Because the popularization of forward-facing sonar, many bass anglers have discovered success utilizing new methods to fish outdated methods. However, it needs to be no shock that a couple of new methods have advanced together with this new know-how.
Now that anglers have had a couple of years to get their graphs and transducers dialed in, the very best within the enterprise have been seen catching bass utilizing methods like moping, strolling, and hover strolling. These ways won’t have essentially the most thrilling names, however there’s no denying that they’re catching fish — and plenty of them.
That can assist you implement these methods in your individual fishing, I sat down with Noah Winslow, knowledgeable bass information and match angler who spends virtually daily on the water. Winslow has been a information on Candlewood Lake in Connecticut for 4 years, and spent the final three years dialing in his forward-facing sonar to assist him and his shoppers have some unimaginable days on the water.
Perceive Moping, Strolling, and Hover Strolling
First let’s outline what we’re speaking about. The largest distinction within the three hottest FFS methods comes all the way down to the rig’s weight and the way it’s fished. Right here’s a short overview of the three methods:
- Moping is fishing the bait down within the water column, the place bass are suspended simply off the underside. Usually, you’ll discover most success moping in colder water eventualities. This presentation is virtually vertical, so a 90-degree jig head is required. You’ll discover the bass utilizing your FFS and drop your moping rig down and maintain it simply in entrance of the bass and evenly shimmy the bait together with your rod tip till they chew.
- Strolling is much more lively than moping. When fishing a strolling rig, you’ll be casting at actively feeding fish and reeling your bait over high of them to set off a chew. When strolling, you’ll be utilizing a heavier jig head, and rod and reel setup to particularly goal suspended bass in the course of the water column.
- Hover Strolling is the lighter model of strolling and is usually solely used for bass which are feeding excessive within the water column, just below the floor. For hover strolling, you’ll be utilizing a lighter jig head or nail-weighted tender plastic that you simply hover above the bass and slowly reel in the direction of the boat, triggering them to chew. Because it’s a lighter method, the rod and reel setup will replicate that as effectively.
The bass on Candlewood feed totally on alewife, a small baitfish that tends to highschool in deep water. When the alewife head to the deep water, the bass observe and droop close to the baitfish, ready for a simple meal. That makes them primed to feed on a strolling rig, one thing that Winslow discovered a couple of years forward of the curve, permitting him to win some huge tournaments on Candlewood and different lakes within the Northeast.
A strolling rig is straightforward, utilizing a jig head and a minnow-style bait, you’ll solid at bass you establish utilizing your forward-facing sonar and swim the bait above them, inflicting them to chew. Sounds simple sufficient, proper? Nicely, it could be a bit extra intricate than that, so right here’s all the things you could find out about fishing a strolling rig.
The Strolling Rig
A couple of years in the past, Winslow started to determine strolling, or what he used to check with as minnow rigging, on suspended bass that had been feeding on balls of baitfish. Since then, he’s discovered they don’t essentially need to be on bait, they’ll additionally droop over construction on the underside or beneath floating construction like a sailboat or floating dock. So long as the bass are suspended, you possibly can fish a strolling rig.
Usually, Winslow recommends fishing a strolling rig with a ¼ to ⅜-ounce jig head and a 3.5-inch tender plastic minnow bait just like the Z-Man Scented Jerk Shadz or the Strike King Baby Z-Too. The important thing right here is ensuring your strolling rig appears as sensible as potential. The tender plastic must match the baitfish the bass primarily feed on, and must be threaded onto the jig head as straight as potential. That’s non-negotiable in response to Winslow.
“In case your tender plastic isn’t 100% straight and inline with the jig head, the bass are going to draw back from it,” Winslow says. “When fishing a strolling rig, it’s crucial to make the presentation as pure as humanly potential.”
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How you can Rig a Strolling Rig
As you possibly can think about, rigging a strolling rig isn’t all that sophisticated. You’ll merely want a good-quality jig head and the minnow-style tender plastic you’re seeking to throw. Rigging ought to take 30 seconds or much less. Beneath is a step-by-step information.
Step 1: Choose your jig head and tie it to your line utilizing a Palomar knot. An alternative choice that Winslow has began utilizing increasingly more is the Shark knot. He prefers that knot for strolling as a result of it helps maintain the bait on the horizontal angle, and the knot doesn’t slide on the hook eye like a Palomar will.
Step 2: Choose and slide your tender plastic onto the jig head centered and completely straight. The tender plastic can’t be crooked in any respect, in any other case it gained’t run appropriately within the water.
What Makes the Strolling Rig so Efficient?
The simplicity of a strolling rig paired with a pure presentation is what makes this system so lethal. The delicate minnow-style bait appears extremely sensible within the water column, and the scale of the rig makes it an extremely simple meal for actively feeding bass. The strolling rig with the appropriate colour tender plastic appears precisely like an alewife quivering within the water. From the silhouette of the bait to the quivering motion you give the bait by wiggling your rod tip, this rig triggers a pure response to feed on a dying alewife.
Bass which are suspended and feeding on alewife or different baitfish additionally are likely to “feed up.” Which means they’ve bought their eyes targeted on something above them within the water column, sometimes as a result of that’s the place the baitfish are. As they’re scouring the water above them and your strolling rig gently rolls by, it’s nearly like they need to eat it, they’ll’t assist it.
