Tips & Techniques
LFT’s New Hyper Stick & Wacky Rigging |
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April, 2010
By Tom Redington
April on Lake Fork means spawning fish. After chasing
moving baits like spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits for the past few
months, bass lock into very small areas and soft plastics dominate this
month. When bass first move up, they’ll chase down anything that invades
their personal space. After a few days up shallow though, bass become wary
and notoriously tough to catch. For these finicky fish, subtlety and a
unique look are the differences between a big haul and a few dinks. Just
in time, Lake Fork Trophy Lures introduced a number of new items to help
you fool those leery lunkers this spring.
When bass first move up to spawn, big and gaudy is the way to go for these
aggressive fish. The 6” and 9” Hyper Lizards have the classic profile that
bass eat in the spring, plus the wildly vibrating tail moves a lot of
water to entice big strikes. Large profile soft plastic jerkbaits with
lots of action, like the Magic Shad, Live Magic Shad, Hyper Worms, and Zig
Zag work well too on weightless Texas rigs. Classic shades of green with
wild splashes of color are top producers, like watermelon/red flake,
watermelon candy, watermelon chartreuse, or green pumpkin/green and purple
flake.
After a few days, fishing pressure and the rigors of spawning take their
toll on bass. They’ll still eat, but fish won’t work hard to do it. Now is
the time to put a bait in front of a bass for a long time and use subtle
movements to trigger strikes. First, I switch from larger baits to smaller
profile ones. In addition, it’s time to put away the wild looking color
schemes and go with more natural-looking plain watermelon, green pumpkin,
or pumpkinseed. Finally, because fish have seen every lure on the planet
by April, showing them something new often helps. This year, I’ll be
feeding them a steady diet of the new Hyper Stick from Lake Fork Trophy
Lures. The Hyper Stick has the body profile of the popular stick worms
that have caught thousands of bass over the past 10 years. Unique to this
bait are two flexible segments in the middle of the lure that give it
“live action”, similar to the movements of Live Magic Shads and Hyper
Finesse Worms. With just the slightest twitch of your rod, the whole Hyper
Stick wiggles and shimmies, making it the liveliest stick worm on the
market. By rigging it on a weighted Texas rig, weightless Texas rig,
Carolina rig, split shot rig, wacky rig, or drop shot; you can fish the
unique action of the Hyper Stick in 1’ to 30’ in anything from open water
to the thickest brush piles. The Hyper Stick accounted for numerous 10
pounders this spring on Lake Falcon and is the hottest lure down there
right now. As the bass start spawning on Lake Fork, expect similar results
here in Northeast Texas.
As I outlined, there are numerous ways to rig the Hyper Stick, but wacky
rigs often dominate around the spawn. Lake Fork Trophy Lures created a new
system of ring weights to make wacky rigging a whole lot easier and more
efficient for anglers. The Wacky Hook & Weight Systems come in 3 weights
(1/16 oz, 1/8 oz, and 3/16 oz). In addition, they are available in 2
sizes. The small size fits on thinner worms, like Hyper Whack’n Worm, Baby
Ring Frys, Twitch Worms, Finesse Worms, and Hyper Finesse Worms. For
larger diameter worms like Zig Zags, Hyper Sticks, and Ring Frys, the
large size fits perfectly. Simply slide your worm through the lead ring,
and then push the hook point through one hole in the ring and out the
other hole. The Wacky Hook & Weight System comes with the correct style
hook for wacky rigging and fits perfectly in the weight’s holes. The small
lead ring gives you just enough weight to cast the lure and by changing
the size, you can make it fall precisely as needed for the wind and depth
conditions you’re fishing. Even better, the ring securely holds wacky
plastics on the hook, so no more backlashes when your worm flies off the
hook on your cast.
Of course, long casts avoid spooking fish and results in more bites.
Therefore, I rig my wacky worms on 12 lb FluoroHybrid Pro line. This tough
line has the invisibility of fluorocarbon, yet it is way smoother so it’ll
cast much better. For lighter baits, a 7’4” medium power Dobyns DX743
Champion Extreme spinning rod is my choice. For those who prefer
baitcasters, the 7’ Dobyns DX702 baitcasting rod is specially designed for
finesse applications and will cast even the lightest rigs. If I’m
weightless Texas rigging soft plastic jerkbaits like the Hyper Stick, I
power up to the medium heavy Dobyns 734C Champion rod. With some tip
action, this 7’3” rod whips soft plastics way out there, yet it has enough
backbone to put the hook through thick plastic and into a bass’ jaw.
It’s spring and there is no secret where the bass are right now. Try a few
of these tricks and fool them before your buddies do. If I can be of
assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 or e-mail me through my
website,
www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com
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