and Techniques

How to Rig a “Stupid Tube” – Best Jig Heads & Baits

January 23, 2009 hellabass

I have had many people leave messages both on my blogs and social media. How do you rig the “Stupid Tube”?

The Stupid Tube was made famous when Federation Nation angler Terry McWilliams from Indiana made the Bassmaster Classic through the Federation Nation ranks, largely on the fish he caught on his “Stupid Tube”. It got the name because anglers back home always asked if he was catching fish on “That Stupid Tube” he so often used to beat them with. See article on Terry here.

The only real difference between a Stupid Tube and a normal tube jig is the way you rig it. The stupid tube still used a tube jig head or similar jig head, but you kind of rig in a hybrid between a Texas rig, normal tube rig, and a shaky head! Below are picture diagrams of how to rig your own “Stupid Tube”. The reason the stupid tube rig is so deadly, you get a similar erratic fall and action as an exposed tube jig, but its virtually weedless and still gets great hook ups on fish!

Start out with your favorite 3-4″ Tube, and either a tube jig head, shakey head jig or even a ball head jig. The jig shown here is a Shakey Head and a 3-1/2″ Strike King Coffee Tube. My new jig head of choice is the BassTEK Tungsten Agitator Finesse Head.

Start by inserting the hook point into the hollow end of the tube

Stupid Tube Rigging — Important to have a jig head with a wide gap hook

Run is all the way up and poke it out through the tube wall near the head, about whereTexasxas rig hook would come out, about a 1/4″ from the nose of the bait. You will find where you like it for your jig with a little practice.

Rigging a Stupid Tube — This is by far the trickiest part to master

Pull the hook out, so the head fits snug up in the nose of the tube & then poke the eye of your jig head out the other side of the tube, so you can tie your line there

The Perfect Stupid Tube Rig — Almost there….

Then bring the hook back into the tube body and out the other side like a Texas rig and then skin hook the tip of the hook back into the tube wall so it covers the point of the hook (Texposed). This keeps the hook from catching on snags & weeds, but only takes a little pressure to stick a fish!

Fully Rigged Stupid Tube — Just add water & catch’em!

Experiment with different jig heads, weights, hook & tube sizes to fit your needs, just be sure your hook has enough throat to stick the fish and let tube collapse on the hook set. This bait comes through cover and skips great. Another big advantage over Texas rigging your tube is that Texas rigging tends to tear up tubes real bad after just a few fish. You usually can catch a limit or more before you need to replace your tube with this rig. So rig a handful up the night before and you should be set for the day!

June 1, 2015 – Update
Just to refresh this post and keep it up to date, few things to add. I still use this rig all the time for both smallmouth bass and largemouth both. Details on my setup, usually I fish this with 12lb Fluorocarbon, Dobyns DX743C baitcasting rod, and the jig head is usually a 3/16oz BassTEK Agitator Finesse Head.

Also if you prefer videos, check out this How to Rig a Stupid Tube video.

Rich
RichLindgren.com

Advanced Bass Tactics, Product Reviews, Tips and Techniques

Advanced Flipping Techniques

August 30, 2006 hellabass

I thought it would be good to do some tips & techniques again, been mostly focused on tournament stuff.

Hey you all that love flipping, here are a few things to try to increase you hook-up ratios.

1. When in doubt, go TUNGSTEN. Its denser and smaller, so you get better penetration on the flip and on the hook set when the fish clamps down on your weight. Tru-Tungsten has some great designs and colors to meet all your needs. So try some of these Tru-Tungsten Tungsten Sinkers

2. Try a snell knot on a heavy duty straight shank flipping hook! If done correctly, when you slide a slip-sinker down on the hook, you will see the hook point curl up like a scorpion tail. This action causes most bass to get hooked solid in the roof of the mouth. The snell knot works effectively when you peg a bullet sinker as well, but precautions must be taken. The most important element is how tightly you snug the weight.

If you peg the weight down so tight that it doesn’t slide up the line, the hook won’t kick, and you might as well just tie a Palomar knot on an offset hook. It has to have room to move so when you set the hook, it slams against the weight and shoots the hook upward. So you use a bobber stop or a Smart Peg to peg your sinker, not one of those threaded rubber toothpicks.

For hook selection, consider Mustad Denny Bauer Flippin’ Hook or the Brand New Reaction Innovations BMF Flipping Hook. The BMF hook is a special hook that had a completely closed hook which will make the snell knot a little easier to tie and will not let the knot slip out on the hook set. Youvella is coming out with some great flipping hooks as well!

Reaction Innovations BMF Flipping Hooks

3. Use a high quality Braided line, like Power Pro Braided Line. Tie a Palomar or Double Palomar Knot and a dap of super glue does not hurt either. Also camouflage your braided line with a permanent marker, the line often fades and turns white after use, so take a blue, black or green marker to your line for the first few feet. The other option would be to go with 20-30lb flourocarbon, but I like braid better.

Hopefully you can try a few of these tips and they will help you put a few more fish in the boat. Beware, practice the snell knot at home or on land, its not an easy knot to learn when out in the boat