Entry 206-2

Mike Wurm Turns on Clear-Water Bass Fishing

Part 2: Tournament – Day 1

Question: Mike, what happened on the first day of the tournament?

Wurm: I was the 98th boat to start the tournament. I was in the area I planned to fish the Spit-N-King, and I only had a short time to fish before the daylight bite was over. But I did catch one keeper bass on the Spit-N-King before I put it down and started fishing the shaky-head jig with the finesse worm. I fished the same region where I’d fished the Spit-N-King because I felt sure the bass in there didn’t leave after the morning bite was over, but instead moved into deeper water. I caught two more bass at that place before I headed up the lake to make my milk run. I was feeling pretty good having three bass in the boat after about 1-1/2 hours of fishing.

Question: What color Spit-N-King were you using?

Wurm: I was fishing the blue chrome with a blue back and the silver sides. I was working that bait really fast. I found out after the tournament was over from some of the other competitors that they were fishing the Spit-N-King much slower than I was, and they were catching more bass on that early morning bite than I was catching. I don’t believe you can beat the Spit-N-King for an early-morning top-water lure. But the real secret to fishing the Spit-N-King is to learn the rate of retrieve that the bass want on the lake you’re fishing on the morning you’re fishing. On different days, on various bodies of water, the bass will take the Spit-N-King more readily, if you can determine the speed of retrieve the bass want and will bite best on that day, on that lake. I learned later that I had guessed wrong about the speed to fish the Spit-N-King. Although I did catch some keeper fish by fishing the Spit-N-King fast, I probably would have caught more bass and finished higher in the tournament, if I’d slowed my retrieve down.

Question: After you left your morning bite spot, where did you go next?

Wurm: I moved up the lake to fish some of my primary areas. Before long I had my fifth fish in the boat. Then I was able to start culling.

Question: On what pound-test line were you fishing the shaky-head jig and the Spit-N-King?

Wurm: I was fishing 8-pound fluorocarbon line with a Quantum Mike Wurm Signature Series spinning rod with an Energy PTi Quantum spinning reel.

Question: Tell me about the places you were fishing on the first day of competition.

Wurm: I found a row of old, very-small boat docks, and I was hoping that most of the competitors would overlook these docks. They were in the back of a creek, but the creek had plenty of deep water right at the end of the docks. So, the bass could hold in the shade of the docks and then move out to deep water, if the weather got too hot or after they had fed all they wanted. I caught two more bass fishing down those docks, which filled out my limit.

Then I moved to a spot with a hidden point. This hidden point served me well throughout the entire tournament. The point was hidden between two rows of boat docks. You couldn’t see the bank because of the boat docks, so you couldn’t tell that this point came from the bank and then out into the creek. I was fishing the boat docks during practice. As I moved from dock to dock, I saw the bottom come up between two of the docks. So, I used my depth finder and my trolling motor to check out this point. I found that the point ran out all the way to the main river channel. I caught my biggest fish on this hidden point every day of the tournament.

Question: What type of retrieve were you using when you were fishing the finesse worm on the shaky head?

Wurm: About 90% of my strikes came as the worm fell to the bottom. I threw that shaky head back under the boat dock and worked it to the front of the dock where the water dropped off from about 10 feet to 15- to 20-foot deep. If the bass didn’t take the worm when it hit the water and fell, they would take the worm as it hopped over the lip of the break and started to fall. The first two days, I was catching the fish in the 8- to 10-foot water depth, but the last two days, the bass moved out into deeper water.

Question: How were you working the worm once it reached the bottom?

Wurm: When the worm hit the bottom, I would shake it and hop it and shake it and hop it. But I didn’t spend too much time working the worm on the bottom because most of my strikes were happening on the fall. I really didn’t play with the worm once it got to the bottom.

Question: What size jig were you using, Mike?

Wurm: I was fishing a homemade 3/16-ounce jighead with a No. 3/0 hook on it.

Question: How many fish did you catch on day one of the tournament?

Wurm: I caught about 15 keepers with a weight of 12 pounds, 4 ounces, and I was in 29th place. So, I knew I wasn’t in the 12 place cut of the first day. Before I weighed in I had thought I was in pretty good shape. The weights were very close together. I was only ounces away from 20th place and only 1 pound out of the top 12. The top weight was around 13 pounds, so I felt like I was in pretty good shape. I felt real confident that I could at least catch what I’d caught the first day, and if I got lucky and caught one or two larger fish, I knew I could be in the hunt to make the top 12.

Next: Tournament – Day 2

Contents:

• Part 1: What I Learned in Practice
• Part 2: Tournament – Day 1
• Part 3: Tournament – Day 2
• Part 4: Tournament – Day 3
• Part 5: Last Day of the Tournament