Sometimes It Takes a 1 - 2 Punch

On not more than my third or fourth cast ever with a Strike King Rage Tail Shad, I nearly had the rod snatched out of my hands by a 3-lb. bass, and I went on that day to have one of my most memorable trips of all times with that topwater bait. As the day wore on, however, the nature of the strikes changed, and I started tallying a lot of swings but misses.

Finally, by accident, I stumbled onto a solution to the problem. I just had had another bass blow up but miss my bait, and I allowed the bait to fall as I momentarily scratched my head, wondering what to do. It was while the bait was falling that I suddenly saw my line jump to one side and reared back with a hookset. A few seconds later, I was swinging another nice bass over the gunwale.

For the rest of that day, I repeated what just had occurred. Every time I missed a strike, I let the bait fall, and in at least 75 percent of the cases, the fish would grab the Rage Tail again on the fall, with a subsequent hookup. I do the same thing yet today when I'm fishing that bait, and it still works far more often than it fails.

There are occasions, however, especially when fishing other topwater lures, that you need to have a follow-up bait rigged and ready to use after a missed strike. Here are the links to some different anglers' thoughts on this matter:

http://www.insideline.net/index.php/hard-baits/270-swing-and-a-miss-follow-up-baits-the-back-up-plan

http://www.bassmaster.com/tips/second-chance-baits

http://www.bassmaster.com/tips/kriet-increasing-topwater-hookups

http://www.bassresource.com/fish/topwaters.html

http://www.finsntales.com/all/early-fall-topwaters-with-cliff-pirch/#.Us11vUso6M8

From their earliest days, young boxers are taught how to throw a 1 - 2 punch combination. Similarly, anglers--young and old--need to understand why they should keep a backup rod rigged and ready for use anytime they encounter a swing and a miss. If you happen to be fishing with a partner as quick and as accurate as mine, you might want to consider letting him make the second cast to a missed fish. Rob, who always has a soft plastic tied onto at least one of his rods, has pulled this off to near-perfection more than once.

The way I see it is this: It doesn't matter who catches the fish--just get it in the boat.