Entry 99-5

George Cochran On Strike King Lures

How To Fish the Zero

Editor's Note: George Cochran of Hot Springs, Arkansas, one of the truly-nice guys on the professional bass-fishing circuit and a longtime member of Strike King's Pro Fishing Team, doesn't call attention to himself. But when tournament day arrives, the quiet Cochran becomes one of the fiercest competitors on the tournament trail. The winner of two Bassmaster Classics in 1987 and 1996 and the 2004 BASS Lake Guntersville tournament, Cochran is one of the best shallow-water anglers in the nation. This week, he will tell us some of his go-to baits that have brought him success on the tournament trail.

Cochran: The Zero, a 5-inch, straight-tail worm, is fat like a cigar. The bait really doesn't have a lot of action when it swims through the water, but when it falls from the surface to the bottom, it has a unique action that bass just can't stand. The worm wiggles back and forth as it falls, and I believe it is the best lure I can fish when I'm fishing for spawning bass, both largemouth and smallmouth.

You don't really work this bait like you do a tube or a jig. You throw it around cover and just let it sink. I don't use any type weight when I'm fishing the Zero. The real secret to catching bass on this lure is to watch your line as the bait sinks. You can't really see or feel the action of the Zero as it falls. So you just have to watch the line, and then when you see the line twitch, you set the hook.

I like to Carolina-rig this bait. I'll use a heavy sinker up the line, a bead under the sinker and a barrel swivel below the bead, then tie on 3 to 4 feet of leader line and Texas- rig the worm. The other way I fish the lure is to pull the weight up off the bottom and then let the weight fall back to the bottom. This action causes the Zero to come up off the bottom and then slowly fall back to the bottom. As the Zero is falling back to the bottom is when the bass will attack.

The new Zero has been impregnated with salt and will really move a lot as it starts to fall. I think the salt makes the bass hold onto the lure longer, which gives the fisherman more time to set the hook and allows for a deeper hook set than he'll get if the lure doesn't have salt in it. But, if you'll try the Zero this year, I think you will really be surprised at how many bass it will catch for you.

Now this lure is very deceptive, because when you look at this bait, you don't think it will move very much. But when you put it in the water, you'll see that both ends of the lure will begin to wiggle, get the bass's attention and cause him to strike.




 

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