By Scott Norton
A few times a year some, baits really shine. You have reaction baits, finesse baits, and big baits. You can get a few more bites with finesse in the winter when the bite starts to shut down, but why concentrate on the small ones when the giants are more than willing to feed. Iâm talking about big baits. Right now, mature largemouth bass donât want to chase small meals to only waist more calories. They want a big easy meal this time of year so give them a slow easy target they canât refuse.
I know the majority of anglers donât want to get into this style of fishing, which was a proven method developed in California. If you look up what they are catching out there you canât deny that it works. Big bait fishing is slowly making its way to the East Coast and some of the gear and baits are being offered in a few places. The advantages of choosing this method is that our fisheries have not had a big bait traffic yet. Being one of the first anglers to participate in this is a strategy in itself. If all your bites will be small, why not go big and swing for the fences.
The gear involved is extra heavy. It is expensive but there are budget friendly versions you can buy to get you started if you want to get your feet wet. Once you get your first big catch on a big bait, more than likely you will be hooked. Your rods will be around seven feet and eleven inches, all the way to eight feet rods, with an xx heavy rating. The actions will vary if you use treble hooks or single magnum size hooks. You can start out with a budget set up that can be used for everything. An âeverything rodâ is just not as good as a rod that is technique specific to the setup of a certain bait. The reels used have to be heavy duty as well and will usually be around 300 to 400 size. Anything lighter will just get torn up and it will not hold the amount of line capacity you need. The last few years, some really good low profile reels entered the market and are good on price in the world of big baits. The line choice needs to be no lighter than twenty pound test and thirty pound test, on the heavy end of monofilament and fluorocarbons. Braid is also a good choice with a leader with sixty pound on the low end with eighty pound test being the heavy end.
Look for hard structures like wood and rocks when locating bass. Your retrieve should be slower than slow and, may I stress, you cannot be too slow. This is hard for some anglers to do but it is not for everybody. Be careful of the speed of your gearing on your reels. A five speed is way easier to fish than, say, a seven speed. If you use a fast reel, it will be painfully slow but they can be used for multiple setups. Do your research before going out and you may stumble upon a new love for fishing all over again.
Scott Norton is a native of Western North Carolina. Born in Asheville, NC, he is a long time avid hunter, angler, and weekend warrior. He is a member of Southern Raft Supplyâs prostaff team representing them in his Jackson Kayak Coosa FD.