Medium diving crankbaits can be excellent baits to entice prespawn smallmouth bass into striking as they make their transitions from wintering areas to the spawning flats.
Once you...
Pick the right bait
Identify the right depth, structure and cover
Hone in on the correct retrieve
Make multiple casts to each target
smallmouths usually "bring the heat" as they say and attack the fleeing crankbait!
Take a few minutes and listen to northeast bass pro Paul Mueller explain his thoughts and approach when fishing crankbaits for prespawn smallmouths...
One of the most basic and effective fishing lures ever developed is a simple hair jig.
Even though it is a very basic lure design, hair jigs are highly effective baits since they mimic the forage base of virtually all game fish including our favorites - largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass!
Depending on the methods used to tie the hair jig, it can be designed to imitate common fish forage such as minnows, crayfish and even leeches. Coupling the correct design with the proper fishing techniques (subject of a future post), jigs will produce quality and quantities of fish when many other techniques falter.
Most jigs can be tied using basic materials consisting of a vice, bobbin, jighead, thread, different types of animal hair or fur (bucktail, rabbit hair, etc.) as well as newer synthetic materials such as mylar and flash-a-boo.
In this video, Al Daher of Micky's Bait & Tackle (North Syracuse, NY) demonstrates the secrets to successfully tying hair jigs that catch fish ...
Enjoy and learn ..
Need components to modify baits or tie your own jigs?
Check out the wide variety of bait making and modifying items available at Lure Parts Online by clicking on the following image!
Some of the best tips are those providing a simple approach for creating innovative solutions to problems...
This video on "tricking out your swim jig" shows a very interesting method to modify a standard swim jig using the same technique we do when adding trailer hooks to spinnerbaits and buzzbaits but...
Rather than just adding a hook however, a blade and swivel is added letting you create your own spin jig from materials you have in your box...
Now that you have seen how to make your own swim jig spinner rig, you can adapt it to any jig or even a spinnerbait or chatterbait for that matter ;)
Changing water temperatures and sunlight intensity/duration strongly influence environmental conditions present in all water bodies throughout the year. Since bass as well other game-fish are cold-blooded creatures, evolving environments result in changes to the habitats game-fish and their forage in response to the surrounding environment...
Just think about the changes occurring in your local fishing holes throughout the season. Vegetation growth explodes from spring until late summer then dies off as water temperature and sunlight steadily decreases as winter approaches...
