(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.)
Texas pro Keith Combs has made a living on his obsessive need to find and conquer offshore schools of bass. He lives with his face buried in his Humminbird Helix units and loves to hop up and fire a deep-diving plug at the groups he finds, particularly after the shad spawn.
“Those post-spawn schools are big schools,” he said. Over the course of his career he’s seen the equipment available improve substantially. Now there are baits for every situation and depth. His primary go-to is the Strike King 6XD, which will go 17-18 feet on 15-pound line. It’s “smaller brother”, the 5XD will go 12-14 feet. “I also use the 10XD, just depending on depth,” he added. It’ll get down to 28 feet on a long cast.
Boat positioning is a big part of maximizing depth. If the lure hits bottom too early in the cast, before getting down to where the school sits, you likely won’t get the full range even out of a perfectly tuned bait. Equipment also makes a huge difference, especially for ensuring long casts. He likes a glass Shimano Zodias rods, either 7’2” or 7’6”, with a parabolic blank so that the whole rod flexes. That prevents unnecessary losses when the fish jumps. He pairs it with a 7:1 Shimano Curado. “I generally like a fast one,” he said of his reel choices. He can slow down if necessary, but combined the rod and reel prevent any slack in his line, which minimizes lost fish. When it comes to line, he’s a huge fan of Seaguar’s fluorocarbons. “Fifteen as a general rule works real good for cranking all year,” he said, although he may drop down to 12- or even 10-pound for smaller lures or pressured fish.
Because today’s lures are so good and so consistent, he rarely does any modifications other than to change out the hooks for Owner EWG-style trebles.
In high-pressure situations Combs will do everything he can to avoid driving over the school and making them wary. He prefers to see them on his forward-facing sonar or his Humminbird 360 and stay as far away as possible. The next step is to trigger that first bite. Often it comes when he deflects off of a piece of cover or off of the bottom. Once the bass are fired up, it’s critical to cast back into the strike zone as soon as possible.
If Combs locates what he believes to be a quality school of fish and they don’t bite the crankbait relatively quickly, he’ll throw a different triggering bait at them. Often that’s a big football jig, which he’ll stroke off the bottom, or else a hefty flutter spoon. Even if the fish don’t commit and get hooked, often they’ll slap at the lure and then blow it out. That may be enough to make the crankbait a prime player.
If you want to learn some of the other secrets of how Combs maximizes his deep cranking bite, including the reasons he still carries monofilament to every tournament – plus some bonus information on square-bills and lipless baits – check out his full video from the Elite Series stage, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
