Bass Fishing Tips

– You know, two of my very
favorite ways to fish,are topwater and flipping. Topwater, you have got
to get a bass to commitsomething that’s above him. It’s an exciting way to
fish,a nd you can also catchsome really big ones. And then, flipping,
hand-to-hand combat. Short line, you
gotta get in there,in the vista and get ’em out. Today’s show is gonna show
off both of these techniques,give you some different
tips on each one. I think it’s gonna
be a great show. Thanks for joining us. This is Fishing & Hunting Texas. – From
Mexico to Louisiana,the Red River, down
to the Laguna Madre,Texas is one big playground. Join professional
bass fisherman,and three-time FLW Angler of
the Year, Clark Wendlandt,as he takes you on some of
the best outdoor adventuresthe Lone Star
State has to offer. This is Fishing & Hunting Texas. – You know, topwater’s
everybody’s favorite
way to fish. Today we’re gonna
take an in-depth lookat topwater fishing. First off, we’re gonna
start with your rod. – You know, one of the
critical components to workingtopwater well, is your
actual rod selection. And there’s so many different
classes of topwater baits,I actually use several
different rods. My very favorite rod
that I’ve got is aCabela’s XML jerkbait
topwater Rod. You can see that right there,
it says jerkbait topwater. This is a rod that’s
not real long. You know, the tendency
in rods these days,is to go really, really long. Well, this one’s not real long. And the reason is, is because
when you’re working a popper,or maybe a Sexy Dawg, something
that goes back and forth,you’re actually jerking
it a whole lotta times. You’re jerk, jerk, jerk, jerk. You don’t want something to
wear out your wrist, your elbow. Because if you gotta long
rod, you’re not gonna be ableto do it nearly as well. And so, this rod to me, actually
feels absolutely perfect. It’s a rod, that when I jerk
it, it’s just real light,real easy to work the bait. Here they come. That’s a good one. I can see him coming. Oh, gosh darn, that is
too much fun, right there. When you can catch a
big fish on topwater,what can be better than that? Oh! I caught that on
the Sexy Dawg Jr. And so, that’s the rod that
I probably use the most. I use it on poppers, I
use it on walking baits. For a buzzbait, though, I
use a totally different rod. And on this rod
right here, I usea spinnerbaitswim jig rod. The reason is, a
buzzbait is pretty closeto a spinnerbait. So it seems like kind
of a natural fit. This rod right here has a
little bit more backbone,and all I’m doing with the
buzzbait is I’m just reeling. I’m just making
casts, reeling it in. Making a cast, reeling it in. So the spinnerbait swim jig
rod works really good for that. And then the other rod I’ve
got for topwater baits,is a Frog. And this actually here,
is a Popping Perch,made by Strike King. This rod is actually
labeled a Frog Rod. It’s got a lot of backbone,
but also enough tipto work that bait. If you’ve ever seen
a frog in open water,it’ll actually work back
and forth, back and forth,back and forth. And so, you want a rod that has
a little bit of a limber tipbut a ton of backbone in
the middle of the rod. Hey, the rod is critical
when you’re topwater fishing. You want something that is
not gonna wear your arm outall day. Cabela’s XML, try ’em. Now hey, that’s a look at rods. The next thing to consider
is, is line choice. And really, it’s all
about personal preference. You know, one of the things
you gotta think aboutwhen you’re topwater fishing is,is what your line
setup’s gonna be. There’s several different
ways you can go,and a lot of times, it’s
actually personal preferenceas to which one’s the best. You gotta get out
there and fish it. I’m gonna talk about the
different ways you can do it. First of all, you can
go just pure mono. That’s what’s on this rig;
I’ve got a Sexy Dawg on here. This is Sunline Shooter Defier. This is 17-pound test, and
the cool thing about mono is,is mono floats. So when you’re actually
fishing this bait,it will not sink the bait. You can’t fish fluorocarbon
with topwater very well. Because it’ll actually sink
the bait down in the water. But mono works pretty good. But there’s some
drawbacks to mono. There’s a lot of stretch to it,sometimes if you make
a really long cast,it won’t work the bait
quite as effectively,because there is a
little bit of bend. The good things about it
is, is obviously it floats. You can get it in
this green color,which looks really, really good. And, the other thing is, is
that when you’re working it,or when you’re making a
really long cast with it,and you’re hurrying to get to
something like schooling fish,the loops won’t create
loops in your spool,and actually have a backlash. It’s a little bit
more forgiving line. So much
