Chasing the bass record has ruined lives, wrecked marriages and shattered friendships, but it’s also revolutionized how we fish for largemouths. Here are some of the best tips from those still in the hunt.
May 13, 2008
Bed Fishing for Giants
Tactic at a Glance: Fishing for nest-guarding bass is not nearly the slam-dunk that detractors would have you believe. The primary goal is to locate deep bass beds, those most often utilized and guarded by only the largest of the species. Typically, the nest has one sweet spot. When a lure hits the spot, it is viciously attacked. However, these beds are difficult to pinpoint and the sweet spot can be even harder to find. To top it off, there is frequently only a short window during which the presentation has a chance of eliciting a true strike. Otherwise the offering will be ignored or the fish might simply try to knock it away.
Bed fishermen rely largely on visual information. Early crawdad/bass bed anglers like Bob Crupi and Dan Kadota would spend 6 to 12 hours double anchored, waiting for pre-spawners to move onto one or two spots. Nowadays, Dickerson spends only 20 minutes or so working a bed, trying to get all elements in his favor.
"Sometimes it just gets personal," says Dickerson. "Finally, I'll move to another nest on the shoreline but come back later."
Bassketeer Battleplan: Dickerson almost invariably uses ½-ounce white jigs for better visibility at depth, and sometimes spikes them with Pro-Cure's Rainbow Trout Super Gel (pro-cure.com).
Aside from the custom Bob Sangster Rattlesnake jig that Weakley used to catch Dottie, the trio sometimes present big Toro tubes—custom-colored, dressed with eyes and slightly weighted. Note that other anglers often troll these lures. Watching these three anglers fish—hunt, really—you are struck by their intensity. In the pre-dawn mist and chill breeze, or later when the sun is high, you first think that the pulled-up hoods of their jackets or sweats are protective, but the hoods often stay up in calm and cloud, as though to shut away distractions and enhance their focus.
"You've got to be with it all the time now" says Mike Winn. "Before the big fish was caught, Dixon bass would hang maybe three or four days on the beds. Now they're in and out faster; sometimes they move at night."
Sometimes, when opting to bed-fish with a swimbait rather than a jig, Dickerson chooses one of the variously designed soft-plastic swimtails. To work it, he casts the bait beyond the bed, dragging it in as he would a jig. Sometimes swimbaits and jigs are alternated with each presentation. The key, however, is to let the lure lie still on the bottom right after entry.
Once it has rested a bit, Dickerson "activates" the bait. A right-hander, he tucks his rod butt beneath his left arm, and with his baitcasting reel in gear, he takes the line coming from the levelwind mechanism between thumb and forefinger for a better sense of what the lure is doing. Then he begins to shake, or more accurately, vibrate his arm. The tremor-like movement is telegraphed down to the lure. Should the line drape over a rock or other object, no problem—it can actually help achieve the ultimate goal of keeping the lure in the target zone as long as possible.
"Sometimes the fish will hit the lure way off to the side of the bed," says Dickerson, "especially in the clearest lakes."
Many skilled anglers prefer a slack set, dropping their rod tip a moment, then striking. But Mac Weakley who, aside from Dottie, has numerous bodacious bigmouth to his credit including a 19.44 from Lake Dixon, will advise you otherwise in bed fishing.
"You're fishing close, so you can't give them that moment. You set quickly, directly." Mac and his pals mainly use 7-foot rods, typically the G. Loomis GLX BCR 855. "Once you set, you keep your rod low and crank. If she jumps, don't drop-bow to the fish. Just keep cranking and pull her another four feet over," says Weakley.
Swimbait Bassing
Tactic at a Glance: Since the 1980s, uncounted variations on big trout-imitating swimbaits have come and gone, but the form continues to claim center stage among many record hunters as well as those simply interested in good odds on big bass.
Of the hard baits, newer multi-jointed models are the vogue. Hybrids that include at least the hind end—if not the entire body—and are configured of soft plastic have a long track record and seem even more popular. Various weighting systems and wiring are used on the soft-plastics. All have some form of swimming tail. One of the more unusual makes is the Stocker Swimbait (tacklewarehouse.com) with its patented, clear-plastic concave wings or fins jutting from each side. The wings help broadcast considerable vibrations. Todd and Rod Thigpin never designed the baits to sell, but word got out. Now while Todd markets the lures, Rod guides anglers for trophy bass (rodthigpin.com; 805-901-3196). Neither brother has the patience for bed fishing, so they use their lures cranked at varying speeds at long-studied spots, especially on Lake Casitas.
