(Editor's note: "Catching Bass with Dustin Wilks" airs four times per week on Sportsman Channel – 6:30 a.m. ET Monday, 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, 5 a.m. Saturday and 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The six-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier provides BassFans with additional insight about each episode in these submissions.)
Last week’s show was perhaps my least favorite, but I personally learned a lot and I hope you did as well.
I was fishing in the fall in brackish water. It was calm and clear most of the day. Right off the bat I caught a 6-pounder on an Eco-Pro Sick Boy swimjig (Alabama bream) with a Culprit Flutter Craw trailer (molting craw). This looked really natural in the dark, yet clear water.
After the big fish it was all downhill – lots of really small fish. I did as I often do when things get tough – I go even faster. I’m always optimistic that if I cover enough water, I’ll come across some good fish. Most of the time it works, but on this day it did not. Late in the day, I began flipping some docks slowly and started catching a few good fish. Yep, it sadly took me till 5 p.m. to finally let something sink to the bottom – and it was only 2 feet deep!
Taking your foot off the gas when conditions call for it should at least be considered. Some guys always fish slow. I struggle with that since I’m always going to new water all the time. If you fish the same lake or two consistently, you can really take your time and fish thoroughly in good areas.
What I learned from the day was to devote a little time each hour to try something different for maybe just 10 minutes if things aren’t going my way. That swimjig is one of my top confidence and big-fish lures, so it's hard for me to set it down. That first 6-pounder really put me on the path to fishing one style all day.
When conditions are bad, experimentation needs a little time. I’m guilty of the one-cast deal, then back to my confidence baits. A little time doing something different is prudent in tough conditions.
Ironically, like the rocket scientist that I am, I started catching bigger fish on the same Eco Pro jig and Culprit Flutter craw, but just simply fishing it like a traditional jig.
One tip I’ll leave you with is line – a swim jig fishes really well in shallow water on 50-pound braid. I use Yo-Zuri Super Braid and find it's phenomenal when swimming a jig. You are typically casting farther and get bites, usually suddenly, on the end of the cast. Braid’s lack of stretch overcomes the distance and gets a good hookset. When I flip or fish slow, I use Yo-Zuri Top Fluorocarbon. Typically the bites are closer to the boat when you're flipping and pitching and you tend to tear a bigger hole that close with braid and lose more fish, so flouro is better for me close to the boat.
Stubbornness has won a lot of guys a lot of money in tournaments over the years. But if you're fishing for just one day in an unfamiliar place, it's good to mix it up (at least a little).
