Entry 84-5
Roger Stegall On Largemouth Bass
How Stegall Fishes Strike King's Soft-Plastic Lures
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 salt-impregnated soft-plastic lures, and one of my favorites is the Zero. You can fish this lure weightless,, rig it wacky style and/or fish it Carolina-rigged and Texas-rigged. Several other lure manufacturers have made these cigar-shaped lures, but the problem with them has always been when you catch one or two bass with them, the baits will tear up. Then you'll have to re-rig the worm. If you get on a hot school of bass that's biting actively, you want to get that bait back down to that school as fast as possible. And, that's where the 3X Zero will win the day. Because I don't have to re-rig with another worm as soon as I catch a bass, I can quickly cast back to the school and catch another bass. But my partner will still be re-rigging if he's using another company besides Strike King's cigar-shaped worm. I can catch 20 to 30 bass on one Zero 3X worm before I have to rig another bait.
If you look at the new Strike King Zero, it doesn't look like anything a bass will bite. It's the goofiest-looking worm you'll ever see. I think the mold they've used to make this bait must have been originally designed to make ink pens. The Zero resembles a soft-plastic ink pen. But it has an unusual wiggling action that makes it unique from any other type of soft plastic. I like the Zero because you can just cast the Zero out and let it fall, and the bass will hit it. You don't have to give it any action at all.
When I'm fishing it either wacky style (hooking the bait in the middle) or Texas-rigging it without a sinker, I'll cast it around any type of visible cover like stumps, logs, grass and/or boat docks. But one of my most-productive places to fish it is along clean banks with no visible cover on them. This type of fishing will drive a run-and-gun fisherman nuts, because you have to fish it slow. Once again, most anglers who fish down the bank are fishing really fast, and they're not giving the bass a chance to look at the bait a long time before the fish takes it. Also, very few fishermen are rigging the worm wacky style, and they're not Texas-rigging the worm. The retrieve I like best is to cast it out, let it fall, twitch it, allow it to fall and twitch it again. Most of the time, you'll just see your line moving off to the side. You won't feel a violent strike. That's another plus about these salt-impregnated 3X Strike King baits. Because of the salt added to the lure, the bass will hold it in its mouth longer, and you'll have plenty of time to set the hook.
To rig the Zero as a wacky worm, I tie a ball swivel on the end of the line. Then I use 6 or 8 inches of the
same-pound-test line for a leader and tie on the wacky worm. Not only does the swivel keep the worm from twisting your line, but it helps to get the worm down just a little bit faster and creates a tumbling action. Another key ingredient to my success with a wacky worm rig is that I always try to use a shiny swivel. I think the bass sees that little bitty shiny swivel and assumes it's a small baitfish being chased by a larger baitfish (the Zero worm). I use both gold and silver swivels, and I don't believe that the color is nearly as important as that the swivel be shiny. I like this combination when I'm rigging the Zero wacky style.
However, when I rig the Zero like a trick worm, then the Zero resembles a big fish chasing a little fish. I run my hook farther down into the body of the worm when I Texas rig it. That way I get a little more action in my lure and work the bait similar to the way I'll work a fluke and very slowly. Many times I'll Texas-rig it. I'll also fish the Zero Carolina-style on humps, ledges and drop-offs.
Besides salt, these new Strike King 3X soft-plastic baits like the Zero have garlic in them. I think the garlic kills the human odor as much as anything. So with the garlic and the salt and an unusual-looking bait fished slow, you have a really-unique lure that gives the bass something new to look at, and I believe they will bite it better.
To be honest with you, I'm really excited about all the new lures Strike King has come out with this year, but these are my favorites for fishing for largemouth bass. If you'll try some of these tactics, I believe you'll be surprised at how well they will work for you. I know they really work for me.