Swimbait Shockers: With highly active fish in warm weather, the Stocker swimbaits can be worked briskly on top, but mainly it's a slow-and-slower presentation that produces best. Retrieved in that mode, the lures have gained a reputation as the bait with the perfect tail. A crank-and-pause retrieve causes the things to push a subtle wake when worked just beneath the surface, typical of trout and many other baitfish. The lures can be swum near surface, but left alone they'll sink, each size—7, 9, or 10-inches—at a different rate. The trick is to line watch, keeping your rod tip down, ready for the big, full swing it often takes to hook up using these baits. Bass sometimes blow up on the lures, mouth closed,probably just to see what the thing will do. Obviously, you'll swing—and get nothing. Right then you must leave the lure where it is, not moving, then slowly inch it away. Excited from your initial reaction, the bass will come again and the second strike is usually for real.
Lakes with definitive pre-spawn staging structures and ambush points are ideal for swimbaits. Points are perfect, as are edges accessing shallows with a nearby drop-off. Current, prevailing wind, or some unique structural feature regularly determine where baitfish schools (including stocked rainbows in California lakes) will hold along a point. Bass learn those hotspots. Once you do, it pays to work a swimbait there rather than follow the normal practice of paralleling the entire point during the retrieve. That said, on Casitas, as elsewhere, there are a few spots where retrieving along a point is better—usually by slipping the boat next to shore, then casting out to where bass gang up on the structure's downwind side.
The Thigpins fit Shimano 400 CTE reels to their 8-foot G. Loomis swimbait rods (mainly model 957 with the 904 for the 7-inch baits). The longer length produces increased casting distance and enhances hook sets by moving more line on the sweep. Casting these big baits demands practice. First let the lure hang 16 to 18 inches below the tip with the rod out front. Come back a bit past 90 degrees, pause, letting the rod fully load, and use your lower hand as a fulcrum to power forward. If you make a swift back and forward cast as is typical with normal lures, the rod tip can whip around, and with the long line drop, the bait gets awfully close to your head on the forward cast.
When the water's clear, bass will come up from 30 feet and deeper for the big swimbaits. In early spring, the Thigpins are happy for a little wind after a calm because it tends to push the bed fishermen off, giving the brothers more options. Similarly, cold-front shots will push bass from the shallows to 15-20-foot-deep staging areas better fished with the big lures.
During post-spawn periods on Casitas, big bass often pack up and can be truly aggressive.
"Sometimes those packed-up, post spawn bass just follow the bait," says Ralph "Doc" Holliday (a.k.a. the Hawg Doctor), a master angler with the Stocker baits. "This is vital: You have to leave them and come back later. If you keep beating up on them you'll ruin them for the day. They learn."
Todd Thigpin will tell you many anglers mistakenly fish big swimbaits only a half-hour at a time. "That's not long enough to gain confidence," he says. "You need to throw them all day and use them correctly."
SoCal bass fishing is no-doubt the epicenter of the world-record bass chase. Are the dynamics symptomatic of that part of human nature ever striving to push the envelope of achievement—faster speeds, more home runs, new world records—through our work, our dreams, innovations or imaginations? You'd better believe it.
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Aside from the custom Bob Sangster Rattlesnake jig that Weakley used to catch Dottie, the trio sometimes present big Toro tubes—custom-colored, dressed with eyes and slightly weighted. Note that other anglers often troll these lures. Watching these three anglers fish—hunt, really—you are struck by their intensity. In the pre-dawn mist and chill breeze, or later when the sun is high, you first think that the pulled-up hoods of their jackets or sweats are protective, but the hoods often stay up in calm and cloud, as though to shut away distractions and enhance their focus. 
Of the hard baits, newer multi-jointed models are the vogue. Hybrids that include at least the hind end—if not the entire body—and are configured of soft plastic have a long track record and seem even more popular. Various weighting systems and wiring are used on the soft-plastics. All have some form of swimming tail. One of the more unusual makes is the Stocker Swimbait (tacklewarehouse.com) with its patented, clear-plastic concave wings or fins jutting from each side. The wings help broadcast considerable vibrations. Todd and Rod Thigpin never designed the baits to sell, but word got out. Now while Todd markets the lures, Rod guides anglers for trophy bass (rodthigpin.com; 805-901-3196). Neither brother has the patience for bed fishing, so they use their lures cranked at varying speeds at long-studied spots, especially on Lake Casitas.
The Thigpins fit Shimano 400 CTE reels to their 8-foot G. Loomis swimbait rods (mainly model 957 with the 904 for the 7-inch baits). The longer length produces increased casting distance and enhances hook sets by moving more line on the sweep. Casting these big baits demands practice. First let the lure hang 16 to 18 inches below the tip with the rod out front. Come back a bit past 90 degrees, pause, letting the rod fully load, and use your lower hand as a fulcrum to power forward. If you make a swift back and forward cast as is typical with normal lures, the rod tip can whip around, and with the long line drop, the bait gets awfully close to your head on the forward cast.
Todd Thigpin will tell you many anglers mistakenly fish big swimbaits only a half-hour at a time. "That's not long enough to gain confidence," he says. "You need to throw them all day and use them correctly."
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