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Chalk Talk: Ike discusses spybaits

Chalk Talk: Ike discusses spybaits

(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)

Spybaiting, referred to in some quarters as “spinbaiting,” is a subtle solution to making bass bite that has gained notoriety in recent years, particularly in smallmouth country. Nevertheless, the vast majority of even serious bass anglers have yet to adopt it. That’s a mistake, said Mike Iaconelli.

No less an expert than Iaconelli calls it “game-changing,” and its value lies in the fact that it excels when fishing is tough. “When fishing is good, tie your sneaker on and put a 5/0 treble hook on it," he said. When a good spinnerbait or jerkbait bite dies, though, this is often your best alternative. It’s effective in all four seasons and under all weather conditions, but it excels when it’s super-hot or super-cold and in post-frontal situations.

While many lures work because they create a commotion or a ruckus, the spybait’s value lies in its subtlety.

“The key premise of spybaiting is that you’re trying to look like that baitfish that is all by himself and is just moving naturally and non-threateningly, no big movements, no big, giant vibration or flash or wobble. That’s an easy meal,” Ike said.

Accordingly, he dotes on natural colors that “match the hatch.” In clearer water and under bright skies, he’ll go even more natural and translucent, and on darker days, or under stormy skies, he looks to paint jobs that are more solid. The only time he definitively rules them out is in “real dirty, muddy water.”

Fishing them is surprisingly simple. He looks for areas that demand a horizontal presentation, like flats, and then he tries to cover water. He’ll count it down before he starts his retrieve – 2 seconds on the first cast, 4 seconds on the next one, 6 seconds after that – until he gets the first bite. The lure is meant to fall on a semi-slack line.

“About every 10 to 15 cranks of that reel handle I want you to stop and bow to it and start back up,” he added. He said that the vast majority of his strikes, approximately 70 percent, come right before or right after that small pause. Similarly, when he knows that he’s coming to a depth change or drop-off, he’ll once again let it fall on controlled slack and then lift and drop.

With the standard lightweight 3- to 4-inch models, Iaconelli likes a 6’10” or 7’4” spinning rod, although he’ll go to casting gear with larger spybaits. Either way, he wants a rod with some give, either a 60/40 or 70/30 action, “not parabolic but soft.” At least 70 percent of the time he uses straight fluorocarbon line because it lets the lure exhibit the “subtle little shake” that makes it so deadly. The rest of the time he’ll use light braid for a main line and add a leader of fluorocarbon or monofilament.

If you want to learn more of Mike Iaconelli’s year-round spybaiting techniques, including how he builds inexpensive soft spybaits from easily available components, check out his full video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.

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