Speed-Reeling

Last fall at the St. Clair BASSMASTER, Gary Klein finished 4th using a speed- reeling technique that few anglers have even tried, let alone used in a tournament. Klein says that as far as he knows, only he and Rick Clunn employ this technique, the details of which follow.

Fish 'Personalities'

"Fish possess a lot of different personalities," Klein says, and that's why the speed-reeling technique works.

"A lot of times people think fish are feeding, but as a pro angler, probably 80 percent of the bass I catch are non-feeding fish," he says. "I catch them for other reasons. They may be curious, territorial or something else.

"And unlike humans -- we can pick something up, smell it, taste it and put it back down -- a bass has to use its mouth. When he grabs something, we think he was eating and that's not necessarily true."

The Technique

With that in mind, here's how Klein speed-reels.

The technique itself is simple in principle: reel as fast as you can. But imagine doing that non-stop all day (5-8 casts/minute), and you can see the physical and mental discipline required. Klein says he gets blisters on his thumb and fingers when he does it.

"There's no trick to it," he adds. "It's just physical conditioning.

"A lot of times I sweep the rod to increase the speed," he says, "particularly if I'm coming by targets like the corner of a dock and key positions on weedbeds. I'm trying to get the fish's attention. It's almost a challenge to the bass.

"A lot of thoughts go through your mind when you're fishing, and when I'm fishing that technique, I keep thinking: 'I dare you. Come get it.'

"Whether it's the curiosity factor or a challenge or something else that triggers a fish to explode on the lure, you can't reel it fast enough to get it away once he's committed to that bait," he notes. "The bait is moving so fast that the fish doesn't have time to figure out what it is, and he wants to stop it. By that time, you catch him."

When and Where

Before he decides to wear himself out with this technique, he notes that "you have to have clear water. You're really after sight-feeding fish. The clearer water, the better this technique is and the greater the distance fish will travel to get your lure.

"Smallmouths are really prone to this technique," he adds, "but it also works on largemouths and spotted bass when the conditions allow."

Late summer and fall are the best times. "Usually when you have warmer water temperatures it's an ace in the hole for me. But I'm not saying it doesn't work when the water is cooler, like when the water's around 52-54 degrees in the fall."

As far as where to employ speed-reeling, Klein says: "Obviously because this technique is so fast, it doesn't work well in places where fish are holding in thick cover. I use it when fish are on flats and underwater weedlines, are suspended, are on top and chasing bait, and also underneath docks. In clear water, a lot of times you can throw a plastic worm by a dock, let if fall to the bottom and never trigger the strike."

Baits and Mods

At St. Clair, Klein speed-reeled a Berkley Frenzy lipless crankbait, and says that "the two best lure groups to use are spinnerbaits and crankbaits." But not right out the package. "Some modifications are required on the majority of lures because of the high rate of retrieve.

"With spinnerbaits, you have to use the correct blade combinations, and you also have to make sure that the wire is angled right, to keep the lure from rolling," he says. "I'm always running a trailer hook -- that's key too, because the bait is moving so fast."

He uses a Lunker Lure Vibratron spinnerbait, which has the odd-looking Vibratron blade as a main blade. "It's completely different than any other spinnerbait on the market," he says. "In the water that blade looks like a group of blades. It gives off a tremendous amount of flash."

Crankbaits are less prone to roll, but must be tuned correctly to track straight. On lipless baits he upgrades the size of the treble hooks -- from No. 4s to 3s on a standard-sized lure -- to increase hookup ratios.

When it comes to lure colors, Klein says that "every angler that uses this technique will develop his own confidence colors. But I like a really brilliant light chartreuse, and also white."

Other Gear

Klein also likes non-stretch line -- 30-pound Berkley Fireline -- when speed- reeling lipless cranks and spinnerbaits. "It gives you a longer cast, and the lack of stretch is important because smallmouths are prone to hit as soon as the lure hits the water," he says. "It also gives you a very positive hookset." He says that bass have a tendency to inhale speed-reeled crankbaits, and non- stretch line allows for a better hookset when a bass has its mouth clamped on a lure.

With lipped crankbaits he still uses mono. "Stretch is more important for those baits. You have to have a little bit of give so you don't rip it out of their mouths."

Regardless of the bait he's fishing he uses a 7-foot Zebco 1T all-fiberglass rod -- "it has a true parabolic bend which is important because it gives you that distance on the cast" -- and a high-speed 6000PT Quantum Energy 6.2:1 reel.