Entry 229-1
Mark Rose on December Bass Fishing
Editor’s Note: Mark Rose of Marion, Arkansas, won $125,000 in the last bass-fishing tournament he fished in 2007. A Strike King pro for a number of years, Rose also fishes for fun, when he’s not tournament fishing. This week Rose will tell us how to catch bass during December.
Part 1: Dying Shad = King Shad
Question: Mark, what do our readers need to know to catch bass this month?
Rose: The shad are dying-off in many lakes. When I’m fishing at this time of the year, if I see shad dying, I go straight to that school of shad. I know the bass will be under the shad, feeding on them. In December, I like to fish the King Shad, since you can make that lure look like a wounded shad. You can see shad dying-off in the open parts of pockets or moving down the edges of retaining walls. If you’ll throw the King Shad out past the school of shad and make it look wounded by reeling it a little, stopping it and just barely making the tail move, you really can turn-on those bass under the dying shad to come up and take the big King Shad.
In the past, we have had to use a Z Too or a Zulu presentation to get those bass to bite under the dying shad. 
But I think the King Shad will trigger more strikes because it’s a bigger bait and looks like a big dying shad. In the winter months, if a bass has to expend the same amount of energy to take a big bait as it does to take a little bait, often the bass will opt to take the bigger bait.
Question: What colors of King Shad do you prefer to fish in December?
Rose: I like the basic white King Shad because live shad get really pale in December. Strike King makes a white King Shad with either a gray or a black back. I’m convinced that this white King Shad is the best color you can use to catch bass in December.
Question: What type of retrieve are you using, Mark?
Rose: During tournament season, I’ll be using a steady retrieve, however when I’m fishing in December, I want to fish a very-slow, really-erratic, hardly-moving-at-all type of retrieve. I want the bait to move to look like a drunken man staggers down the street. I’ll fish the King Shad very slowly, with a little twitch next and then a pause. I’m trying to make this King Shad look wounded, sick and about to die.
Contents:
- Part 1: Dying Shad = King Shad
- Part 2: Play Football in December
- Part 3: Warm Days Get Red Eyes
- Part 4: I’ll Bet on the Shaky-Head Worm Tactic
- Part 5: Fishing the Rage Tail Craw in December
