Entry 116-3

Shaw Grigsby on How to Catch Bass in August and September

Now is the Time for Top-Water Fishing

Editor's Note: Shaw Grigsby of Gainesville, Florida, a well-known professional angler, enjoys fishing all the Strike King baits, especially the spinnerbaits. He has a TV show titled "One More Cast" on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN). This week he will discuss the baits needed to reel in success during the hottest months of the year.

Grigsby: You have to know when to fish top-water lures at this time of year if you want to catch bass in hot weather. Top-water lures are productive early in the morning, late in the afternoon, on cloudy and overcast days and on rainy days. However, top-water baits are also excellent lures to fish in lakes that have a lot of vegetation in them. On these type lakes, a top-water bite can last all day. I like to use the Spit-N-King for fishing top water. I look for points and pockets in vegetation to either work the Spit-N-King by or cast it to. Bass seem to congregate at terrain breaks in the vegetation.

When I'm fishing the Spit-N-King around vegetation, I'll work the bait quickly, or at least that is the way I start off. I like to keep the bait moving to try to attract the bass that are actively feeding. However, if the bass are not feeding quickly, I will slow down the bait, work it slowly and easily and try to tantalize the bass out of the vegetation.

In Florida, where I live, many times a slow technique will pay off better than a fast technique. Sometimes I will chug the bait a couple of times, let it sit still on the water, then maybe only twitch it a couple of times before I chug it again to get the bass to bite. I'm really trying to aggravate the bass into biting. Often after I have chugged the bait a couple of times and let it sit still, the bass will attack just before I'm ready to chug it again.

One time when the Spit-N-King can really be effective to cause bass to strike, especially in Florida, is when the lure sits still in the water. Many anglers believe that you are not fishing a bait, if the bait is not moving. However, I have learned that some lures, like the Spit-N-King, can be most effective if you will just let the bait sit still on the water for a long pause just after you have chugged them. I believe that a bass will often attack a lure when he thinks that baitfish is sitting still and resting and doesn't see him coming.

Another great top-water lure that for some reason does not get a lot of publicity is the King Rat. You can throw the King Rat on top of vegetation, hop it along on top of the grass and then drop it in a pocket, and the bass will really eat it up. You can watch that rat come across that pocket, and the bass will really blow-up on it. Holes, pockets and points are to vegetation what logs, limbs and stumps are to a clean bank. They are ambush points where bass can feed.




 

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