(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.)
Lots of Alabama bass anglers have donated to Jesse Wiggins’ bank account in Smith Lake tournaments. While he’s proven himself exceptionally versatile in a wide range of situations from coast to coast, the Bass Pro Tour pro is especially deadly when spotted bass are in play. His favorite time to fish for them is in the spring, doing what many anglers would call “blind” bed-fishing.
“They spawn just deep enough to where you can’t see them but you know what they’re sitting beside,” he explained. He said that 90 percent of the time they’ll be around something visible, such as a rock, a laydown or dock. He’ll throw past the target when possible, then immediately strip off line to get the lure to fall. After that, he’ll pull the lure forward into what he suspects is the bed. Often it takes multiple casts to find the sweet spot.
He uses two main presentations to tempt these fish, both involving a 5.8-inch Jackall Flick Shake Worm in green pumpkin pepper. He has hundreds in that color and sees no reason to deviate. He likes this worm because the naturally bent tail creates lots of action and because it’s supple. “When they’re spawning like this you always want something soft.”
The first presentation is a shaky-head, which involves a homemade jighead with a super long shank hook. Often spots will grab the worm’s tail and he wants to be able to stick those short-strikers. He fishes it on a St. Croix 7’1” Legend Elite medium-heavy, which allows him to “deliver the gas” when he sets the hook. He pairs it with a size 30 spinning reel spooled with 30-pound Seaguar hi-visibility Smackdown braid and a leader of 12-pound Tatsu fluorocarbon. While 12 may be heavier than many others employ, he noted that the beds are always around some sort of cover, so it’s imperative to have maximum abrasion resistance.
“You want to shake the slack of your line,” he explained. That way the tail wiggles but the head stays in place. Often he’ll shake it in one spot for 30-45 seconds, then throw it back. Sometimes the subsequent fall is what triggers the bite.
His second choice is the same worm on the traditional Flick Shake wacky head. He employs the same basic tackle, but changes to a medium-action rod because the hook is open and requires less power to penetrate.
He ties the main-line braid to his leader with the FG knot, which he says slides through his guides effortlessly when tied properly.
While the soft plastics are his main tools, he’ll also keep a topwater or a wake bait on the deck of his boat to tempt roaming fish in between beds, especially if he sees bass busting on bait. He’ll also use his Lowrance Active Target to locate bass under floating dock pilings before casting to them.
If you want to learn some of the other secrets of how spotted bass master Jesse Wiggins fishes for bedding spots he can't see, including his rationale for tying on his worms with a Palomar knot, check out his full on-the-water video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