When to Throw a Strolling Rig
Winslow has discovered that bass will eat a strolling rig on nearly any given day, however sure situations align for lights out days on the water. His favourite days to fish a strolling rig is throughout a entrance with cloudy or wet situations. The bass are likely to roam extra in quest of baitfish and are more likely to chase down and eat a strolling rig. Within the case of a low stress system the place it’s nonetheless sunny out, he’s discovered that the bass will nonetheless eat a strolling rig, you merely need to downsize your line in clearer water.
As for time of yr, Winslow has caught bass on a strolling rig proper at open water via the freeze, however there are two occasions a yr the place he locks the rig into his hand and gained’t put it down.
His favourite time of yr for the strolling rig is the early pre-spawn when bass are nonetheless out deep however starting to make their method in the direction of details and the mouths of deep creek arms because the water begins to heat. This time of yr, the bass appear to congregate in bigger colleges round large balls of baitfish, making them simple targets for the strolling rig.
His second favourite time to throw a strolling rig is the top of summer time and into the early fall. Much like how the bass react within the spring, he finds them in comparable areas simply on the sting of the deep water basins they spend the canine days of summer time in. Because the water cools down, the alewives start to stack up once more, making the bass simpler to seek out beneath the huge clouds of bait.
The Gear for Fishing a Strolling Rig
Choosing the Proper Strolling Rig Rod
Whenever you’re deciding what rod to throw your strolling rig on, it’s crucial that you simply decide a rod with a tender sufficient tip to stop ripping the bait out of the bass’ mouth, however sufficient spine for stable hooksets. Winslow’s favourite strolling rig rod is the G. Loomis 852 NRX+ 7’1” Medium jig and worm rod. His favourite characteristic of this rod is the tender tip that lets him give delicate motion to the bait. The tip hundreds gently when the bass eat his strolling rig, permitting him to make good, clear hooksets every time.
Choosing the Proper Strolling Rig Reel
For Winslow’s strolling rig reel choice, he nearly all the time goes with a 3000-size spinning reel since it should sometimes be a quicker gear ratio, permitting him to choose up slack line from the bait falling via the water column. You’ll even be chasing particular bass utilizing your FFS unit, so having the ability to reel up rapidly and re-cast is essential. His two go-to spinning reels are the Shimano Sustain FJ and the Shimano Exsence A, each of which characteristic the MGL rotor that enables for a easy begin and cease reeling movement.
Choosing the Proper Strolling Rig Baits
The tender plastic you select on your strolling rig may simply be crucial element. You’ll need to match the hatch with no matter baitfish is most typical in your native physique of water. For Winslow, that’s alewife. To match the hatch, he’s discovered the very best tender plastic baits for his strolling rigs to be the Z-Man Scented Jerk Shadz or the Strike King Baby Z-Too. These two tender plastics cowl the entire colorways he leans on, and keep on the jig head even after catching fish after fish.
Choosing the Proper Strolling Rig Jig Heads
Whenever you’re selecting which jig head to throw your strolling rig on, the most important determination is which weight to go along with. Winslow sometimes sticks with a ¼-ounce head or a ⅜-ounce head. By gauging how aggressive the fish are, he makes his choice. On extra aggressive days, he likes to throw a heavier head because it permits him to maneuver it extra aggressively within the water column. His two go-to jig heads are the Dirty Jigs Guppy Head and the Keitech Super Round Tungsten Head. Each include nice hooks that you simply gained’t have to fret about bending throughout the combat with an enormous bass.
Choosing the Proper Strolling Rig Line
Relating to the road to make use of on your strolling rig, Winslow all the time throws braided line with a fluorocarbon chief. He prefers this setup for the added sensitivity of the braid, and it saves him from utilizing a pile of fluorocarbon each time he re-ties. For braided line, he tends to stay with PowerPro 10-pound Super Slick V2, and for fluorocarbon chief he leans on 8 to 10-pound Shimano Mastiff. If he wants the strolling rig to sink quicker, he’ll go along with 8 pound, and if the bass are tremendous aggressive, he’ll persist with 10 pound.
Remaining Ideas on Strolling
After getting an hour-long breakdown on the strolling rig from Winslow, I noticed simply how intricate fishing a strolling rig will be. There’s loads of transferring components relating to matching your bait to the appropriate baitfish, together with merely discovering the bass utilizing your FFS unit. Regardless, Winslow encourages anybody new to strolling to keep away from being pissed off if the bass come as much as the bait and switch away. That’s simply the bass telling you to make a slight adjustment in your line dimension, bait choice, or perhaps a intestine examine to verify your bait is on the jig as straight as potential.
Winslow additionally wished to make it clear that not daily on the water will likely be good for strolling. When you’re discovering that the bass don’t appear to be suspended, it’s in all probability a good suggestion to strive a distinct method. With that stated, simply because it doesn’t work in the future doesn’t imply you must write off strolling as an entire. It’s an extremely efficient method to catch extra bass, and as soon as they begin biting, it may be a few of the most enjoyable you’ll have on the water.