Entry 54-2
Eliminating or Establishing Water with Mike Wurm
Wurm's Four Baits for Establishing and Eliminating Water
Editor's Note: Mike Wurm, from Hot Springs, Arkansas, has fished professionally for 12 years. He's fished in six BASS Masters Classics. In seven of the eight tournaments he's fished in this year, he's earned a check, and he's finished in the top 16 in three of those tournaments. Wurm is one of the most-consistent anglers on the B.A.S.S. circuit. This week, Wurm will explain five secrets to his consistent bass fishing.
Wurm: If I could only pick four lures to establish or eliminate water, my number-one lure of choice would the Carolina-rigged 3X lizard or centipede. This is my first tactic of choice because the Carolina rig is so versatile. I can fish the Carolina rig in 2 feet or 50 feet of water. I can fish it around grass, on rocks, on a clear bottom or on a muddy bottom. I can fish the Carolina rigged 3X lizard or centipede on drop-offs, points and moving water or in dead water. This lure will stay in the strike zone of the bass longer than most lures, and I believe it to be the most-deadly search technique in America today.
My second selection will be the Series 3 fire-tiger
crankbait. Most of the time the bass will live in water from 0-8 feet deep, which is the range of the Strike King Series 3 crankbait. Depending on the time of the year and depth of the lake, I may have to go to a Series 5 Strike King crankbait. However, regardless of the depth of the lake, the time of the year and the size of the crankbait, the color will remain the same - fire tiger.
Next I'll fish a Strike King Premier Elite spinner bait. I'll have either a 1/2-ounce or a 3/8-ounce or both spinner baits in my tackle box. I like a No. 4 willow-leaf blade and a No. 2 Colorado blade with a chartreuse and white skirt. The spinner bait is a very-versatile lure that I can fish shallow or deep on a clean bottom, a muddy bottom or a rocky bottom. I can fish it through cover or let if fall down a shear rock bluff. I can't think of hardly any water, weather or time of year that the spinner bait isn't appropriate to use as a search bait.
I also enjoy fishing a tube or a jig. I've got to cheat here because depending on the time of the year and the type of lake I'm fishing one of these two baits will be the fourth lure I use as a search bait. If the bass are feeding on crawfish, then a tube bait or a jig are the best imitations I know of a crawfish. I'll use these two jigs on either a flipping or a pitching type of bait. If I need to check out a lot of cover quickly, these two lures will allow me to do that. Using these lures, I quickly and easily either can establish a place I want to fish his or eliminate water I don't want to fish.
