(Editor's note: "Catching Bass with Dustin Wilks" airs five times per week on Sportsman Channel – 2 p.m. ET Sunday, 4:30 a.m. Monday, 6 a.m. Tuesday, 11:30 a.m. Wednesday and 5:30 a.m. Saturday. The six-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier provides BassFans with additional insight about each episode in these submissions.)
This week’s show was super fun. Lots of fish, and really fat fish, and it was a chance to really learn a lot about river fishing.
The fish were postspawn, but extremely well-fed and I couldn’t really tell what they were eating, but they were sure eating my lures.
I started out flipping and cranking, but the real star came in the form of a Culprit Fast Vibe. This is a worm with a little cut in a paddle-type tail to make it kick easy. I’ve been using these for years and years, but for whatever reason had not tried them on a river. I guess my thought process said they are great for covering flats and weedy areas quickly.
I found out I can use 3/16- and 1/4-ounce Eco Pro Tungsten worm weights and just keep this bait above the bottom and out of snags more like a swimbait, but I could also get bit fishing it just like a regular worm. It was crazy effective – I caught a 6-pounder and a few other nice ones on it. It is so versatile that I could just reel it below the surface near the banks and then drop it wherever/whenever I wanted, knowing that little tail was looking just like a fish tail kicking the whole time, or just simply slow-roll it near the bottom.
I’d always fished the Fast Vibe in Florida and other clear, weedy waters just burning shallow weed flats, even fishing it weightless sometimes with the tail just buzzing with surface. I’ve found recently that it's a bait that deserves a lot more deck time. Last spring I used it with great success around spawning areas and as a follow-up bait to a frog.
The day the show was filmed, fishing was great, but I’ve since gone back and used this bait in other situations and I find it a great asset to my fishing, one that really fits my style. I think of it now as more of a finesse swimbait actually, but one that can get bites sitting motionless on the bottom as well.
So there you go. Fishing is so much fun, in part due to the learning aspect, and I sure love discovering new ways or methods for different lures.
