By David A. Brown
Special to BassFan
Start with necessity, add equal parts innovation and creativity, season the stew with good old-fashioned problem-solving skills and you’ll get some pretty nifty ideas to better your bass fishing game.
In my work covering bass tournaments, I’ve long enjoyed seeing the day-to-day stuff that anglers come up with to help them overcome obstacles and squeeze more performance out of a particular bait or rig. Modifications and ambitious developments occur at every level of the game, but I’ve always been a fan of fundamentals. And when it comes to catching fish, is there anything more fundamental than a hook?
I’ve been fortunate enough to meet several anglers with the mind for making things work better and several have shared tips on hook-tweaking. From the subtle to the detailed, each speaks to the situational awareness and reasoning intrinsic to consistent success on the water.
Options are endless and innovation is limited only by one’s willingness to tinker. A drop in the bucket, for certain, but here are some tips to enlighten your angling routine and perhaps inspire a few new ideas.
Side-Swiped
At a recent Rayovac FLW Series tournament, Arkansas angler James Stricklin showed me how he rigs his Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver for flipping thick buck brush – and any dense cover. Basically, Stricklin starts with a standard Texas-rigging form, but instead of bringing the hook point through the bait’s head and reinserting it into the body in a perpendicular position, he brings the point out through the bait’s lateral edge, aligns it parallel to the body and then skin-hooks it through the side.
Stricklin explains his purpose: “Because the bait is so soft, if I rig it in the (traditional manner), it doesn’t take much for the hook to push through the body. When I’m flipping heavy cover, every bump can push that hook through and my bait will hang up.”
Here's a peek at how James Stricklin rigs a beaver bait when flipping.
Thusly arranged, Stricklin’s hook holds its position better with a minimized profile; yet, when a fish bites, there’s less material to pull through. Bottom line: Fewer snags and better hook-ups.
Seeing Red
Bassmaster Classic champion Casey Ashley is a big fan of the XCalibur Zell Pop, but he alters the bait to fit his preferences. First, he upsizes the treble hooks one size larger than the stock set. Heavier hardware makes the bait sit lower and that, he said, engages that water-pushing action faster than with a bait that sits higher.
Also, Ashley insists on a red hook, at least in the front position. Enhancing the visuals gives fish a targeting point and sometimes, that helps focus the attack for fewer misses.
That’s a Wrap
When a light jerkbait won’t suspend as he needs it to, Missouri angler David Ryan weights his front hook with lead wire he buys from a fly-tying shop. Preferring .015 or .020 size, Ryan said he believes this technique is a more stealthy option than adhesive lead.
“I prefer the lead wire so there is not a big lead dot on the bottom of the bait,” Ryan said.
Don’t Lose It, Latch It
Bassmaster Elite Series pro Mark Davis gets a lot of mileage out of his Strike King Shadalicious swimbaits, but not with the common tactic of gluing the plastic body to a swimbait head. Rather, Davis fashions a custom keeper that holds his swimbait in place.
Starting with a piece of spinnerbait wire, Davis forms a loop that attaches the keeper to the head’s line tie. About an inch below the loop, he bends the wire at a 45-degree angle, creates a U shape and trims this part to about a quarter-inch.
With the swimbait placed on the head, Davis uses his pliers to force that U-shaped end through the body and then latches it around the hook shank for a secure fit.
Polished Performance
FLW pro Jim Tutt is a big fan of the Gambler Ace, a soft-plastic stickbait with an enticing shimmy. When Texas-rigging the Ace for pitching/flipping trees, docks or brush, Tutt knows he needs some weight on the shank of his extra wide-gap hook, but traditional weighted hooks tend to tear up his worm by forcing too much mass through the plastic.
When throwing a swimbait on a jighead, Mark Davis fashions his own bait keeper out of spinnerbait wire.
Tutt’s answer: Storm Suspend Dots. Tutt places the adhesive lead circles on the shank of his hook and rolls the edges for a smooth fit with a lower profile that slides through his bait with minimal trauma.
Pretty nifty trick, but that’s not all. After placing the Suspend Dots on his hook shank, Tutt covers the add-ons with black fingernail polish. Not only does this improve the aesthetics with a dark finish to hide the detail, it also smoothes the surface so the additional bulk slides through a bait more easily.
Keep it to Yourself
Sturdy hooks and bait-keepers are an essential part of the flipping game at which Elite Series pro Terry Scroggins excels. Known for his hands-on approach to tackle, Scroggins has a method for building his own flipping hooks.
Starting with a 5/0 spinnerbait hook, Scroggins creates a keeper by cutting a quarter-inch piece of spinnerbait wire – after bending the end for the proper angle. With the keeper piece positioned on the hook shank with sufficient space allowed for snelling, Scroggins slips a piece of heat-shrink tubing (with interior glue) over the keeper’s base and seals it by heating with a cigarette lighter.
Now, are these the only innovative hook altering tactics? Not by a long shot. In truth, we’ve probably just scratched the surface. Each challenge, each obstacle to success, each moment of “what if” presents an opportunity to expand the arsenal of tricks and tactics.
Observe. Analyze. Ponder. Imagine.
And then figure out a way to elevate your game – one cool idea at a time.
