Q&A AI
What rigging set up would complement two medium bait caster rods and one ultra light spinner rod for identifying bass biting preferences? Additionally, provide a recommended system for exploring different locations at a lake shore with a boat dock, gravel piers, vegetation, points, coves, and varying depths.
Sure, I'd be happy to help you set up your rods and provide a strategy for fishing at the lake you described. Let's break it down step-by-step.
Rod and Reel Setups
1. Medium Baitcaster Rod #1: Crankbaits
- Rod: Medium power, moderate action rod.
- Reel: Baitcasting reel with a smooth drag system.
- Line: 10-12 lb fluorocarbon.
- Lure: Crankbaits with treble hooks.
- Explanation: As mentioned in the video, crankbaits require a rod with a lot of give to prevent pulling the small treble hooks out of the fish's mouth. Fluorocarbon line is preferred for its sensitivity and slight stretch, which complements the moderate action rod.
2. Medium Baitcaster Rod #2: Spinnerbaits
- Rod: Medium-heavy power, fast action rod (6'8" to 6'10").
- Reel: Baitcasting reel with a smooth drag system.
- Line: 12-15 lb monofilament or fluorocarbon.
- Lure: Spinnerbaits.
- Explanation: For spinnerbaits, you need a rod that allows for accurate, short casts into thick cover. The fast action tip helps with quick hook sets, and the medium-heavy power provides the backbone needed to pull fish out of cover.
3. Ultra-light Spinning Rod: Finesse Tactics
- Rod: Ultra-light power, fast action rod.
- Reel: Size 2,500 spinning reel with a smooth drag system.
- Line: 6 lb fluorocarbon.
- Lure: Drop shot, split shot, tubes, grubs, finesse jigs.
- Explanation: The ultra-light spinning rod is perfect for finesse tactics, which require sensitivity and a smooth drag to handle small hooks and light lines. Fluorocarbon is ideal for its sensitivity and minimal stretch.
Fishing Strategy for the Lake
1. Boat Dock with Gravel Piers:
- Setup: Medium Baitcaster Rod #1 (Crankbaits).
- Technique: Cast crankbaits parallel to the piers and retrieve at a moderate speed. The crankbait's action will attract bass hiding around the structure.
2. Vegetation Along the Shore:
- Setup: Medium Baitcaster Rod #2 (Spinnerbaits).
- Technique: Use short, accurate casts to target pockets in the vegetation. Retrieve the spinnerbait at a steady pace to provoke reaction strikes from bass hiding in the cover.
3. Points and Coves:
- Setup: Medium Baitcaster Rod #1 (Crankbaits).
- Technique: Cast crankbaits around points and into coves, varying your retrieve speed to find what the bass are responding to. Focus on areas where the depth changes, as bass often ambush prey in these spots.
4. Shallows Tapering Down to 10 Feet:
- Setup: Ultra-light Spinning Rod (Finesse Tactics).
- Technique: Use drop shot or finesse jigs to target bass in the transition zone from shallow to deeper water. This is especially effective for finicky fish that might not respond to larger, more aggressive presentations.
5. Cove Area with Weedy Muck:
- Setup: Medium Baitcaster Rod #2 (Spinnerbaits).
- Technique: Use spinnerbaits to work through the weeds without getting snagged. The flash and vibration of the spinnerbait will help draw bass out of the muck.
6. Shaded Rocky Point Under a Bridge:
- Setup: Ultra-light Spinning Rod (Finesse Tactics).
- Technique: Use finesse jigs or drop shot rigs to carefully fish around the rocky structure. The lighter setup will help you avoid snags while still enticing bites from bass hiding in the shade.
Final Tips
- Observation: Pay attention to what the bass are biting on and adjust your tactics accordingly. Sometimes switching up the lure color or retrieve speed can make a big difference.
- Patience: Be patient and methodical in your approach, especially when fishing finesse tactics. Slow and steady often wins the race in bass fishing.
I hope this helps you get started on your next bass fishing adventure! If you have any more questions or need further clarification, feel free to ask. Happy fishing!
Related videos
Transcript
Video06:17
07:34
The Setup: Ideal Rod/Reel/Line Combos For All Presentations | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → to be focused on the drag system of the reel
that you get. Again, when a fish makes a run, you want a nice smooth drag to peel out that line,
give it to him and help slow him down. If you got a sticky drag and you're pulling out that line and
it goes tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick tick, well, every time it bounces like that
and stops, it just pulls that hook out a little bit more every time and you're
gonna lose that fish. So, a nice smooth, just butter smooth drag is critical
when it comes to fishing crankbaits. All right. Let's talk about spinnerbaits
and getting the right kind of gear for spinnerbait fishing. With spinnerbaits, a lot
of times what you're doing is you're targeting, it's target cast, short cast. I do a
lot of underhand casts to specific, to short targets. I don't cover a
lot of vast expanses making longer casts with spinnerbaits. There's other baits
I feel that are better suited for that if you need to do that all day long. Not that I won't
make occasional long cast to cover some water, but 85% of my fishing with spinnerbaits is short
pinpoint accuracy into thick cover. So, for that reason, I'm using a shorter rod like a 6'8" to
6'10" rod that is medium-heavy power with a fast action tip. I actually have a custom rod that's
6'9. It fits right in the middle of those two.
