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Bass Big

September 26th, 2008 admin No comments

Bass Big
Can I fish big 8" trout swimbaits and catch bass on Tennessee reservoirs?

I've seen Bill Siemantel fish 8" swimbaits like the Spro BBZ and catch monsters! I was wondering if I could fish big trout swimbaits like that and catch big bass on Tennessee reservoirs even though there is absolutely no trout in these lakes.

I don't see why not. A lot of those swimbaits do come in more colors than just "rainbow trout". And they don't always catch big bass. Smaller ones will hit them too. Don't forget, a bass will try to eat something half its own size. The smallest bass I've gotten on a swimbait is about 4 pounds. This was on a homemade 16" one.

Your best bet is DEAD STICKING a floating swimbait. Cast it out as far as you can and let it sit. If you're a smoker for instance, light up a cigarette, smoke the entire thing, then after you're done smoking it, give the bait a little twitch. That's about... five minutes, give or take a few seconds depending on the brand you smoke. I smoke Marlboro 100s. Anywhoo, when you give it that first twitch, that's when a bass will usually hit it. A big bass nearby is going to notice that huge splash your bait just made. It's going to investigate what did it. And it's going see a trout sitting there not doing a thing. It's going to continue watching it. Until you make it twitch. This method can take up to 30 minutes to work the swimbait in once. It's long and tedious, but the reward is usually a hefty one, say 8-pounds plus.

With sinking swimbaits, slow steady retrieves work fairy well in deeper water. When fishing shallow, slow-rolling the bottom helps too.

Go Muskie - I don't usually fish swimbaits during the fall, although I do see guys that call themselves "power fisherman" throwing swimbaits constantly all year long. I use swimbaits more during the winter and sometimes into spring, depending when the trout dumps stop. That's usually about the end of February or March, sometimes as late as April.

It works great in all depths. On one point in particular that I like on my home lake goes down to about 40 feet or more when the lake is completely full. When trout are being stocked, they're dumped at one of two launching ramps, and the water is no more than fifteen feet deep at either ramp. So dead sticking works pretty well (for me at least) at either depth.