The Drop Shot Hook Dilemma: When to Nose-Hook and When to Texas-Rig
Nose-hooking a Drop Shot creates the perfect, seductive swimming action. But if you try to fish a nose-hooked worm in heavy cover, you are going to spend your entire day re-tying.
Category
Tactics
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The Buzzbait Startup: Why Letting It Sink is Ruining Your Cast
The buzzbait is arguably the most violent topwater lure in bass fishing, but if you wait until it hits the water to engage your reel, you are completely defeating its purpose.
The Jerkbait Suspension Lie: Why Your Bait is Slowly Floating Away
If your suspending jerkbait slowly rises toward the surface during a pause, you are ruining the exact presentation that triggers cold-water bass to bite.
The Lipless Crankbait Yo-Yo: Stop Reeling Straight in Cold Water
A lipless crankbait is one of the best cold-water bass lures ever invented. But if you are simply casting it out and reeling it straight back in, you are missing 90% of the bites.
Deep Cranking: If You're Not Deflecting Off Cover, You're Not Fishing
Throwing a deep diving crankbait into open water and just reeling it back is taking your lure for a walk. The real violence happens the split second your crankbait smashes into a rock or stump.
Punching 101: The Secret to Finding Giants in the Thickest Grass
If your boat is surrounded by a massive mat of floating vegetation, don't drive away. The biggest bass in the lake are living underneath it, and you need to break through the roof.
The Drop Shot Leader Length: Why Your Bait is Completely Invisible to the Bass
If you are using the exact same 12-inch leader on your Drop Shot everywhere you go, you are making a massive tactical error. Leader length is not a guess; it is dictated by the bottom.
The Jerkbait Cadence: Why You Are Fishing It Too Fast in the Winter
A suspending jerkbait is the deadliest lure in existence when the water temperature plummets. But if you aren't pausing long enough, you are completely wasting your time.
The Ned Rig: Why Doing Absolutely Nothing is the Ultimate Finesse Tactic
It looks like a broken piece of plastic glued to a mushroom jig head. But when the bite gets unbelievably tough, the Ned Rig will catch fish when nothing else in your boat can.
The Shaky Head Mistake: Why You're Fishing It Like a Texas Rig
The Shaky Head is a legendary finesse bait, but if you are hopping it and dragging it aggressively across the bottom, you are destroying the exact action that makes it so deadly.
The Silent Pitch: How to Enter the Strike Zone Without Spooking the Fish
If your jig lands in the water with a loud 'PLOP,' you just ruined the spot. The difference between catching a 2-pounder and an 8-pounder is entirely in how your bait enters the water.
The Squarebill Deflection: Why You Must Crash Your Crankbait
If you are retrieving your squarebill crankbait through open water without hitting anything, you are wasting your time. The magic is in the collision.
Walking the Dog: Why You Can't Make Your Topwater Bait Zig-Zag
You bought a Zara Spook, cast it out, and reeled it in while twitching your rod, but it just skips straight back to the boat. The secret to the 'walk the dog' action isn't the pull; it's the slack.
Drop Shot Mistakes That Are Costing You Fish
The drop shot is the most reliable finesse rig in existence, but if you are constantly shaking your rod tip or tying your hook wrong, you are doing it a disservice.
Stop Setting the Hook on Topwater Frogs Instantly
A topwater frog explosion is the most exciting bite in bass fishing. But if you swing the moment you see the splash, you will miss 90% of your fish. Here is the golden rule of frog fishing.
The Carolina Rig: Why the Oldest Rig in Bass Fishing Still Dominates
It isn't sexy, and it isn't new, but the "Ball and Chain" is responsible for catching more deep-water bass than almost any other setup in history. Here is how to fish it right.
The Dirty Secret of Bass Fishing: Why You Should Love the Mud
When a massive rainstorm turns the lake into chocolate milk, weekend warriors stay home. Tournament pros smile. Here is why muddy water is the greatest equalizer in bass fishing.
The Dirty Secret of Bass Fishing: Why You Should Love the Mud
When a massive rainstorm turns the lake into chocolate milk, weekend warriors stay home. Tournament pros smile. Here is why muddy water is the greatest equalizer in bass fishing.
The Silent Killer: Why You Need to Master the Neko Rig
When the bass have seen every wacky rig, dropshot, and Ned rig in the lake, it's time to show them something completely different. Enter the Neko Rig.
The Wacky Rig Revolution: Why the Silliest Looking Rig is the Deadliest
It looks completely ridiculous. Hooking a stickbait directly in the middle makes no logical sense until you drop it in the water and watch bass lose their minds.
