Just qualifying for the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship is a big deal, let alone winning it. Then how 'bout winning it on an atypical bait combo your dad designed? Had to call him, here's 5:

1. When did you know you'd win that tournament?

> "When I pulled into the harbor and went over there and talked to Mr Wil [Dieffenbauch who finished 2nd], and asked did he catch them. He said he just had 3 fish. I knew then I had a heck of a chance to win it then – he said his 3 fish didn't weigh that much."

2. Does your dad make you fish that scrounger-type head? 😁

> "No sir he doesn't but it's so good of a bait I can't help but fish it when the opportunity presents itself. It is the best current bait by far year-round. ...won almost 60 grand this year [on it], just on the Coosa River before that [Nation championship] tournament.

3. Why did you fish it and what do you like about it?

> "I fish it because it...imitates the forage that's in these lakes [well and] doesn't hang near as bad as a traditional swimbait because of the bill that's on it. I always call it a squarebill in the current: It doesn't hang as much and it has that quiver action that imitates a live baitfish coming over a rock."

[Asked him how to fish it.]

> "You want to throw it as far as you can, about 2:00 upstream and let it wash and just reel it real slow. Once it gets parallel with you, reel it back in. Most of that depends on where that rock is.

> "You want the presentation to be as natural as it can be. Gotta find what rock they're on...eddys.... There's lots of places in reservoirs and rivers that have current. Like the Coosa – when they run water, there's gonna be eddys all over the place, whether it's 5 miles from the dam, 10 miles from the dam...might be a whole bunch of rocks...you just have to figure out which rock those fish are positioned on.

> "A lot of it has to do with the current...how much they're pulling each day [determines] which rock they're on.

> "The more current, the better that bait works. That bait is just phenomenal at getting bites. It's my go-to bait for schooling fish too by far."

[He fished a Davis Bait Co 1/2-oz Shaky Fish Jig – Scrounger-type head – with a 4" Davis Baits XSwim Slim Minnow (albino):]

[FYI: Will's dad Will Sr said that the Scrounger head was invented by a salty fisherman, then Aaron Martens found it and worked with Will Sr for years to get it right. You might remember that Aaron worked with Will Sr/Davis Bait on several things.]

4. Do you use forward-facing sonar for it?

> "I grew up fishing old-school with my dad. All we used when I first started was a flasher. We had some Lowrance stuff....

> "Forward-facing sonar helps you in 2 aspects when you're fishing shallow rocks. It helps you navigate your boat through there so you don't have to worry about hitting them...especially when the water's muddy.

> "And it does help you find out which rock they're on, if there's not a lot of current. Because when you get a lot of current, it's a bunch of jumbled up stuff [on the screen]. Also there's a lot of fish in these rivers, a lot of white bass [and stripers] too, and I'm not good enough to tell...."

5. What rod, reel and line do you fish it with?

> "A Daiwa Tatula 7.3 Reel, a Daiwa 7' 3" MH Rod and 15-lb [Seaguar] Red Label. Everything has to be just right to make that hookup ratio best....

> "The reel you don't want to be 6-something – you could actually get away with like an 8:1. When they get in that current and you set the hook, you better be catching up to them – a lot of times a bass will run straight to you.

> "That Daiwa 7' 3" MH Rod has a light tip on it but with a pretty good backbone. With a stiff rod you will sling that bait big-time.

> "I've been fishing Red Label [fluoro] for about 10 years. I like that line because it holds up in those rocks and stuff. At Pickwick the 3 biggest ones [smallmouth] got me wrapped around rocks...run behind it and run up, and they're sitting there see-sawing. Red Label will hold up til you get it in the boat for sure, if don't just horse them.

> "15-lb is the best line size for making that bait work right. 17 and 20 just don't make that bait work right, and anything below 15 doesn't have the strength....

> "I can't tell you how many fish I've caught on that setup."

He said at Pickwick, which was almost down to winter pool, he caught most of his fish in about 5'.

By winning the tournament he qualified for the Elites and will fish 'em in 2023.

Got a few of these and couldn't wait to fish 'em this weekend – but it was 30 and blowing about the same both days so that didn't happen. Hope to fish 'em this week. Couple things that stood out to me is that this bait is smaller than I thought...

...which I like, and it's obvious you absolutely don't need forward-facing sonar to fish it. I mean, look at it! Plus it was developed by a guy who still does't have FFS on his boat! I called Jewel head man/bait genius Gayle Julian to ask him more about it:

1. How do you like to fish it?

> "2 different ways. I'll give you my most favorite last.

