I just threw out all of my spinning rods.

With this being the 4th of July holiday column, I thought I’d switch it up a little. I'd planned to back down on the drama, hold off on the criticism and quit stirring the pot for once. For a change, I investigated some bass stats and found some pretty shocking information. First, let me enlighten you as to my reasoning.

I’m very intrigued by what it takes to win bass tournaments, as many of you now realize. A huge believer in the mental game, I also pay very close attention to the hard evidence that’s presented in the form of winning techniques and tackle. In today’s day and age of "match the hatch" swimbaits and $30 jerkbaits, you would think all of the “old school” methods would be obsolete, right?

Well, I decided to investigate the winning patterns of recent tournaments this week, just to get away from the norm and back into the “cool” of pro fishing, and I was really enlightened as to what I found. I took a look at the pro tours from the last 3 years and stockpiled information from just over 50 events.

The first, most glaring piece of data was that few events had any mention of shaky-heads in the winning pattern. Now I’m not suggesting that no one is out there throwing shaky-heads, but their use is minimal in comparison to the not-so-distant past, when they seemed to dominate every event. So I guess I’m ditching the "fairy wands."

Another piece of info that I’ve suggested to aspiring pros for years: If you want to win, learn to crank and flip. It seems that, no matter the latest craze or time of year, the major circuits always have a place for these methods. Considering the events researched, over one-third involved traditional cranking or flipping heavy cover as a winning method. And, looking back into the years gone by, we see that crankers and flippers have made their mark through history.

Nearly 30 years have passed since Rick Clunn destroyed the competition in the Classic by cranking on the Arkansas River. He was still cranking when beaten earlier this season by Keith Combs, who, not surprisingly, utilized a crankbait. You would think, with all of the new-wave lures, bass would figure out that a crankbait is fake.

Another surprising stat: Very few wins have occurred recently with a frog. Though there are a few, with the fact that nearly every tour pro uses a frog religiously, I would assume this big-fish technique would win more. Perhaps the old adage about topwater patterns being fragile holds true.

As we all know (and have debated for months), the umbrella rig has become a dominant player on the FLW Tour. It's amassed several wins in its short history, and the pros appear to be expanding its reach. It will be interesting to see how far this goes, and whether anyone can figure out why a bass would rather chase one shad than a dozen.

Another piece of information that intrigued me during my investigation is that winning lures are often very specialized. A few cases in point: Lefebre’s unheard of swimbait at Kentucky Lake, Wolak’s weird jigs at Champlain, or Kennedy’s pet swimmers at West Point.

Other times, the pros used standard lures in very unique ways in order to win, like long-lining crankbaits; or by developing new methods not yet seen by bass, like Tommy Biffle’s hardhead system or the big flutter spoon.

To leave you with the official breakdown of my research efforts, here are the recent best methods, according to the best anglers, to win a bunch of money bass fishing. Some overlap, as multiple lures were used. Remember, these are just generalizations of the top producers, based on media reports:

Crankbaits: 12
Jigs (shallow and deep): 9
Flipping: 8
Swimbait: 6
Sight-fishing: 6
Worm: 5
Umbrella rig: 5
Swim jig/worm/ shad: 5
ChatterBait: 2
Frog: 2
Other: 4

Enjoy the holiday.

(Joe Balog is the often outspoken owner of Millennium Promotions, Inc., an agency operating in the fishing and hunting industries. A former Bassmaster Open and EverStart Championship winner, he's best known for his big-water innovations and hardcore fishing style. He's a popular seminar speaker, product designer and author, and is considered one of the most influential smallmouth fishermen of modern times.)