Why You Are Losing Fish on Swimbaits (And How to Fix Your Hookset)
Throwing big swimbaits is all about patience. If you set the hook like you are fishing a jig, you will pull a $30 lure right out of a 10-pounder's mouth.
Why You Are Losing Fish on Swimbaits (And How to Fix Your Hookset)
Throwing big swimbaits is all about patience. If you set the hook like you are fishing a jig, you will pull a $30 lure right out of a 10-pounder's mouth.
Why Your Hooksets on Jigs Are Failing (And How to Fix It)
If you are losing fish on a flipping jig halfway back to the boat, you are probably making the most common mistake in bass fishing: The 'Reel Set'.
Decoding the Thermocline: Why You Can't Catch Bass in Deep Water During Summer
Dragging a jig in 40 feet of water in August? You are fishing in a dead zone. Here is why understanding the thermocline is the most important lesson of summer bass fishing.
Jerkbait Cadence: Why the Robotic 'Twitch-Twitch-Pause' is Costing You Fish
If you are fishing a jerkbait with the exact same rhythm all day, you are missing the point of the lure. The magic isn't in the twitch; it's in the unpredictable pause.
The Squarebill Deflection: How to Trigger Strikes from Uncatchable Bass
If your squarebill crankbait isn't hitting anything, you aren't fishing it right. Here is why slamming your lure into solid objects is the key to catching giant bass.
The Wacky Rig Truth: Stop Fishing It Too Fast
It is the simplest rig in the world, yet so many anglers ruin it by getting impatient. Here is the true philosophy behind fishing the Wacky Rig.
Tuning Your Crankbaits: The Pliers Trick That Separates the Pros from the Amateurs
If you tie on a brand new crankbait straight out of the box and it runs to the left, you're missing fish. Stop reeling in defective lures and learn how to tune them in 10 seconds.
Downsizing for Giants: Why the Finesse Jig is Your Secret Weapon
When fishing pressure is high and cold fronts roll in, a heavy flipping jig looks like a threat, not food. Here's why downsizing to a finesse jig will save your day.
Forward-Facing Sonar is Ruining Your Instincts: How to Catch Bass Without a Screen
Technology is great, but staring at a glowing screen all day is making anglers lazy. Here is how to read the water and catch bass the old-fashioned way.
Punching Heavy Mats: The Brutal Truth About Extracting Bass from the Muck
When the summer sun beats down and bass bury themselves under inches of thick hydrilla, finesse won't save you. It's time to bring out the heavy artillery.
Skipping Docks: Stop Making Excuses and Learn to Cast Like a Pro
Docks hold the biggest, most pressured bass on the lake. If you can't skip a jig under a dock without backlashing, you're leaving money on the table.
Stop Wasting Time on Empty Water: The 80/20 Rule of Bass Fishing
90% of the bass live in 10% of the water. If you are casting blindly down the bank without a strategy, you are just going for a boat ride.
Swim Jigs 101: You're Treating It Like a Spinnerbait (And That's Why You're Failing)
A swim jig is deadly in shallow cover, but it is not a weedless spinnerbait. Learn the nuanced retrieve that triggers lethargic bass when other moving baits fail.
The Ned Rig: Why a Stupid Looking Piece of Plastic is Outfishing You
It looks like a cigarette butt on a mushroom head jig, but the Ned Rig is the most lethal finesse presentation in modern bass fishing. Stop ignoring it.
The Post-Spawn Funk: Stop Fishing Fast and Start Picking Apart Cover
After the spawn, bass are exhausted, moody, and refuse to chase moving baits. Here is how to trigger strikes when the fish are in a funk.
The Swim Jig: Stop Treating It Like a Pitching Jig
Most anglers buy a swim jig, hop it on the bottom twice, get no bites, and throw it back in the box. Here is how to actually fish the 4x4 of the bass world.
Topwater Walking Baits: Stop Rushing the Cadence and Learn to Glide
Walking the dog is an art form, but most anglers turn it into a frantic sprint. Learn how to slow down and create the ultimate topwater glide that draws giant bass from the depths.
Chatterbait Mastery: Stop Reeling So Fast and Start Ripping Grass
A vibrating jig is arguably the most powerful search bait ever invented, but most anglers just cast and reel. Here's how to turn a Chatterbait into a giant-bass magnet.
Stop Fishing Crankbaits in Open Water: If You Aren't Deflecting, You Aren't Catching
Throwing a crankbait into the abyss of open water is a waste of time. Learn why crashing your bait into rocks and wood is the ultimate trigger for giant bass.
Wind is Your Friend: Stop Hiding from the Breeze and Throw a Spinnerbait
Calm, glassy water looks great on Instagram, but it sucks for catching big bass. Stop hiding in protected coves and learn to use the wind to your advantage.