By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor
Time is running out. The pattern that worked yesterday isn’t working today. It’s crunch time. There’s an hour left in the tournament. Your nerves are starting to fray. What do you reach for when you absolutely need to generate bites?
We’ve been asking pro anglers from the various circuits that same question as a way to find out what their ultimate confidence baits are regardless of the situation, along with the reasoning behind their choices. As one might expect, the answers have run the gamut, from big-line, big-weight flipping to light-line finesse and from topwater to slow-dragging baits.
This week, Paul Elias lets it be known that a bait he’s always been associated with is, in fact, his ultimate confidence bait.
After checking out the latest installment in the series, head over to our Feedback page and let us know what your go-to bait is and how you rig it.
> Angler: Paul Elias
> Confidence bait: Mann’s Depth Plus Series 20+ crankbait
> Gear used: 7’6” medium-heavy Shimano Expride casting rod, unnamed casting reel (5.5 or 6.2:1 ratios), 20-pound White Peacock fluorocarbon line, Mann’s Depth Plus 20+ crankbait (homer and gray ghost).
> Origin: “It’s something I got into years and years ago. I was getting frustrated trying to fish the bank and going behind other boats or not knowing if another boat was just on it. I was one of the few guys out deep because if you spent all practice trying to find offshore places you were going to be okay. Now, you need 25 spots to be able to get on one.
> Why he trusts it: “When I get away from the bank, I’m a lot more confident than I am fishing shallow and throwing at logs or stumps. When you’re fishing a certain method, I’ve got very little confidence with a jig on a row of docks where a lot of guys have more confidence. When I get out away from bank and throw a crankbait, I always have that feeling that the next stop is where it’s gonna happen. One thing that’s happened through my career is I’ve gotten well several time late in the day just because I hung with that method.”
> One more thing: “I’m as confident throwing it in 7 or 8 feet of water as I am in 15 feet of water. Also, I used to use (a fiberglass rod) all the time because a lot of times you can boat more fish with glass. As I got older, it’s been harder to fish glass all day. I’ve used graphite more and more and the action that I thought hurt me, when you first hook up away from the boat it’s a plus to have a graphite rod.”
