Entry 248-5

Fishing Strike King’s New Lures with Luke Estel

Part 5: Drop the Zero and Be a Hero

Question: Luke, why do you like the Zero? It’s not really a new bait, but it’s on your top-five Strike King lures. Why?

Estel: At the Bassmaster’s Open Division held on Lake Toho, I was able to fish one pack of green-pumpkin Zeros all three days.

Question: Why did you use the Zeros?

Estel: The Zero is a great bait when bass don’t want to bite. The fall rate on the Zero is slow and mesmerizing. Bass just absolutely cannot stand to watch the Zero as it falls from the surface and slowly wiggles its way to the bottom.

Question: How do you fish the Zero?

Estel: I prefer to fish the Zero weightless on a No. 4/0 wide-gap hook. Too, I fish it with a 1/8-ounce Tru Tungsten sinker. I fish the Zero very slowly for lethargic bass.

Question: Do you fish the Zero wacky style or Texas-rigged?

Estel: I like to fish it Texas-rigged. I have fished it wacky style, but the Texas-rigged worm works better for me. When the worm’s rigged Texas style, it glides to the bottom really slowly. The bass that don’t want to bite can’t stand to see that worm glide to the bottom, and they have to bite it.

Question: What color do you like?

Estel: Once again, I’m a green-pumpkin fan. My second color choice is purple flake.

Question: Why do you Texas-rig the Zero instead of fishing one of the other Strike King worms?

Estel: I choose the Zero because of its rate of fall. The Zero is one of the slowest-falling worms on the market. Most other worms you rig Texas style are designed to get to the bottom quickly. But the Zero’s design and purpose is to fall as slow as possible, so the bass get a long look at the bait. The Zero stays in the bass’s strike zone much longer than other worms do.

The old adage, “A worm is a worm is a worm,” isn’t true. Different styles of worms are designed to perform different functions in the fishing environment. For instance, the finesse worm on the shaky-head jig is designed to fall fast and get a reaction strike from aggressively-feeding bass. The ribbontail-style worms are designed to displace a lot of water and create a lot of action and motion. But the Zero is specifically designed for cantankerous bass that don’t want to bite. It falls slowly, so it needs to be fished slowly, and it causes the bass to look at it longer than they will most other worms.

When a bass doesn’t want to bite, it’s much like a man who’s just finished a big meal. Regardless of how much that man has eaten, if you slide a steak right off the grill onto a plate, and it’s still sizzlin’ and producing a delicious odor right under his nose, the longer that steak sits there, the more the man has to decide how full he really feels. The aroma, the sight and the sound of that steak will cause him to decide he’s got room for at least a bite or two. Even though he’s full and doesn’t want to eat, he’ll put a fork and a knife in that steak. That’s the effect the Zero has on bass that don’t want to bite. When the Zero falls, it shimmers and moves just like that steak sizzlin’ on the platter. That shimmering motion is what calls the bass in and makes them take the bait.

Occasionally, I’ll use a 1/8-ounce slip sinker to get the Zero down a little bit faster. Remember, even though the slip sinker reaches the bottom well ahead of the Zero, as soon as the slip sinker hits the water, it begins to fall away from the line. Because of the bulk of the Zero, it will create more separation between the sinker and the worm than a skinny worm will. So, even though you’re using a weight to get the Zero down faster, the Zero is still falling much slower than any other worm design will. When I pitch the Zero out, I’ll give the bait slack line, which causes the weight to fall away from the lure faster. Then the bait follows the weight to the bottom on a much-slower fall than another style worm does.

Question: In what water condition do you fish green pumpkin?

Estel: I’m not afraid to fish that color in any water, but it seems to perform best in stained or semi-stained water. Also, it works well in most of the lakes I fish.

Question: How do you decide where you’ll fish the Zero?

Estel: The Zero isn’t cover specific. It’s a desperation bait. When you’re out on the water, and you can’t catch bass on a spinner bait, a jig, a jerkbait, a crankbait or any other lure, and you’re getting frustrated, you can pull the Zero out of your tackle box and usually start catching fish around any type of cover or structure you want to fish. When all other lures fail, and you’re ready to quit and go home, you can pick up the Zero, fish it extremely slowly and catch bass.

Let’s face it, bass fishing can be tough sometimes, and regardless of what lure you use, on some days, you just won’t make those bass bite, even though you’re confident the bass are in the area you’re fishing. That’s when I pull out the Zero, and go from being a zero to a hero. One of the best lines to remember is, “When you’re a zero, you can become a hero fishing the Strike King Zero.”

Contents:

• Part 1: The Football Jig
• Part 2: The Rage Toad
• Part 3: The Iguana
• Part 4: Sexy Crankbaits
• Part 5: Drop the Zero and Be a Hero