 Time
and time again, I have watched fishermen approach the
bank moving from one piece of cover to the next. They
rarely attempt a cast into the middle or even approach
a prime piece of cover, perhaps making a few casts around
the outside edge, and occasionally take a fish. They
never even make one cast into the very back of the cover. Why…?
“For fear they will lose a lure, or worse, lose
a big fish.”
Stop for a second and read that sentence again… I would
bet my favorite flippin’ stick that you’ve heard people
say that before. Heck, I’d bet that you’ve even said
it yourself.
About 6 years ago, I decided to take a trip down to Florida
because I wanted to catch a 10 lb. Bass. After calling
several different guide services, I came across Hugh Crumpler’s
guide service. One of the first things he said was “I
hope you don’t mind getting hung up on branches”. He
then went on to explain all about Stick Marsh (Farm 13).
Stick Marsh was an old orange grove with canals running
through it for irrigation purposes. The canals were damned,
allowing the orange grove to flood. Almost the entire
water column was infested with branches from top to bottom.
The canals already supported a healthy population of bass,
which quickly took to the newly available cover. In addition
to the population of resident bass, Florida’s D.E.P. (Department
of Environmental Protection) stocked it with hatchery
bass. Here is the amazing part; according to the D.E.P.
Stick Marsh has a two-pound per year growth rate. Within
the first two years, the “average” fish had grown to over
5 lbs, and there were lunkers ranging from 8 lbs –14 lbs
caught in numbers, every day! This sounded too good to
be true and although I was skeptical, I had to check this
place out.
Skipping ahead a bit, I arrived at stick marsh and it
was everything Hugh had described to me. The tricky part
wasn’t getting bass to strike, it was getting them out
of the orange trees. Think about this:
If you made an average cast in an orange grove, your line
would cross about seven trees. Now, if there is a bass
on the end of that line, think about how many branches
he can get tangled in, on the way back to the boat. It
makes for some pretty challenging fishing and what a RUSH!
I must have lost more than 30 bass, including a MONSTER
that tangled in a branch right at the side of the boat
and broke 40 lbs test line! I still managed to land over
20 bass between 4 – 6 lbs and some great video footage,
including the monster beside the boat.
So, what was the point of all this? When I got back to
New York, my outlook on bass fishing had completely changed.
Instead of just picking apart the edges of cover, I’d
throw into, onto, under, over and any place I could get
my lure into… I even threw into places that I thought
I couldn’t get my lure into. I did this at first, because
it was much more challenging to get a fish of out heavy
cover. Now I do it because I have caught a lot of really
big bass casting into the heaviest cover I can find.
Most fishermen know that big bass like heavy cover, near
deep water, with an abundance of food nearby. What they
don’t know is that the really big bass will “claim” the
heaviest piece of cover in that given area. If a big
bass is caught and removed from a piece of cover and there
are other big fish in the area, it won’t be long before
another big bass occupies that same piece of cover.
On several occasions, I have witnessed fishermen catch
a big bass from a piece of heavy cover, put it in the
live well and leave without making another cast. Then
a short while later see a different fisherman come by
and catch another big fish from the same spot. It’s not
uncommon to catch more than one big bass off the same
piece of cover. In fact I have had days where both my
partner and I have caught several fish off the same piece
of cover and even taken back-to-back lunkers. I try to
make a habit out of returning to cover that I have taken
fish from earlier that day. There is usually a good reason
those fish were there.
I know what you’re thinking, this all sounds great, but
what about when you’re fishing a tournament and every
area has a ton of boats fishing every piece of cover in
site? Well, since most of those guys are going to target
the easier places to cast, that sure leaves a lot of untouched
water for those willing to get in there and take a chance.
So with that said, how many times have you made a cast
“over” a dock in a tournament? How about between a boat,
a dock and over the ropes that are keeping them together?
How about casting over a tree and some bushes so your
line is hanging from a branch that is seven feet off the
surface of the water? Sound crazy? It is, but you have
nothing to lose. What’s the worst thing that could happen?
You lose a lure, or even worse, you lose a big fish…
SO WHAT! If you stick a big fish and lose it, she probably
won’t hit again that day. Think of it this way, for every
fish you lose, that’s one less fish your competition has
a chance of catching.
Obviously we don’t go fishing to lose fish, so we have
to stack the odds in our favor, so let’s talk about equipment.
This is not the place to be using 6 lb test line, a 5’
6” rod and that old push button reel that your granddad
left you in his will. You should be using at least a
7’, heavy power rod, with a minimum of 20-30 LB test
line and a heavy-duty casting reel with good magnetic
adjusters. I spent a lot of time and money trying different
rod, reel and line combos for this task. I personally
like a one piece, 7’ St. Croix Avid Series, heavy power, fast action rod, with
a Shimano Bantam Curado reel and 20 LB Berkley Big Game
mono. I can flip, pitch, cast and skip a jig almost anywhere
without the hassles of backlashing and constantly having
to play around with my reel settings. Lure selection…
I almost always use a 3/16 oz. or 5/16 oz. black/blue
Stanley jig tipped with Strike King’s Sr. Bo-Hawg pork.
You’d be amazed at some of the places you can pull big
bass out of with this type of setup.
If you’re seriously considering trying this method of
fishing, your casting skills must be way above average.
Aside from that, all it takes is some creative thinking,
versatility and sometimes a little luck to get into some
of these places. Although this method of fishing is a
bit unconventional and extremely tuff on tackle, when
mastered, it can be deadly.
Catch a Big One,
Brendan
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