(Editor's note: "Catching Bass with Dustin Wilks" airs four times per week on Sportsman Channel – 6:30 a.m. ET Monday, 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, 5 a.m. Saturday and 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The six-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier provides BassFans with additional insight about each episode in these submissions.)
Last Week’s episode was set in the late fall/early winter period under bluebird sky conditions with water temps in the lower 50s.
The day set up terrible for fishing, I even considered throwing in the towel — hey, fishing shows are expensive to film. Mid-day I caught a 7-pounder and my confidence went through the roof. I knew I could duplicate it in other areas the rest of the day.
I ended up catching my biggest five of the season at 28.75 pounds. The culprit was literally the Culprit.
The Culprit Riptide Mullet Swimbait on an A-rig got the bulk of my fish. This rig is responsible for some of my best cold-water days (weight-wise) every year. I did catch a few fish mixed in on cranks and one 7-pounder on an Eco Pro spinnerbait shallow on rip-rap; those patterns I always look for as well.
Culprit Riptide Mullets are not widely distributed outside of some hardcore striper areas where they are known to be deadly. In fact, only a few retailers carry them and the best place to get them may be through the Culprit Online Store.
For bass, probably the only time you will hear of the Mullet is from my show. Last year I had two of my best filming days with it — one day for 32 pounds and another for over 25 with dozens of 4- to 5-pounders. They have the perfect cold-water action. I compare it to crankbaits; those with a tighter action work better in the cold water.
The Mullet I would describe as having tight action, with the perfect shad shape and incredible durability. I’m lucky to use a handful in a day, even catching dozens of fish. They are very easy to rig as well, not like some swimbaits that are hard to rig straight or to get them to stay on jigheads. It's one of those baits that you know you will be fishing with something different than everyone else because it seems everyone has gone all-in with just a couple styles of swimbaits.
This day they were on traditional A-rig areas of bridges. Bridges are hard to beat — depth, current, cover at all depths and shad. Some bass spend their entire lives there. These fish can be tricky to catch, so don’t assume you can just get some Culprit Riptide Mullets and go catch a whole mess of fish. Presentation of the right lure at the right depth multiple times is key. Bridge fish see baits all day, every day. This day was no different, I was around boats all day. I only saw one other bass get caught.
Multiple casts are key, and not just randomly. I do like randomness as a general rule in fishing because the random often leads you to something better, so go ahead with a random cast away from everything every now and then.
I’m very careful of retrieves and how the baits are positioned in the water. I want to cover each part of the water column. A fast retrieve will keep the bait shallower, but you can also short-cast a piling and reel your baits slow past that same shallow range. You can do the same in reverse for deep water or mid depth. Cast out, fish very slow down to where you want it to be, then really burn it. Be creative with it – fishing is different each day and you never know.
I do this for each piling and rip-rap area for each depth range once I’ve settled in to the fact that bridges and rip-rap are my best options. Vary retrieve, angle and casting distance and apply various twitches at key moments when you think you are exiting the strike zone. After some practice you can really get a feel for the bait. You will find the sun at your back is almost always better as well. I could nearly write a book about just the retrieve on the A-rig — it is that important even though it seems dummy-proof. Sometimes slow and steady is all you need — that's how I started out and I was convinced at one time that was all you ever needed.
I like 7-foot-6 and 8-foot rods Falcon Amistad flipping rods for the A-rig with 20- or 25-pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid. These setups are key for the rig. I like a very stiff rod, but line with some stretch, although not as much as mono. The Hybrid is very forgiving and easy to cast. The A-rig is so big, it is easy to mess up, so I like the forgiving line. I use 20 for casting far and the 25 for ultimate confidence of no break-offs and to free the rig from snags. With stiff rods you overcome the stretch of the line and get really good hooksets and land nearly every fish.
Oh, the duct tape. You should have watched the show to find out how to catch bass with it.