fun right there. When you watch ’em like that. I’ve never, I mean, it’s
like fish in slow motion. When they bite like
that, they come upand it’s like, you know,
they’re coming, they’re coming,and it’s just like
they’re in slow-motion. So much fun. Yeah, there’s nothing like
catching bass on topwater. The other way to go is, is
just with straight braid. On this right here,
I’ve got 35-pound BX2. This is just straight
braid right here. And I tied, actually,
to the bait. Now, when you tie to
this bait right here,it lets the bait work
a little bit easier. I like the way the bait works
with just straight braid. The drawbacks to straight braid
are, every once in a while,your hooks are gonna hooked
up just a little bit more. The other drawback, maybe,
is if you’re really triyng towing a cast out there
fast, maybe a fish bus,or schooling fish, and you
get that loop in there,it’ll backlash. So always, there’s
kinda give and take. You gotta personally do
it and actually figure outwhich one’s the best. I personally like braid
if I can get away with it. The other rig I’ve got here,
is actually a Popping Perch. And on this Popping Perch,
I always fish braid. I love a braid with any
kinda frog-style bait. Maybe even a toad-style
bait, something that buzzeson the top. I like braid with a buzzbait
a lot of the times, also. So you can go any
different direction. Figure out what’s the best
for you, see if it works. Feel what a fish is like on
there and then go to that. Oh that’s a good one. The cool thing about it
is, they’re all good. Man, that’s a pretty fish. – Well, it’s
now time for a break. But stay tuned, as Clark
shares more secretsabout topwater fishing, and
how to catch a lot of bass. Right here, on Fishing
& Hunting Texas. Fishing & Hunting Texas
is brought to you byBass Pro Shops, your
adventure starts here. Ranger Boats, still building
legends one at a time. And by Garmin, fight your
fish, not your fish-finder. Welcome back to this episode
of Fishing & Hunting Texas. Now, on today’s show, host
Clark Wendlandt is discussingtwo of his favorite
ways to fish. Topwater and flipping. Now, so far, we’ve shown you
the various rods and linesneeded to effectively
fish topwater techniques. Now, we turn our
focus to the lures,as Clark breaks down
one of his go-to baits,the topwater popper. – You know, one of my very
favorite baits is a popper. This bait right here,
Strike King KVD Splash,they also make a Splash Jr,
which is a little bit smaller. You know, one thing
I do on my setup is,is the first thing I do, is I
go in and change up my hooks. I’ve got Owner ST-36s,
they’ve got treblesthat actually got
feathers on it. I got a little bit of
blue color in there. As far as the rest of my setup
goes, I like braided lines. The line I’ve got is BX2,
I like about 35-pound test. Now the reason I
like braided line,braided line can be a
little bit more cantankerouswhen you’re trying to cast it. The reason I like it is, is
when you’re working that bait,I feel like it works
just a little bit betterwith braided line. You can go with mono also. You don’t want to go
with fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon will
actually sink the bait. So either mono or braid,
or you can fish braidto a mono leader. Any of those will work well. You just have to
figure out personally,which one works best for you. As far as my rod
and reel setup goes,I use a Cabela’s XML
jerkbait topwater rod. The jerkbait topwater rod
is a fairly light rod,that’s not real long. I can sit there and
twitch it; I can pop it. And when you see the bait
working in the water,it kinda pops, it loops, it
splashes, it goes side to side. It does just a little
bit of everything. It makes some really good
noises that fish really like. It’s a bait you can
fish really fast,skipping across the water, or
you can fish it pretty slow. Either way will actually work. As far as the reel goes,
I use a Cabela’s Arachnid. I don’t like a real
fast reel for a popper. This one here is actually
six point three to one. You know, think about a
popper when you’re outtopwater fishing. You’ve got all kinds
of different baits,but a popper can get you
some really big bites. That’s a good one. I’m working that bait
along, and all of a suddenI start skipping it. And that’s the cool thing aboutwhen you’re fishing a popper,this bait right here, KVD Flash, and all of a sudden
I start skipping it. There we go, look
at that, KVD Splash. I just picked that bait up. And actually the
sun’s getting up,but sometimes they just
like topwater the best. That’s pretty good
fish right there. You know I love
throwing a popper,but one of my very favorite
topwaters to throw,is an old-school buzzbait. Buzzbaits today, we’re putting
different trailers on ’em. It’s not always just a skirt. Lot of times we’re
