Entry 84-4
Roger Stegall On Largemouth Bass
Roger Stegall on the Spit-N-King
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: This year Strike King has come out with not only the Bleeding Bait Series of the Spit-N-King but also with some really great new colors. For a long time, anglers primarily have fished the chrome-colored Spit-N-King with the black back. But in this new Bleeding Bait Series of Spit-N-King, Strike King has many different colors besides chromes, and I can really tell the difference in the way bass respond to these new colors. I think the red hooks, the red mouth and the red spots on the sides of the Spit-N-King really make this bait look like it's a wounded and bleeding fish.
I like to fish the Spit-N-King in places that most people won't fish top-water lures. One of my favorite places to fish it is on the tops of humps out in open water. I like to fish a hump, a roadbed or any type of bottom structure that comes up to 5 or 6 feet from the surface of the water and has 8- to 10-feet deep water around it.
Back in October 2003, I was guiding some anglers out on Pickwick Lake, and they cast their Spit-N-Kings out on an old roadbed. While I was talking to one of my anglers, a bass that weighed 6-1/2 pounds came up under the Spit-N-King and sucked it in. I have numbers of anglers ask me, "Roger, what are we doing out here in the middle of the lake casting top-water lures?" But then within a few minutes, we'll usually start catching largemouth bass, and they've learned the answer to their questions. If you'll try this tactic, you may be surprised at how many bass will come up from 5 to 6 feet of water to the surface to take a top-water bait.
Once again, I'm fishing a lure in a place where most people don't fish that specific type of lure. On humps, ledges and roadbeds, most fishermen are fishing soft plastics, crankbaits and/or spinner baits. Hardly anybody will be fishing a top-water lure like the Spit-N-King. But the real secret to fishing these lures in open-water areas is having the right conditions. I like to fish top-water lures on a cloudy day, a foggy morning, just before daylight and before the sun gets up high. Even a rainy day can be good if the rain's coming straight down. Windy days aren't good days to fish this lure in the open water. If there's just a ripple on the water, you can do good with top-water lures like the Spit-N-King, but not when there's so much wind that the water has waves on it.
I'll usually cast the lure out, pop it three or four times and then let it sit still often for a 5 to a 10 count. Many times when the lure is sitting still is when the bass will attack. Another tactic I use that very people fish the Spit-N-King with is to cast it out, pop it two or three times and then start a steady retrieve, just like you'll fish a buzzbait. Most people don't believe you can catch bass by steady retrieving a Spit-N-King, but you can.
