Fishermen Think Outside the Box, Too

Let me state right up front, though, that I'm not familiar with any who do it in the nude, as depicted in the accompanying photo of "The Thinker" statue.

Let's just say I feel like the vast majority of anglers...bass anglers, in particular...have more class, if you know what I mean. I won't go so far as to insinuate we "style and profile," in the same manner as retired pro wrestler Ric Flair used to demonstrate, but I do feel rather certain we will have "all the vitals" covered each and every time we head to the water, especially this time of the year.

OK, that's enough nonsense for now. Just wanted to start this on a lighthearted note.

What I want to do with this article is to share some ideas I gleaned from another recent round of research on the Internet. I'm not advocating that anyone should try any of the ideas presented here. Rather, I'm just letting you know how some others among us think about what we all do, which often, in my book, is more about "fishing" than "catching."

In a piece on the Ultimate Bass (UB) website, I read a guest author's description of a technique he had learned from the pages of an old BassMaster Magazine. Two fellas bank fishing had separated so they could cover more water when one of them heard a loud "ker-plunk." Upon investigating, he found his partner had tied a large nut in front of a floating crankbait and then thrown the weight-and-crankbait combination beyond a bedded fish. He then slowly dragged the assembly to the edge of the bed, gave the line slack, pulled it back in, and then repeated the process. The result: He picked up a very nice sack of fish. As the angler explained, the crankbait resembled a bream that was invading the bedded bass' nest. Made sense to the other angler, but he offered one slight modification: Use an egg sinker, instead of the large nut.

The UB author also offered the idea of rigging a small crankbait in tandem with a larger crankbait behind it, supposedly resembling a small baitfish being pursued by a larger predator.

Next came a suggestion from the UB author as a way to improve fishing in an area with clear water, post-frontal conditions, on an outside grass line. After throwing a jig, crankbait, t-rig, c-rig, dropshot, and some other things with no success, he decided to take a clear jerkbait, put it on his dropshot rod (with 8-lb. test) and use about 3 pounds of suspend dots to get the lure down and make it stable around 6 feet or so. He cast it out and got his bait to depth, then just stopped it. After what he described as the longest 60 seconds of his life, he twitched it a few times, then waited again. He didn't catch any huge fish that day but managed a limit...one that never would have made it into the livewell without resorting to something a little bit different.

And finally, how many of you ever have heard of the bobber-wacky rig? As the name implies, it features a wacky-rigged soft-plastic worm dangling beneath a sensitive float. Essentially, it lets you deadstick in the middle of the water column, which is a good way to catch pressured fish. This method works equally well for both largemouth and smallies.

The bobber-wacky rig is the brainchild of Matt Straw (left), one of the finest bass anglers you'll find anywhere. For this rig, he spools his reel with 10-pound-test braided line to facilitate long casts. He slides the line through the center of an A-Just-A Bubble, which has surgical tubing inside that you twist to hold the float in place, with the desired length of line dangling below. He then adds a small swivel and ties on a 3-to-5-foot leader fashioned from 6-to-10-pound-test fluorocarbon. Straw finishes the rig with a single AAA splitshot just below the swivel, and a 3-, 4- or 5-inch soft-plastic worm skewered through the center on a No. 4 Eagle Claw Wacky Worm Hook or Gamakatsu Baitholder Hook. To cast this rig out as far away from the boat as possible, he uses an 8-foot rod.

Said Straw, "I use this rig over boulders, sometimes with scattered cabbage along the edge. I also use it around reed beds and for fish suspended off the edge of sharp breaks. Some days, you need to twitch the bobber vigorously in place, or while pulling it slowly toward you. Other days, the bass want the up-and-down drift under the waves."

And speaking of waves, Straw notes the wind complements the presentation, making it even better.

"I've experienced huge success when water was coming over the bow of the boat, and people on board were turning green"...not from envy, either, he said with a chuckle. "The best scenario is a smaller chop, so that the resulting up-and-down motion of the rig is a little slower and more rhythmic."

No matter what the conditions, he says he'll chuck out a bobber-wacky rig whenever he's otherwise busy with the likes of tying knots or eating a sandwich.

Straw cycles through a variety of soft-plastic worms to find the size, shape and color the bass like best for his bobber-wacky rig. For years, he's relied on 3-, 4- and 5-inch Jackal, Yum, Gulp!, Senko, and PowerBait finesse worms. As for colors, he opts for natural hues, noting that the real attraction is the subtle vibration of the worm, not the color.

In our quest to become better anglers and catch more fish, it's important to remember this: The fish may travel in schools, but they never read a BassMaster Magazine or log onto Ultimate Bass.com. No one's saying you should run out and grab a bunch of bobbers for your next tournament, but you shouldn't be afraid to try a different approach and fish outside the box...just please do it fully clothed, though. Who knows? You just may fill the livewell and invent a new way to catch fish.