Transcript
Video06:10
07:42
Five Rod and Reel Setups to Cover Most Anything | How To | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → The next one is another versatile setup, and
this is for spinning is a 7-foot medium-power moderate-action rod, sometimes it's called
a light action rod. This is a setup for virtually all finesse
tactics. You can throw drop shot, split shot, tubes,
grubs, finesse jigs, any kind of...and even, light, crankbaits light topwater. Pair that with a size 2,500 spinning reel. Some manufacturers call them a size 20, some
of them a size 30. You don't want to go below that smaller because
the reel is too small, you don't have a much drag surface for one. But also you got a lot of coil problems with
angle line twist. And when it's too big it's just too heavy
and unwieldy for finesse tactics. So right in that mark is what you want. The key thing with that is a nice smooth drag. Because with finesse tactics, you're using
small hooks. So a drag that's really smooth and has a lot
of give to it helps play that fish out when he runs, that rod, it's got the parabolic
action to it. That's why you want a medium-power rod. So it's got some give to it. When the fish runs, it bends, slows the fish
down, and then the drag kicks in and helps slow that fish down. Everything works together, so you're not pulling
a hook out of a fish's mouth. The line I use is a 6-pound fluorocarbon line. Again, I like to use Tatsu. All right? Seaguar Tatsu line. That's super supple, super sensitive.
Transcript
Video22:25
23:17
The Setup: Ideal Rod/Reel/Line Combos For All Presentations | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → bass tend to come up and they don't grab it right
away, they don't get a full bite. Sometimes they grab the tail then they open their mouth and
grab it again or they just don't have it, although they don't chop down completely. So, you
need that rod to load up a little bit before you set the hook. You need to have a little bit of
give to give that fish some time in the strike to fully grab that lure. So, that limber
rod tip will allow you to do that. With the reel, I like to use an 8 to 1
gear ratio or a higher reel because I do bring it back a little bit faster speeds,
usually across the top of vegetation. And that's my setup for
fishing paddle tail swimbaits All right. So, those are the most common
combos to use for most of the different types of situations that you're gonna have,
the different techniques you're gonna use for bass fishing. I hope that helps. For more
tips and tricks like this, visit BassResource.com.
Transcript
Video19:33
20:54
The Setup: Ideal Rod/Reel/Line Combos For All Presentations | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → All right. The next type of bait I wanna talk
about for your setups is topwater baits. These could be buzz baits, could be popping type baits,
chugging baits. What I like to do here is I'm using a rod that's got moderate power to it or a
medium power rod with a fast action tip, usually a 7'1" or 7'4" length rod to be able to fling that
bait out there. Get long distance and you can cover a lot of water that way. So, a little bit
longer rod. You can even go up to 7'6 if you want, but 7'2" to 7'4" is really good to 7'6".
Here, I'm using monofilament line. And the reason I do that is monofilament is the
most buoyant line of all the lines available. And so it keeps that bait afloat. Helps it
you whether it's a buzz bait, or especially if you're using some kind of a popper or chugger,
you don't want that line to sink underwater and pull it down underwater, you wanna keep it
above the water. So, monofilament is the key here. It keeps it on top, stays on the surface.
So, I'm using usually 12 to 15-pound monofilament line. And I have that paired with a
reel that it's a slower reel because typically, I'm not doing it that fast unless I'm doing
buzz baits. But somewhere in the 7 to 8 range, like a 7:4 to 7:6 to 1 gear ratio is
perfectly suitable for fishing topwaters.
Transcript
Video02:23
03:45
The Setup: Ideal Rod/Reel/Line Combos For All Presentations | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → you're using. Everything is built around that.
That's probably two-thirds of the influence on what line, rod, and reel you're gonna
use is the hook that you're using. The next one in line would be the cover that
you're fishing in. Those two make up 85% of your decision-making process right there. That
has a lot to do with it right there. The next one is more about what casting technique you're using
and the weight of the lure that you're using, whether you're trying to make long casts
or short flips, and accurate casts. And then the final one is the type of lure that
you're using. In other words, a lot of it has to do with the type of bite that you're getting
with that type of lure you're using. That's a minor...that's maybe 5% of your decision. So, some
people overemphasize that a little too much. But that's basically the main parameters that are
gonna govern the setup that you're gonna use. So, let's use crankbaits here as a good example.
Crankbaits, you're using those little treble hooks. They're smaller hooks than you normally
would see for most bass fishing techniques. They're thin wire for the most part and so it
doesn't take a lot of effort to set the hook with them. Plus, by the same reason, it doesn't
take a lot of effort to rip those hooks out of the fish's mouth. So, you need a setup that's got
a lot of give to it, a lot of spring to it. And
Transcript
Video07:42
09:04
Five Rod and Reel Setups to Cover Most Anything | How To | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource → But because it's so sensitive, it allows the
bait to move on its own. It doesn't impede that action of that bait
at all. And, you know, a lot of people like to use
braid. Braid has no give to it. You got those little, tiny hooks, that braid
is going to enable that hook to be pulled out of a fish's mouth. Fluorocarbon has a little give to it, a little
bit of stretch. Some people overestimate how much stretch
fluorocarbon has. It doesn't have a lot. But it does have a little more give than braid. And all that works in concert with the rod
and reel in order to play that fish out with that light line technique. So that is the perfect thing that you want
to use, right, for all kinds of finesse tactics. Next, rod and reel. This one's really the only technique-specific
rod and reel I would get to and use that I'd recommend out of these five, and that's a
crankbait rod. Here would be a 7'2" to 7'4" medium-power
moderate-action rod, maybe fast action rod, that's designed for crank baiting. And the reason why you want to do that is
a couple of things. First of all, crankbaits have those little,
teeny treble hooks. There's a small bite to them. And they're thin wire. Again, just like in finesse fishing, they
can get pulled out of the fish's mouth if you've got too stout of equipment. So that rod has...that parabolic rod has basically
a big spring.
More Bass Fishing Answers
Loading...