(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.)
Advances in marine electronics have changed the tournament game, but dialing in your units and learning to interpret what they say can take a while. Two-time Bassmaster Elite Series winner Lee Livesay said that the best offshore anglers are the ones who graph all day long, so much that they can find groups with their side-imaging or down-imaging, and can tell bass from other species, but the learning curve can be difficult.
“Probably the easiest thing to do is get frustrated when you’re graphing and not finding fish,” he said. However, once you figure it out by spending the necessary time, it allows you to develop and enhance patterns simply using your mapping. If you’re not sure what you see in a particular place, drop a waypoint on it, turn the boat around and kill the motor over the top of it to get the clearest possible picture.
Once you find the fish, boat positioning and casting angles are critical. Many times the best places are the size of a picnic table, so if you miss it you might as well be fishing where there are no bass. He’ll use the line extension on his mapping and proximity tags to get the right positioning, and when he catches a few he’ll hit Spot Lock. When the bass stop biting, he’ll switch his angle before leaving. As with bass in grass mats, those in brush piles may be oriented in a way that favors a particular approach: “You never know which way that fish is facing.”
With respect to lures, he notes that “This one can go forever, it really can,” but tries to keep it simple and regimented. His first approach will often be with a big crankbait like a 6th Sense C15, C20 or C25, which collectively cover the range from 12 to 25 feet deep. He throws all three on the same rod, a Halo HFX 7’6” medium-heavy cranking stick paired with a high-speed reel spooled with 10- to 15-pound line.
When the crankbait bite dries up, he’ll move to a 3/4- or 1-ounce jig, either green pumpkin or black and blue, with a Paca Craw on the back. On the first approach, instead of dragging it, he’ll rip it and let it fall like a flutter spoon. After that, he’ll take on a more subtle approach. He uses a Halo HFX 7’6” medium-heavy rod (not the cranking rod mentioned above) and a high-speed reel spooked with 20-pound line. “They never hit it on the way up,” he said to explain why a fast reel is necessary.
Once the jig bite dries up, he’ll switch to spinning tackle and dropshot and Neko rigs. “If they don’t bite that, it’s time to keep graphing,” he said.
Another category of lures that he relies heavily upon are his “hair selection” from Hog Famer, which include a stand-up hair jig, a scrounger-style jig and an underspin, all with hair on the back (although soft plastics will work under certain circumstances, too).
To get an advanced class in the tackle Livesay uses for these three lures, along with specialized presentations, check out his full video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
