Entry 281-2
Mark Davis: My Favorite Bass Techniques
Editor’s Note: Mark Davis of Mt. Ida, Arkansas, has competed in 13 Classics and has won the Angle-of-the-Year title three times. He’s also the only angler to win BASS Angler of the Year and the Bassmaster Classic in the same year (1995). He’s one of the most-consistent fishermen on the BASS circuit. This week we’ve asked Mark to tell us his five-favorite tactics for taking bass. He says, “That’s like asking me about my five-favorite flavors of ice cream. I like them all.”
Part 2: Schooling Bass on Deep Structure with a Crankbait
Question: What’s your next-favorite technique for catching bass?
Davis: I like to catch bass that are schooling on deep structure with a crankbait. I don’t think there’s anything more fun in bass fishing than finding a school of bass in deep water and using either a Strike King Series 5 or Series 6 to catch them. When you find bass schooled-up like this, you can often catch a bass on every cast. I like to make long casts to the school, feel the crankbait coming through the school, feel bass hitting and slapping at the lure and finally have one of them eat it.
I like this kind of fishing because it’s fast and furious and many times you’ll catch two bass on the same lure. You’ll get one bass on each set of treble hooks. Now don’t get me wrong. I like to catch bass on isolated cover with Strike King’s crankbaits also. However, to me there’s nothing more fun than finding a big school of bass holding on deep structure and being able to catch a bass on every cast.
Now when I’m fishing Series 5 or Series 6 crankbaits, I like to use a 7-foot medium-action rod, a baitcasting reel and fluorocarbon line because I think I can get my bait a little deeper in the water with fluorocarbon than I can with monofilament or braided line. 
When I find those schools of bass in deep cover, I like to use 10-pound-test line. That smaller diameter line allows me to cast further and get my bait down deeper than larger line will. When you’re fishing deep structure, you’re not nearly as concerned about the bass getting around a log or a limb or getting buried-up in grass and breaking the line. Most of the time, you’ve got the fish out in open water, and you’ve got time to play ‘em.
Next: Buzz ‘em Up
Contents:
- Part 1: Fishing a Wake Bait
- Part 2: Schooling Bass on Deep Structure with a Crankbait
- Part 3: Buzz ‘em Up
- Part 4: My Bread-and-Butter Technique
- Part 5: Carolina Rig the Game Hawg