putting a toad. You can catch some
huge fish on ’em. You know, one of the
great baits to fishin the fall of
year, is a buzzbait. This bait right here,
is actually a Strike
King Sugar Buzz. The reason I like it
is because it actuallymakes a loud clacking sound. You heard that bait
when it came in. The reason it makes that is,
is because the actual bladeactually hits the head. So when it goes around,
it’s ka-ka-ka-ka. You can also bend the blade
out just a little bit,and it won’t make
that noise at all. Oh, Sugar Buzz bass. Instead of a skirt,
I changed and I puta Super Toad on there. Now, buzzbait colors are
not something that I getall that worried about. It’s on top of the water,
it’s kinda frothing the water. I either fish white,
I fish chartreuse,I might fish green
pumpkin, or I fish black. There’s really only four
different colors I fish. This is a big fish
catching bait. And the reason they bite it
is because of the sound of it. – God! Nothing better. Mm, short-liner too. Oh, there you go, awesome. Whoo, man!- That was a biter out there. – I watched him come up
and eat it, I go, oh no. – I was looking totally
this way, and I mean,it was like, I knew
that would have bit. – With that much line out, I
never turned the reel handle,I don’t think. – So when you’re fishing
it, you gotta figure outwhat they want. Do they want a
really fast retrieve?Do they want a little
bit slower retrieve?Do they want something
that basically gurgles?Or do they want something that,where this is actually
hitting the headand making a clacking sound. All of that is just
purely trial and error. As far as your rod goes, I throwan XML spinnerbait
and swim jig rod. Which is basically the same
rod that I throw a swim jigor a spinnerbait on. It’s a rod that’s got
some backbone to it. Because a lot of times,
just like I’m fishing here,you’ll fish it in some cover. It’ll get you a lot of bites. It’s old-school, a little bit. The only thing a little
bit different is,we gotta toad on there
instead of a skirt. But it can catch a lot of fish. There he is. You got it, dude. There’s just absolutely
nothing like the excitementof catching one on a buzzbait. – It really is. – I mean, it’s a hookup bait. Now, we’ve hooked great today. – It’s pretty fantastic. – It’s unbelievable. – Well, coming
up after the break,we continue discussing
how to catch shallow bass. This time, when using
a flipping setup. So stay tuned for that and more. Here, on Fishing
& Hunting Texas. This portion of
Fishing & Hunting Texasis brought to you, in part by,Cabela’s, it’s in your nature. By Strike King. Sawyer, we keep you outdoors. And by TH Marine. Now, as we’ve seen so
far in today’s episode,topwater can be a
great technique to
target shallow bass. Another way to get a good
number of bites while fishingshallow cover, is by flipping. We now join host,
Clark Wendlandt,as he shares one of his
favorite flipping setups. – I love flipping. First of all, it’s
hand-to-hand combat. Short line, and you never
know what’s gonna happen. Second of all, you can catch
some giant bass flipping. Here’s one of my very
favorite flipping setups. You know, one of the bset
ways to catch big fish,or to catch fish in general,
is vertical flipping. And a lot of times we get stuck
wanting to topwater over it,or crank over it,
or spinnerbait over,you know, grass, maybe
fish on the outside edge. And sometimes that’s
where the fish are. But sometimes they get
right in the centerof all that thick stuff, and
the only way you can get to ’emis with a totally
vertical presentation. When you’re doing that,
the one thing I’d say is,is go to braid. Because braid is gonna
cut through that,whatever kinda cover it is,
whether it’s matted on top,whether it’s vertical deep
grass that you’re flipping. When you set the
hook on the fish,you got the best
chance to get him out. Before braided lines,
say, 20 years ago,a lot of times we’d really
struggle to get those fish out. With braid, a lot of times
you can actually put leverageon those fish and get ’em out. I like Sunline FX2,
it’s probably my
favorite flipping line. If I’m gonna be flipping,
usually 60-pound test. I know I’m not gonna have
any problems with it. It’s still a really
small diameter,so I know that the fish
aren’t gonna see it,they’re not gonna react to it. Very sensitive line,
it’ll absolutely,when you set the hook with it,basically you’ve got the fish. I mean, it’s like dead
on there immediately. And so, that’s what
I really like to do. As far as my rod
and reel setup, man,XML Bass, made by
Cabela’s, flipping stick. Flipping stick is perfect for
any of those applications. When you have
braided line on thereand that big flipping
stick, you’re gonna be ableto get those fish
out of heavy cover. And all of a sudden,
