Entry 84-2
Roger Stegall On Largemouth Bass
Why Stegall Likes the Strike King Spinner Bait
Editor's Note: Roger Stegall, of Iuka, Mississippi, is a bass-fishing guide on Pickwick Lake on the Alabama/Mississippi/Tennessee border. Although Roger has built his reputation on catching big smallmouth, he also produces a tremendous number of largemouth for his clients each year. Even though he catches plenty of largemouth in the same places he catches smallmouth, on some days he targets only largemouth bass. This week Stegall will tell us about his favorite largemouth bass baits and tactics.
Stegall: If you're going to be casting the bank, you can't beat Strike King's 3/16-ounce spinner bait. I believe 90 percent of the fishermen who fish, not only at Pickwick, but on any other lake, will be fishing stumps, logs and bushes they can see near the bank. There are always a lot of minnows close to bank cover on which the largemouth can feed. To imitate the little minnows, I really like the 3/16-ounce spinner bait with a No. 3-1/2 blade. I particularly enjoy fishing a chartreuse or a chartreuse-and-white-colored spinner bait. I fish this bait primarily in the spring and fall.
When I'm fishing on the bank during the summer months, I'll be doing more offshore fishing. I fish the spinner bait slower than most other anglers do. I've heard Jimmy Houston and some of the other pros say that you have to see your bait coming through the water if you're going to catch bass on a spinner bait. But I've found that I can catch the bass if I swim the spinner bait just out of sight. I use a steady retrieve, and then I'll twitch the bait by giving my rod tip little short, quick jerks. The reason I use that twitching-type retrieve is because the blades will bang together and give off sound when I twitch it.
Too, I will on occasion yo-yo the spinner bait. I've learned for me that the best way to catch the most bass is to swim the spinner bait just out of sight and use that steady retrieve with the twitching action. I like to throw the spinner bait around any type visible cover such as logs, stumps and bushes. I especially like to fish it around grass. During the spring and the fall, I'm a target fisherman. I'll pick the targets I can see, try to decide where the bass are positioned on that cover, and cast the spinner bait to come right in front of the faces of the bass.
