After reading about Forrest Wood Cup runner-up Randall Tharp's prop-bait pattern in Wednesday's top story, BassFan Jonathan Edwards of Tennessee submitted the following questions:
"Randall Tharp threw a prop bait on 30-pound braid with a 6-foot co-polymer leader. I wonder why? Prop baits are notorious for the line wrapping on the front blade. Does this setup minimize this? I assume the clear water prohibited tying directly to braid, but it seems like a knot 6 feet from the bait would be difficult to cast on a 6 1/2-foot rod. What about it, Randall?"
We passed the questions along to Tharp, and here are his responses:
"Prop baits are indeed notorious for the line wrapping around the front blade. I used 14-pound some in practice and it did wrap around the front blade more, but when I moved up in line size, it eliminated this. If I had tied directly to the braid, it would have been worse due to how limp braided line is.
"Water clarity was also a factor in my decision for the entire setup. As far as the knot, it has never been an issue for me and I have gone to the braided line, fluoro or mono leader for a lot of different techniques that I use to do my job. In the entire setup, the bait itself and hooks were the weakest link.
"Casting distance was critical and I was able to make long, accurate casts in order to not spook fish, or to lead a fish that I saw. Another huge benefit was that the braid allowed me to maintain direct contact with my bait while my boat was moving at a high rate of speed. If my line got a bow in it, I simply lifted up on my rod tip and took up the slack, allowing me to cover more water. Straight mono tends to have more drag and does not float like braid, and therefore affects the action of the bait.
"I hope this helps. I believe if you give this setup a try, you will not be disappointed."