I make another castback into that clump. See all that grass
wrapped around him? That’s what we’re
fishing for, there. The reason you gotta have a
big weight and a heavy baitto get down in that stuff,
is because a lot of timesthose fish will vertically
sit down right on the bottom,in the middle of all that grass. They can swim through
it real easily,but our baits can’t
get to it real easily. You’ve gotta have your bait
drop straight down to ’emand then when you get a bite,
you jerk and you catch himand you bring him
straight back out. Hey, flipping heavy grass
is a way you can catcha ton of good fish. So there’s one great
flipping setup. But whatever you
use, a lot of times,is just personal preference. You can use different line,
different rod, different bait. Here’s another great
flipping setup. You know, in the
summer, late summer,fishing can be pretty tough. And one way to combat that,
to catch really good fish,is to actually flip. And here, I’m actually
flipping bushes with a jig,but you can flip soft plastic
baits with a heavyweight,or you can fish a jig. Either one of them
will work equally well. But the reason that that bait,you know, those
fish, a lot of times,when they move out
of that deep waterthey’re gonna move
into shallow coverand they’re just gonna
get in the thickest stuffthat they can get. So what I’m basically doing
is, is I’m taking this bait,I’m flipping it in
the very middle of it. The bait I’m throwing right hereis a half ounce, Hack
Attack heavy cover jig. Green pumpkin, with
a Rage Craw trailer. When you look at that
bait right there,the trailer actually
flaps all the way down. It’s got a really
good weed guard. And it’s got a really good hook. Heavy cover jig,
something you can flipin the heaviest cover you want,and very rarely
are gonna get hung. Any bait gets hung a little bit. But this one right here, is
not gonna get hung very often. As far as line goes, I
personally like fluorocarbonmost of the time. This is 20-pound Sniper
Fluorocarbon, Sunline. I also would use braid if
the bush is heavy enoughand I feel like I need it
to get him outta there. Then I’ll go to braid,
but for the most part,20 or 25-pound
Sniper Fluorocarbon. – And next, here
on Fishing & Hunting Texas,well, Clark breaks down
another variety of flippinghe likes to do. This time, around the docks. Hey, stick around to learn more
on Fishing & Hunting Texas. This portion of
Fishing & Hunting Texasis brought to you in part byEngel Coolers, a
legend in reliability. Owner, perfection in hooks. And by Power-Pole,
swift, silent, secure. – You know, one of my very
favorite ways to fish,pre-spawn during February,
kinda leading up to the spawn,on lakes that got
stationary docks on them,either mill or
wood, is with a jig. This is a Strike King
skipping jig, half-ounce. I’ve got a Rage,
a Menace trailer,both of ’em in green pumpkin. The reason I like it so
much, is those big fishwill get around those docks. They’ll get up under the docks. Sometimes they’ll be
on the shallow parts,sometimes they’ll be
on the deep parts. But those docks are places
that they actually stagebefore they’re gonna go spawn. Now that one was way up shallow. The first couple we caught
were out deeper on the dock. That one was right. Get in here. See a little bit of
grass right here,but that fish was way
up under that dock. And every fish is just
a little bit different. Good, healthy looking
fish up under that dock. There’s my jig. I love the skipping jig,
because I can actually slide itway up under that dock,
skip it way up under thereand work every bit of the dock. You gotta have a
little bit of room. I need about that much
to really skip well. If it’s only that far, a lot
of times the skip will hit,and it’ll still hit the dock. But if you’ve got
that much room,you can slide it up under there. Sometimes they’re on
the outside poles,sometimes they’re
at the very back. But fishing stationary docks,
leading up to the spawn,is a way you can catch
some huge bags of fish. Look at this fat, football
of a fish, right here. Get in here. Look at that fish, that
is so pretty right there. Man. Now, I was actually working
that bait pretty slow. I had skipped way
up under that dock. And that’s one thing we
found on these docks today,you gotta be way up under there. One thing you gotta realize is,is that, you know, next day
they may be on the outside. You may be fishing
something fast,but today it’s gotta be
flipping or skipping,pitching something
up under the dock. That fish, beautiful fish. Hey, we enjoyed bringing
you today’s show. If you get the opportunity,
check out our website,like us on our Facebook page. Message us, let us know
where you’d like to see us goall around this great state. We’d love to hear from you.