Entry 88-2

Mark Rose

Big Fish Tournament Lure

Editor's Note:Thirty-one-year-old Mark Rose of Marion, Arkansas, has fished professionally for several years and has several top-10 finishes. In the past, he's worked as a district executive for the Boy Scouts of America's national office. He went pro with Strike King several years ago. Although he's never won a tournament, Rose proves his consistency by always fishing near the top. This week he'll share with us what baits work best for him.

Rose:My favorite big fish tournament lure is the Strike King 4S crankbait. For many years, most bass fishermen believed they should only use a crankbait in deep water for offshore fishing. We rarely, if ever, used crankbaits in shallow-water fishing situations. However, when Strike King put the square-bill on the nose of the 4S crankbait, the company created the perfect shallow-water lure that bass weren't accustomed to seeing in shallow-water depths. This lure won't dive to depths more than 3 to 3-1/2 feet, making it a productive lure to fish around logs, stumps, rocks and other shallow-water cover around which most fishermen generally will use a jig or spinner bait. I've learned that anytime I can put a bait that the bass aren't used to seeing in front of it, the likelihood of it taking that bait is greatly increased. So, the moral is, be willing to try something different; it just may work for you!

The post-spawn season and through the summer is my favorite time to fish this lure because the bass primarily feed on bluegill then. Another favorite time of the year to fish the 4S crankbait is in the early fall, because bass hold in shallow water and feed on baitfish. One of the big advantages of fishing the 4S crankbait in shallow water is that you can actually trigger bass to bite it and make them strike the lure because of a reaction instinct, rather than their feeding instinct. Not only does the side-to-side wobble of the 4S crankbait move a lot of water as it swims, but it's also good to use to crash into logs, stones and rocks. When the 4S hits a rock or a stump, or some other water cover, the bait has an erratic motion similar to a baitfish crashing into an underwater structure. Because of this erratic motion, the 4S is a more-believable bait for the smarter bass who can identify a plastic bait from a live bait.

One place I really like to fish the 4S is under boat docks in the spring, when the bass are suspended and feeding on bluegills. Unlike most fishermen, when I crash the 4S into a boat-dock piling, I don't pause the bait and then restart the retrieve. Instead I continue a steady retrieve. I think when you break the rhythm of the spinning motion of this lure by hitting a structure, the square bill causes it to dart and that quick change of direction prompts the bass to bite.




 

© 1996-2008 Strike King Lure Company