Entry 271-4
Mark Rose and His Second-Best Year of Fishing with Strike King’s New Lures
Editor’s Note: Mark Rose of Marianna, Arkansas, an up-and-coming pro on the FLW circuit, has committed himself to the sport of tournament bass fishing. This week, Rose will tell us about his second-best year ever of fishing with the new lures from Strike King.
Part 4: Give Them Both - the Game Hawg and the Space Monkey
Question: Mark, I know you’ve been testing some of the new Strike King soft-plastic lures on the surface this year. Tell me about some of the lures you’ve tried.
Rose: In the past, we’ve had baits designed to fish in heavy cover. This year, Strike King released the Game Hawg, which is a somewhat better bait than all the other soft-plastic lures. It’s a very-soft plastic with a coffee scent, and it’s a perfect little bait for Carolina rigging. You can flip it into trees or pitch it under boat docks. It’s an extremely-versatile lure. The Rage Space Monkey has a slightly-bigger profile than the Game Hawg, it’s constructed of the extremely-soft plastic. It’s available in a variety of colors like the Okeechobee Craw and the Bama Bug.
Question: Why do you fish more creature baits than worms and lizards?
Rose: I fish a lot of structure like brush and grass. When I drop something unique into that heavy cover, I’ve got a better chance of catching bass. Too, creature baits are effective when fishing for bedding bass. Because bedding bass have seen a number of tubes, worms and lizards, they can tell you the manufacturer’s name before the lure hits the bottom. When you throw a creature bait unlike anything the bass have ever seen before, the bass know it’s not the usual fisherman’s offering. Because the bass don’t know what the creature bait is, they believe it should be eaten or killed. That’s what will make them bite.
Question: How do you decide which one of the new creature baits from Strike King to use?
Rose: I always try to pick a creature bait I don’t think the bass have already seen. I may try several and let the bass tell me which one they want.
Question: How do you decide when to change colors on your creature bait?
Rose: Almost everyone uses green-pumpkin or watermelon-seed colors. When everyone on the lake is using these two colors, I’ll use colors like Bama Bug, with half of the bait green-pumpkin colored and the other half Junebug-colored. The bass probably have never seen both colors together in the same bait.
