Pre-spawn ain’t all about spinnerbaits and cranks so….
The Googs have some goog good baits, and one of the newest is this’n. Here’s a lil more on this Lil deal:
> Sometimes stubborn heavily-pressured fish will react more readily to a smaller jig. The compact profile of the
Lil’ Juicee Jig won’t spook lethargic bass in the cooler water temps of early pre-spawn.
> Drag the Lil’ Juicee Jig in areas where bass are likely to set up before moving up to spawning areas — near creek-channel swings, rocky points and steeper banks near the mouths of creeks, places where bass can easily move up and down the water column throughout the day.
> Fishing jigs in the pre-spawn is all about imitating crawfish, and 2 of the best colors of the Lil’ Juicee Jig for this are “cowboy craw” and “rotten pumpkin.” The yellowish skirt of “cowboy craw” and the orange highlights in the “rotten pumpkin” skirt imitate the natural color of crawfish as they turn a reddish-orange this time of year.
The Googans recommend a 7′-7’6″ M-MH rod, 7.3.1 casting reel and 12-17 lb fluoro. You can get the jigs here — not on TW yet but should be this month.
Haven’t fished it yet but looks sick in the water (vid). Here’s what the Lunkerheads say about it:
>
The Gambit is great for targeting pre-spawners that are staging on floating docks. Its weedless pre-rigged design makes it great for skipping under docks as well as for targeting shade lines.
> The docks to look for are the ones leading into spawning pockets, that are on secondary points, and also docks that are along transition banks. Dock depths in 1-4′ can be fire. Colors like “silver side,” “ghost” and “gilly” are great choices for this technique.
The Gambit (SilverSide color ^) is 4.5″ and weighs 5/8-oz. Lunkerhunt recommends going kinda substantial — like a 7′ MH Lunkerhunt F117 baitcaster combo with 14-17 lb flouro line.
Yep the Bio Minnow has a classic West Coast swimbait-type look, with a a “T” tail designed to start kicking the instant you pull and kick at a slow or fast retrieves. Mike Bennett, who tweaked it out for FishLab, says:
> “The Bio Minnow Swimbait family has a great secondary action. These baits draw in hungry fish from great distances with all of the movement and chaos that they create.”
Comes in 4″, 5″ and 6.25″, and can be rigged exposed or weedless on a weighted screw-lock swimbait hook.
The Labbers recommend using a 7′ MH Okuma Serrano Rod (or an Okuma Helios SX Rod) and Okuma Helios SX 200 Reel. Depending on what and how you’re fishing, lines can be 50-lb Soft Steel 8x Eminent Braid to a short 15-lb fluoro topshot, or mono: 12-15 lb HT Mono for the 4″, up to 15-lb mono for the 5″, and an H rod, bigger reel (Komodo 300) and 15-20 lb mono for the 6.25″.
Best weights for ’em:
4″ = 1/8-oz
5″ = 1/4-oz
6″ = 1/4- or 1/2-oz
The new 1/8-oz Jewel Gem Shad 2.0 has a smaller profile to match the smaller Keitech Fat sizes: 2.8″ and 3.3″. The 2.0 has the same colors and features as the original Gem Shad: “silver flash minnow,” “pro blue” and “white.”
Jewel recommends throwing it with a 7′ M Cashion Elite Spinning Rod, 3000 series Lew’s (6.2:1) and 6-8 lb fluoro.
X Zone’s Ned Zone has the stuff we like: soft but durable, floating, ribbed, scented, stands straight up when rigged. Kinda cool feature: The belly of the Ned Zone also has an alignment line so you can rig it perfect every time.
Not sure what that “bulbous” (Dave Mercer word) tail does but I’m assumin’ it gives it a little action. Bait is 3″ and comes in 14 colors. That one ^ is “summer craw” but gotta show you one more — 309:
Outstanding! Brandon Palaniuk says 309 and gp purple are his fave Ned Zone colors. Fishes it on a 1/8-oz VMC Half Moon Finesse Jighead with an Alpha Angler Wrench Rod, Daiwa Exist 3000 Reel, and 15-lb Seaguar Smackdown Braid to 8-lb Seaguar Tatsu fluoro leader.
Here’s a good vid about Mark Menendez talkin’ ’bout how jerkbaits pull fish toward them — vs casting baits to the fish — and how he does it. His line of choice is of course InvizX fluoro.
In that vid Mark says he won his first tourney usin’ a 15-20 second pause on a jerkbait. Dang! You could cook a casserole between twitches doin’ that deal….
Raise your hand if there’s NO WAY you could ever move it that slow — this means you Whopper Plopper peeps hahaha! My hand’s up too, fo sho. On cold days, if I pause for a long time hamburgers start talkin’ to me if you know what I mean….
Okay they’re not gonna call it that which is probly smart! Story: While back I asked for their DSR rod (dropshot spin stick) made into a casting rod — using the same blank. Alpha’s chief rod geek Jake Boomer says that after he sent one to BPTer Gerald Spohrer and Gerald loved it, now he’s gonna make it, for fishing little cranks.
Imagine that, listening to a pro angler more than me…lol!
That rod will be KILL-ER when it comes out. I’m gonna use it for dropshottin’, small swimbaits (like with that Jewel Gem Series stuff), smaller cranks, Neds, you name it. Yep you could use spin gear for all that stuff but I just way prefer casting gear….
Anyhow, surf around the Alpha site and check out ANY of their rods. They’re that good man…my 2c. If you need a spinning stick, here’s Brandon talkin’ the DSR:
Damiki rig anyone? Works when the water’s cold (maybe other times too), and here you can see that the V3 Balance Force Jig Head nails that horizontal thing:
Full vid on Facebook. The V3 was designed by BPTer Greg Vinson, has a 2/0 Gamakatsu black nickel hook and wire keeper, and comes in 4 colors (“albino” ^) and 4 sizes. Apparently the V3 development process was a little intense:
Believe the Doomsday C-Shad‘s supposed to be the deal for the Damiki rig, aka the “droppin’ on ’em” deal….
Same deal here — all Kistler rods are really good. Can’t go wrong with any of ’em, but I’ll pick out a couple for ya:
7′ M Kistler Magnesium 2 — Sick, sick rod, one of my faves for sure. Remember: You may not need MH for most stuff!
6′ 11″ MH Kistler KLX Feel N Reel — Gitcha crank goin’. If you need a heavier rod for bigger cranks, they’ve got you covered.
Surf you the rest of the Kistler offerin’s at TW. If you’re in the market for a rod, be REAL surprised if you don’t like any Kistlers. Even Chuck Norris thinks so:
