(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.)
When he first went out on tour, Pennsylvania pro Grae Buck found many of the Southern fisheries to be a mystery. “When you get to some of these giant reservoirs it’s pretty intimidating and you’ve got to cover water to really find a lot of them,” he explained. Over time, he developed a three-tool system that helps him break down big waters and then mop up the fish that he locates.
It starts with the vaunted Z-Man Jack Hammer, which he uses to cover water, especially (but not exclusively) in grass fisheries. “It tells me when there’s a fish there,” he said. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a 2-pounder or a 9-pounder, they all eat it. In fact, his biggest bass, a 9 1/2-pound beast, came on this bait during an MLF Pro Circuit event at Sam Rayburn. Once he finds them with this bait, he can come back with it during the tournament, or he can slow down and seine an area with a dropshot or Neko Rig.
Starting with the Jack Hammer, in lakes with varied forage bases he’ll start with green pumpkin. The matching blade is especially good with cloud cover. When there are yellow perch, bluegills or golden shiners around, he might prefer Brett’s bluegill, which has a gold blade. One of the sneakier patterns is green shad, which he’ll match with either a pearl-colored trailer or a California Craw trailer depending on the forage base and the water clarity.
His favorite trailer is the Razor Shad, but he makes some modifications to the soft plastic to get the whole package to a state of perfection. “The joints on the Razor Shad are what gives it the movement,” he said. Accordingly, he’ll trim the skirt so that the trailer gets maximum side-to-side motion. It’s a smaller overall profile, but still has the bulk of a hefty meal. He usually starts with a 1/2-ounce Jack Hammer because it allows for longer casts, but he’ll switch to the 3/8-ounce model when fishing super shallow or skipping docks.
He throws the Jack Hammer on a Favorite 741 Phantom glass cranking rod, which has a moderate action but ample backbone to set the hook or rip the bait out of the grass. He pairs it with a Soleus XCS 7.3:1 reel. “I don’t want them to get a super good look at this,” he said of the speedy retrieve rate. He’ll usually start with 17-pound Seaguar Tatsu, but doesn’t hesitate to drop down to 15 when he wants the lure to run deeper.
Once he locates a group of fish and determines that he needs to slow down and pick an area apart, Buck will usually switch to a dropshot, especially if the fish are suspended or there is algae on the bottom. He Texas-rigs his Z-Man finesse worm so that he can fish it in and around docks, brush and even grass. While many dropshotters like a medium-action rod, Buck prefers the Favorite 721 medium-heavy. “If you’re using a little medium-action rod, they’re going to work you over,” he said of the big fish that show up regularly. He pairs it with a size 2500 Favorite reel that picks up line quickly to get fish away from the cover. His preferred main line is Seaguar high-visibility Smackdown braid (usually 15-pound) with 10 to 12 feet of 8-pound Seaguar Gold Label affixed by a Crazy Alberto knot.
If you want to learn the third prong of Buck’s three-part system – his Neko-rigging tackle and strategy -– check out his full on-the-water video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
