Learn to catch more bass by changing it up with your presentation or lure choice.
Just this week I was on a great jerkbait bite on Monday, but by Wednesday it had fizzled out. We are in late November and the temps are getting into the 20s at night. Sometimes this can make the bass act a little funny.
After throwing the jerkbait for a while, I realized that something different needed to happen, I tried a Ned rig, but broke off quickly because I was fishing over some pretty nasty cover. This is when I reached for the Texas rig, but did it a little differently…
The Rig I Changed To
I rigged it on a ⅛ ounce tungsten worm weight and an Owner Cover Shot hook that was designed for dropshotting. This is where I changed it up, I put on a Strike King Half Shell dropshot bait. It can roll and twist a bit if you rig it off at all, but this is not the first occasion that this little rig has shined.
Why it works? I believe that sometimes little changes can make all the difference to pressured or negative bass. They see this bait on a dropshot, but probably never on a light Texas rig.
My Setup
Sometimes you simply catch more bass by changing it up a bit.
This is the same reason I feel that the Free rig or the Tokyo rig can produce a few more bites than the Texas rig at times. They just present the bait a little differently.
With the light weight and the weedless presentation, I was able to creep this little Half Shell through the brush piles and do it without getting hung up.
I simply dragged it through the pile a few inches at a time and then paused and waited for the “tic” of a bite.
This rig comes through cover that a dropshot or a Ned won’t and changes the way it fished just enough to get wary bass to commit.
Final Thoughts about Changing it Up for More Bass
The moral of the story here is that changing things up just a little bit can get you more bites when the fishing gets tough.
This was a day towards the end of a cold front and the pressure was rising. This typically pulls the fish into the thick cover and you can take advantage by getting in there after them in a really finesse way.
To your fishing success,
Jonathan Burke
LiveBassFishing.com