hopping to garner the attention of one of the active bass. Others say, stay to the outside and pick ‘em off one by one. Some say small baits, other say big ones. Many believe you must employ a rocket quick retrieve, not allowing the bass to get a look at your bait. Other will slow their retrieve, lingering a little longer to taunt and trigger a finicky fish.
There may be as many tactics to catch schooling bass as there are lures to tempt them. Here are some that I’ve come to find effective.
FISHING OPEN WATER
Foropenwatersituations,I’ll relyonaone-two comboofawalk-the-dog styleplug, liketheZara Spook andapopper,suchastheStormChugBug or Rapala PopX.I’llswitchupbetweenstylesdepending onthewaterconditionsI’mfaced with, activitylevel of thebassandthecoverpresent. Iftheschool of bassI’m targeting islocatedinmattedvegetation, thenusing atopwaterfrog liketheSnag Proof Bobby’s PerfectorIsh’sPoppin’ Phattiearegreat choice.
REACTIVATE
At some point that school of bass you are hammering on with a topwater plug will shut down, this may be because the conditions changed or the number of fish in that
school have decreased, at this point you’ll need to slow down and put something right in the middle of that school. This is where I turn to a Carolina-rigged, soft plastic bait, such as a Zoom Super Fluke, Fluke Stick or Baby Brush Hog.
The plastic you use will revolve around what the bass are feeding on and just how finicky they have become. I fell, the key is that you’ll need to use the smallest size weight possible to keep content with the bottom. This combined with a short (12 to 18 in) leader in stained water or a long (18 to 24 in) leader in clear water will aid in reactivating that school and yield several more bass in your boat.
LOCATION
In northern lakes, many times bass will school along a weedline where it makes a point, turn or butts up to some hard bottom, such as rock or sand. One of the best ways to target these bass is with a jig, as it can be casted to the edge or flipped into the open water pockets.
With a jig you can also change the size and
trailer up to best suit the depth of water and
cover density you are fishing. I’ll start with
a ½ oz War Eagle Flipping Jig paired with
a Zoom Super Chunk. If I need to fish
deeper or get through heavier weeds,
I’ll bump up to a ¾ oz. Likewise, if I’m
fishing shallower and more on the edge,
Keeping the same Wright & McGill rod/ reel combo allows me to develop a feel with either topwater plug I use
40 ®