tom. Usually Stetson is fishing these jigs on rock piles, ledges, or around brush, and the lighter line allows him to accurately feel what is going on down there. When fishing offshore structure, Blaylock recommends using natural colors with his favorites being green and brown combinations along with Small- mouth Killer and Beaver Craw. He explained that oftentimes a person will throw a crankbait at submerged structure and catch a fish. Then they find they can’t catch them using anything else and assume the problem is that the fish are suspended. Blaylock reasons this isn’t typically the case but that by throwing the crankbait first, you’re actually pulling the fish off the structure. For this reason he finds that starting with a jig to find fish on a piece of structure will often catch the biggest fish off of the bottom. He also stated that when fishing offshore structure, bass are most often caught when working the jig across the structure instead of hitting the bait on the fall. For instance, at lakes near Blay- lock’s home in Arkansas, he will cast into water 30 feet deep. Then by working the bait back into deeper water he will catch fish in tree tops as deep as 50 feet.
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MATTED VEGETATION
Stetson’s other favorite summer technique is flipping a heavy jig in matted vegetation. He uses this technique in lakes and looks for hydrilla matted on the surface in 10 to 12
tHe geAr
Rod - 13 Fishing, Envy Black 7’ 11” Heavy - The heavy action still has enough “tip” to make accurate pitches and the longer rod allows for less travelling distance when setting the hook.
Reel - Abu Garcia, REVO MGX 7.1:1
Line - Spiderwire, 50# Ultracast
Summer 2012
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