Entry 176-4
Catching Smallmouth with Roger Stegall in the Fall
Part 4: The New Custom Shop Flat Shad
Editor’s Note: Roger Stegall of Iuka, Mississippi, a tournament bass fisherman who owns and operates Roger Stegall’s Professional Guide Service at Pickwick Lake on the Alabama/Tennessee/Mississippi line, has scouted and fished for big smallmouth for more than 30 years. At this time of year, smallmouth fishing really heats up on the Tennessee River and especially on Pickwick Lake. This week, we’ll learn how Stegall is catching big smallmouth that weigh 8 pounds or more.
Question: Roger, I know you’ve been fishing Strike King’s new balsa bait Custom Shop Flat Shad. Will it catch smallmouth?
Stegall: This is a handmade flat balsa-wood crankbait that has a rounded circuit board flexible bill. It has a big wobble like a shad, and it’s terrific when fished around chunky rocks, stumps or any other type of structure. What I’ve learned about the Flat Shad crankbait is that when the bass won’t hit the Diamond Shad or the Quad Shad, I can cast right back to that structure where I haven’t gotten a bite with the other baits and get a bite with these baits. It comes in a Tennessee, threadfin and gizzard shad colors.
Not only does this lure catch smallmouth, but it also works equally as well on largemouth. I’ve learned that many times when I can’t catch bass on the bait I’ve been throwing, I can change to a new lure like the Flat Shad and get bass to bite that wouldn’t bite my other lures. Anywhere you can find shad, you can catch bass on this lure. I use a stop-and-go retrieve or a medium retrieve. At this time of the year, I’m not burning this crankbait. I fished it recently, and the bass were really eating it up. I also notice that bass are taking the crankbait deep in their mouths.
In the places where I fished the crankbait in September, I saw shad that were about three-fingers wide, about the same size as this flat-sided crankbait. The client I had out the day I fished the Flat Shad was fishing the Diamond Shad. Although he was catching plenty of bass on that lure, I seemed to be catching bigger bass on the Flat Shad. I feel confident that all I have to do is put the lure close to a saltwater striper or hybrid, and it will catch those fish too.
Check out Roger Stegall’s Guide Service for more information.
Contents:
- Part 1: You Can’t Beat the Diamond Shad for Smallmouth
- Part 2: Do It With a Quad
- Part 3: Crank Up the Smallmouth
- Part 4: The New Custom Shop Flat Shad
- Part 5: You’re Not Going to Believe This
