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I recently got back from a trip to Clearlake where I got to fish with my good friend Tim Little. We were able to find a great pattern throwing River2Sea S-wavers for pre-spawn fish that were moving up to feed on bait fish.

Early spring can be a difficult time to consistently pattern large fish. As the smaller males begin to move in to the shallows it can feel like the larger fish have disappeared all together. Throwing larger baits can be a great way to identify where the larger fish are located. Often times they will be holding in schools very close to the smaller fish. Using a bait like an S-Waver or other Swimbait allows you to intentionally target larger bites throughout the day. I’ve found that even when they are not willing to bite, large females will follow large swimbaits (6-10″ long) to the boat, giving away their location. Once I’ve located these larger fish I visit them again during different weather conditions to try and fool them in to biting.

In the past I’ve insisted on throwing softbaits exclusively when the water is in the high 40′s and low 50′s but I’ve experienced days in the last 12 months that have caused me to challenge those beliefs. Even in cold water there is a place for slow, methodical hardbaits that draw up big bass. There will be more to come on this later.

I got a little time to break away on the 1st to do some swimbait fishing on Clearlake. Welcome to 2013!

Every west coast angler should know about “The List” by now. If you dont, you need to check it out. “The List” is a top 40 fishermen of California list created annually by outdoor writer George Kramer.

The list has been pretty controversial over the years with
anglers that were said to have been placed “too high” on the list or were “undeserving”, as well as anglers toward the bottom of the list being “underrated”. This always gives us California bass fishermen something to talk about every November (as if we don’t have enough drama in this fishing world).

This year, our very own Matt Allen has made the top 10 on “The List” for the first time. Matt has been on the list a few times already, but this is the first year he has cracked the top 10. I wanted to congratulate Matt, as we all know that he has put in countless hours on the water and spent more time than most of us can possibly imagine coming up with new ideas to completely dominate Northern California as “The” trophy guy. You’ve earned it Matt, Congratulations on your first top 10!

You can see the complete list on Kramer’s blog at:
Kramer Gone Fishing

-Adam Hinkle
Tacticalbassin

I’m hard pressed to think of another bait that has caused such an uproar amongst bass fisherman. Over the past year I’ve read articles pronouncing it a “miracle bait”, others condemning it, going as far as to accuse the Alabama Rig of destroying fish populations. Whether you’re in favor of the Alabama Rig or not, you cannot argue its ability to catch schooling fish when other baits fall short.

While the “rig” is quite effective on its own, there are many modifications that can be done to further increase the its productivity. Over the past year I’ve experimented with different models, trailers, and various other components and have dialed in what I consider to be my “perfect” rig. We all have different fishing styles and fish in different environments, this must be taken in to account. Even so, I hope you are able to learn from my experiences and further increase your effectiveness with the A-rig.

Whether you’re fishing shallow grass flats or deep ledges you can adapt the Alabama Rig to meet your needs. Its not a cure all but it definitely helps you catch more fish in a variety of conditions.

For the products I use when fishing the Alabama Rig visit the following links:
Alabama Rigs
Keitech Swimbaits
Dobyns 784 ML Rod
Dirty Jigs Swimbait Head

Can someone explain to me how a $3 frog could work so well? Isn’t it common knowledge that you have to spend $20+ on a frog from Japan with a fancy paint job to get fish to bite? I guess not!

This particular morning I had headed out to the delta with one thing on my mind; Punching. The plan was to strip the boat of everything but two punch rods, a handful of baits, weights, and hooks, and the Go Pro Camera. I figured I’d spend the day having fun and film a video explaining how stripping the boat of gear helps you commit to a pattern and ultimately helps you put more fish in the boat.

So what went wrong? One word: TIDE.

If it were a guide trip, or even a trip with friends I’d study the tides and make the best decisions possible. When its just me and a camera I didn’t even bother to look at the tide charts. Do you know what a “minus tide” does to a shallow punch bite? The big ones go away and the baby bass come out to play! As you’ll see in the video my plan quickly unraveled and I was forced to do what any self respecting fisherman would do… I drove to the nearest tackle shop and spent money!

Who would have thought that I would discover a long forgotten bait (at least to me) and begin to hammer the fish? That’s exactly what happened! In the following days I kept catching fish and the size got bigger. There will be more videos to follow on this subject.

For those curious about what they’re seeing in this video, the punch fish were caught with a 2 oz. punch weight, a Dirty Jigs Punch Skirt, a 4/0 hook, and a Dobyns 766 Savvy Rod (A phenomenal punching rod for the price). The Snag Proof Weed Demon fish were caught with a Dobyns Champion 736, my favorite frog rod.

“Go where others won’t go, cast where others won’t cast, catch what others won’t catch.”

Remember that phrase the next time you go frog fishing. Often the key to a successful day of frog fishing is not a special technique or a particular color, its just about reaching fish that other anglers cannot or are unwilling to fish for.
We are currently editing a small series on frog fishing that covers how to target fish in cover vs. open water, frog colors, styles, and the types of equipment you will need to get the job done right. This clip is just to wet the palette and get you thinking about where, when, and how you frog. Remember, when it comes to frog fishing your imagination is the only limitation.

