(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Fred Roumbanis knows that his penchant for chasing big bass sometimes costs him checks and even Bassmaster Classic berths, but it’s an addiction that he can’t shake. For the California native, it’s been fueled by the fact that in seven of the biggest tournaments he’s fished – four Classics and three Bassmaster Majors – he’s walked home with big-fish hardware on four occasions.
While any category of lure, even finesse presentations, can catch a kicker, Roumbanis knows that if you want to maximize your big-fish chances, it pays to stick with certain lures. Over time he’s learned that specific categories produce better than others.
One recent addition to the list is the 5-inch Biffle Bug, the largest of the three sizes that Gene Larew makes. He’ll wind it like a crankbait, in the way that Tommy Biffle made famous, but just as importantly, he’s found that’s it’s an exemplary bed fishing bait. Shaken in place, the appendages and ribs twitch enticingly and he’ll almost always start with this one over the regular 4.25-inch version if bigger fish are around.
Another relatively new category that has captured his attention are the giant flutter spoons made famous on the TVA ledge lakes. “It looks like the most intimidating thing you've ever seen … but it’s just an average gizzard shad,” he explained. The beauty of this lure is that its heavy flash and vibration tend to fire up a school of bass, so if you catch one, you may see other catchable specimens along with it.
Of course, he’s also a huge devotee of the hollow-bodied frog. He uses a variety of versions, and is developing one with Stanford Baits, but he said he’s won more money on the original Snag Proof than just about any other bait – he even had a color named after him. While many pros use super-heavy braid, Roumbanis still prefers 50-pound test because you “want to make that frog dance.” Don’t go lighter, though, because you’ll end up breaking off big fish.
During practice, he’ll cut the hooks off the frog to avoid burning fish, but in the tournament he wants to maximize his bite-to-land ratio, so he uses a 7’5” IRod that loads up perfectly. He typically likes a 7.3:1 gear ratio reel because it enables him to fire back on a fish that blows up and misses. “You’ve got about four seconds” to get the lure back in there, he said. In some tournaments where he needs to slow down his presentation, he’ll downshift to 6.3:1.
Hard and soft swimbaits are two more categories of lures that are close to Roumbanis' heart. He said that hard wake baits and glide baits don’t always produce strikes, but they’re great at locating massive bass. With them, he said, you’ll “see things you didn’t even know live in certain spots.”
Of all of these lures, the one that he has the most blood, sweat and tears invested in is the Optimum Boom Boom soft swimbait, a remake of a discontinued Bass Pro Shops version that has won hundreds of thousands of dollars for Roumbanis, as well as for Steve Kennedy and Takahiro Omori. It comes in both an open water version fitted with a belly treble and a weedless version designed around an 8/0 Owner Beast hook. He fishes the former on surprisingly light line, often as light as 10-pound copolymer or 15-pound fluorocarbon, and no more than 20-pound, because anything heavier will inhibit its action. He usually fishes the latter by skipping it under docks and pulling it through grass beds, so that merits 50-pound braid. His No. 1 color coast to coast is Ghost Minnow.
“When you get your first bite on this thing, I don’t think you’ll want to throw anything else,” he said. “You’re fishing for the fish to win tournaments.”
If you want to learn some of Roumbanis' other big-bait opinions, including how, where and why he fishes big baits like the Deps Slide Swimmer 250, the OB Minnow, the AC Plug, the Lunker Punker and the Triple Trout, check out his full video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
