Entry 31-5

Mike Wurm's Weird Tactics

Different Series 5 Crankbait Tactics

Editor's Note: Mike Wurm from Hot Springs, Arkansas, and a member of Strike King's Pro Fishing Team, has qualified for the BASS Masters Classic six times and for the FLW Championship four times.

Question: Can you give me another weird bass-fishing tactic?

Wurm: I've used the Series 5 from Strike King in an unusual manner. Before Strike King came out with the 4S, which has a larger body with a square build, I had a problem finding a big-body lure that would run in a shallow situation with a wide-enough wallow to give the effectiveness needed. I took a Series 5 crankbait, and I cut the bill off. I didn't cut the whole bill off. I cut it off almost to the eye of the lure, which gave it a shallow, square build. That bait worked very similar to the way the 4S works now. That altered bait only ran about 4- to 5-feet deep, and it had wider wallop. Cutting the bill off and filing it down to just the right size so that it would run in a straight line was difficult. When you do get it to work, it makes a fabulous bait.

The Series 5 has a great body size. It is about 2 3/4- to 3-inches long, and it has a bulky body with a good rattle in it. I've used this bait around wood, such as standing timber, cypress trees and old stump flats where you can see those stumps. This modified bait comes around stumps and resembles a bream. Bass stop feeding on shad, especially in the late summer, and they start chasing bream. Either the shad gets too big, or they are out moving about in the middle of the lakes. These fish that populate the back-water areas or the with cypress trees and their stumps -- looking for something to eat. These bass are hungry, so they start eating bream and bluegill.

A bulky, big crankbait that has a wide wallop with a square build that holds about 3- to 5-inches deep will catch a big bass. The bass start feeding on bluegill about 3- to 5-inches long, so they are attracted to anything that resembles these baitfish. This modified bait comes through that cover really well and has produced some nice-sized fish for me. Since then, Strike King has come out with the 4S bait, so I don't have to finagle around with that Series 5 lip anymore. Anytime you are fishing in water with stumps, standing timber and cypress trees, a big crankbait with heavier line looks great to bass.




 

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