This particular fish was caught on a Bobby’s Perfect frog by Snag Proof coupled with 50 lb Power Pro braided line coupled with a Dobyns 736C Rod (my go-to rod for fishing frogs in cover.)
We caught quite a few fish on this particular day by reaching back into small ponds and pockets of water that other anglers weren’t willing to drive in to. (And I’m not sure that I blame them… notice how fast we come to a stop, I hit the bottom pretty hard. )
There is more to come so keep an eye on the site and see what’s next.

Why can’t you catch big bass in the summer? Where do they all go? Why do your 5 lbers become 3 lbers?
If you’re anything like me, you’ve been plagued by these questions at some point. Adam Hinkle does a great job of explaining bass’ summer movements in this video. Its a follow up to his recent video “Mapping Your Approach” so if you haven’t watched it, start there first.
This video covers how bass move in the summer as well as why they make the transitions. Understanding bass movements is key to predicting where they will be next and how to catch them once they get there.

After the last video I got a lot of inquiries about where to find detailed maps. Tacklewarehouse carries a couple of great options. For those of you that are shore bound (or want to study maps at home) its hard to beat the Fish-N-Maps.
For those of you that want to study your surroundings while you’re on the water, I don’t believe you can beat the Navionics mapping chips. Personally, I use the “Premium” and have been extremely impressed by the detail. Like Adam, I spend a lot of time fishing offshore for “pelagic” summer bass and its critical to understand the structure and contours that impact their movements.

Good music, hard hook sets, and monster bass, does it get any better???

By now nearly all of the members of the Tactical Bassin community recognize Adam Hinkle when he submits a video. For those of you who don’t, Adam is a regular contributor and his work is much appreciated. Some of his recent pieces include Beating the Bank for Giants, Fall Jig Madness, and Mapping Your Approach. Adam Brings a unique perspective and a whole different style to the Tactical community.

True to form, Adam is smashing fish in Southern California. Lucky for us, we get a front row seat to the show. These fish were caught on the 8″ Huddleston Swimbait in both ROF 5 and 12. The rod you see is a Dobyns 795 MLSB. Adam’s approach to swimbaits is quite a bit different from my own. He uses 20 lb mainline and smaller hooks to draw the heavily-pressured Southern California bass into the open. It just goes to show there isn’t always a right and a wrong way to catch these big bass. Its important to experiment and develop confidence but always stay open to progression.

Also, for those of you who are confined to smaller boats and are drooling over the net they keep sliding out of the rod locker, that is a Hiber-Net by Frabill. Its quite a bit different than what I carry but after watching how nicely it stores I may have to check it out myself.

What is it about the “tick” of a swimbait bite that keeps us coming back for more? There are a lot of other more productive things we could be doing but we find ourselves day after day, week after week, year after year, chasing big green fish around oversized ponds. Why? I don’t know what it is for you but for me its got to be the hookset and the impact.

In that moment I don’t know if its a 2 lb bass or a 15 lb bass, it could even be an over-zealous catfish. But for that second, as I swing that rod up and to the right with all the force I can muster, I pray as fast as I can that when that rod loads up the fish will absorb the impact and pull back with equal force. That for me, is what its all about. Catching the fish, the photos, the videos, is all great but the thrill of the hookset is where all the adrenaline peaks.

There is nothing like slamming a hookset into a fish and feeling like you just hooked a brick wall. A fish so strong that you have to stop and look at the rod tip to make sure its not a snag. Then and only then does she start to shake her head and slowly make her way to deep water. For those that haven’t experienced it, your turn is coming. For those that have, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

This video is dedicated to that moment of impact. These fish did exactly what I’m talking about. They bit hard and they battled harder. I hope you enjoy watching a bunch of big fish choking down swimbaits because that’s what you’re about to see. The main bait used to catch these fish was the 8″ huddleston Deluxe. As always, the reel was spooled with braid and a 30 lb mono leader. The Rod was a Dobyns 807 Mag. These may seem like huge components to the average angler but look at how hard the fish are flexing the rod, its all about having the right tools for the job.

After months of requests the time has finally come for me to chime in on the topic of Alabama Rigs, generically known as “Spreader Rigs” or “Umbrella Rigs”. Obviously I’m months behind the hype. Most of you now own rigs and have had some experience with them. Some of you are probably having a blast catching fish on them while others of you have already retired them to a plano box where they will soon be forgotten.
I would have chimed in months ago but I wasn’t willing to speak out until I felt I was speaking from a place of experience.

For those of you that have been living under a rock, the “Alabama Rig” gained huge notoriety when Paul Elias won a major event last fall. It is a smaller, “freshwater” version of the old saltwater spreader rigs.

The video was shot on Clearlake in mid-april. While the fish in the video is by far my largest fish on the “A-rig” my clients and I have been catching big fish on it all spring.
As you watch the video you will notice there are a handful of details that I failed to cover. I apologize for the oversight, but Jeff and I were in a hurry to get back to fishing. The day ended with 5 fish for 44.05 lbs, only one of which (the smallest) was not caught on a Spreader Rig.

Feel free to respond with your thoughts and questions. I’ll film a follow up video with more of the technical details in the coming weeks and will answer as many of the questions as possible at that time.