> "Here in this clear water [Ozarks, MO]...when I go with Lyndall [Helms, who invented it]...can just sit there and and do what he tells me to do. He doesn't have LiveScope. He finds bait balls, then sits back off them and counts [the Scope Spin] down.....

> "I just work it back like a jig. Let's say fish are suspended in 30' of water. I can picture myself fishing a jig in 30' of water on the bottom – I rip it up off the bottom like you would a football jig. It lets me visualize...if you don't have LiveScope you can't really see it doing anything. You kind of have to visualize what it's doing and that's what I have to do....

> "In 30' my rod is at about 3:00 and then I snap it all the way up to 12'. They will generally bite it on the fall. Sometimes you will feel it and sometimes you'll see your line go slack. Just do that repeatedly all the way back to the boat....

> "That bait has a spiral blade. I use 30-lb braid with a 12-lb fluoro leader – when you pull that bait, you can feel and hear that blade spinning. You can actually feel the blade spinning as it falls. It seems to spin at least 2 times as fast as a regular willow blade, and spins immediately because of the spiral."

> "And the bait does turn up – so when you pull it, it comes right up...you don't want it to come towards you as much.... That's really helpful because whenever you pull it up and let it fall again, that's usually when you get bites.

> "My favorite way...I was on Lake of the Ozarks recently fishing the Ozark Mountain Team Trail, and caught 30 fish out of dock stalls on it. The boat was sitting in 10' to 55' deep. I was pitching to the shady, windy corners or cross-pieces, or down the sides...mostly all cable docks.

> "...shallow docks they'd bite it in the first 3'. Deeper docks they'd bite it within 10'. I'd work it back to the boat same way."

2. How does someone fish it without forward-facing sonar?

> "With your down scan and your side scan you can find those bait balls...certainly you can locate those fish feeding on those shad. Most times of the year they will ball up in the deepest spot back in a place – a channel swing, river bend, where creeks converge....go over it with down scan, see the balls of shad, turn around and fish back through 'em.

> "That's a ll all Lyndall's been doing all these years. He could see those fish, like on Bull Shoals, suspended in 20-25'. The trouble is, the water's so clear you might catch one and then spook 'em." [The Scope Spin allows him to back off, make a long cast and fish for those suspended bass.]

> "Another thing that I've done, took a guy...in Oct we fished the sides of points and bluffs with it – just letting it fall down the bluff. We weren't really seeing bait there, they were just pulling water. These are just areas where they stack up when they're pulling current. Typical jig-fishing spots. We just fished it like a jig."

3. What gear do you fish it with?

> "I use our 7' 4" [Virtus/Jewel] Football Jig Rod and the 7' 2" Swim Jig Rod. Probably for my height [5' 9"] and build the swim jig rod is my favorite. At the end of [a long] cast that Swim Jig Rod has the right backbone and tip to hook 'em and bring it in.

> "As far as line, I use a 30-lb braid and 12-lb Seaguar InvizX fluoro. I use an 8:1 reel because I want to take slack out as fast as possible if I need to, or if I cast past schoolers I want to crank it quickly up on top then kill it and let it fall through them."

Here again is the good intro video about the Scope Spin.

Believe that was a dropshot. Then I saw an In-Fish post about Bass Talker Matty Pangrac Neko-rigging thataway. Highlights:

> "You're making an erratic fall with a shad bait. A lot of the schooling type baits are straight retrieves, but the key to this (Neko-rigged Fluke-style bait) is you want to keep it in the area and create as much of an erratic look as possible to draw those fish in.

> "A lot of times, with schooling fish, if you don't get those fish when they're up on top, it's hard to 'clean up' with the fish that are still down there that are eating the wounded shad and aren't willing to come up to the surface.

> "Especially on clear lakes, like Table Rock, Bull Shoals, Grand or Tenkiller, you can catch a couple extra fish."

Likes a Zoom Fluke with a 1/16-oz nail weight:

> "I'll use a smaller than normal hook because I want to create as much action and realism as I can. I use a #4 Gamakatsu Brent Ehrler G-Finesse Stinger Hook. I insert the hook point slightly behind the center of the bait so it's skewered through the top half."

Tough to see from the pic but I think this is where he puts the little hook:

I like the idea of a wacky-rigged soft jerk around all that bait – gonna rig one up 'n try it!

The Sea Foam Top 5 in Bass Fishing (Ep 27) is out – more fun/funny in this'n! Gonna restart the Top 10 Best TOURNAMENT Bassin' Baits of All Time next week with #8! 👀

Click it to watch on YT: