Entry 181-5

Mark Davis’ Five December Patterns

Part 5: The Wild Shiner

Editor’s Note: A big and often quiet man, Mark Davis of Mt. Ida, Arkansas, is one of the most-fierce competitors in tournament bass-fishing today. Davis has won in years past the title of B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year and the Bassmaster Classics and more than $1 million over the years in tournament bass-fishing. This week, Davis will give us his best five December patterns for catching bass.

Question: What’s another lure you’ll be using this month?

Davis: I like the suspending Wild Shiner, and I’ll be fishing it on windblown points, banks and pockets. I want to use the Wild Shiner to imitate shad in clear water, and I’ll probably use either a clear clown, a chrome with blue back or maybe even a bleeding calico – all colors that work in both clear and stained water. I don’t use a jerkbait in muddy water, but if the water’s stained to clear, a jerkbait is a good choice.

Question: What pound-test line are you fishing?

Davis: I fish 10- or 12-pound-test line. Make a long cast into shallow water in the 3- to 5-foot range, jerk the bait down, and let it sit. You don’t really have to let the bait sit a long time during December. Sure the water’s cold, but it’s not really cold. I don’t fish the Wild Shiner really slowly until I get into January and February. I think the real secret to the jerkbait at this time of year is fishing it where you find windblown areas. If you feel like fish are suspended under boat docks, then try the Wild Shiner there. I’ve even caught suspended bass in standing timber in December.

Question: Many times, we hear the words dead-sticking when anglers fish jerkbaits. What does the term dead-sticking mean?

Davis: Dead-sticking means getting the jerkbait down to the depth you want to fish and letting the lure sit motionless for a long time. A long time is defined different ways by various fishermen. I define a long time as letting the lure sit for 5 to 10 seconds without moving it. I seldom let one sit longer than 10 seconds. Ten seconds is a long time to let a lure sit motionless underwater and is hard for most anglers to do.

Even when the lure’s sitting still in the strike zone where I think the bass will take it, I’ll still barely twitch my line to make the lure quiver. Of course, this is the advantage of a suspending bait like the Wild Shiner. You can leave it in the strike zone of bass for a long time, but you really need confidence that the place you’re fishing has a bass sitting there looking at that lure to leave it sitting still that long. Most fishermen won’t fish this slowly. However, if you try it one time, and you catch a bass that weighs 5 pounds or more, you’ll start practicing this tactic and develop a pattern for fishing it.

You must have confidence in that pattern. But most fishermen don’t have the patience to really slow-down their fishing and dead-stick their Wild Shiners, even though it’s a deadly tactic. The real secret to dead-sticking the Wild Shiner is knowing exactly where in the retrieve the bass should be and stopping that lure right in front of that bass. Most pro fishermen can let a bait sit dead in the water much longer than the average fisherman can. This is just another way in tricking the fish to bite. To be honest, I don’t usually start dead-sticking the Wild Shiner for a long period until January and February, when the water’s really cold, and the bass are very sluggish.

Contents:

• Part 1: Bet on the Bitsy
• Part 2: Crank ‘Em, Don’t Jump ‘Em
• Part 3: Catch More Fish This Month With the Sand Blaster
• Part 4: You Gotta Fish the Spinnerbait
• Part 5: The Wild Shiner