LIP GRIPPER
A GIANT HOGY SOFT PLASTIC
WILL FOOL BIG BASS. PHOTO: ERIC HARRISON
CHRIS PASCUA DROPS LARGE JIGS
TO CATCH MONSTER LINGCOD. PHOTO: CHRIS PASCUA
FRED CONTAOI SCORES LUNKERS
WITH JOINTED GLIDE BAITS. PHOTO: BRAD WIEGMANN
GO BIG OR GO HOME W
[M U LTI-S P ECI E S]
USE A RIDICULOUSLY HUGE LURE TO CATCH TROPHY FISH BY BRAD WIEGMANN
hile everyone knows that big baits lure in big fish, what anglers often forget is that big baits also scare away little fish. If you’re ready to turn over your life to trophy hunting, then you’re ready to use foot-long swimbaits, plugs and soft plastics.
FEED THE PIGS
Hobie Pro Eric Harrison serves up big lures to monster New England striped bass. To imitate a large, wriggling eel, Harrison uses a 13- to 14- inch Hogy Original Series Lure. He favors simple colors: black for night fishing and natural, white or bubblegum when the sun is up. Harrison says that smaller fish nibbling and yanking on the large bait can attract a trophy striper to the dinner ta- ble. “The fish are very competitive,” he explains, “larger bass often steal food from smaller fish.” To fish a big bait, Harrison likes a seven- to eight-foot rod matched to a conventional reel. “With the larger baits, I prefer a moderate-fast action rod so the tip isn’t overwhelmed by the weight of the bait,” he says, adding that a rod with slower action is also more sensitive. Har- rison attaches a large baitcasting reel that pro- duces less friction for long casts and enough drag to beat a large fish.
Depending on the strength of the current, he
uses a 1/2- to one-ounce jighead with a 12/0 hook. “I use just enough weight to hit bottom,” he says. When fishing an eel imitation, Harrison will
38…KAYAK ANGLER
cast the lure into a current seam and swim the lure back. He varies the speed of his retrieve until he finds the depth where the fish are holding.
PACIFIC SEA CREATURES
West Coast guide Chris Pascua takes a dif- ferent approach when angling for big lingcod. First, he’ll drop a six-inch Big Hammer swimbait to the bottom and hook into a calico bass. Then he waits for a voracious lingcod to gobble up the smaller fish.
If the big-fish-eats-little-fish technique doesn’t produce, Pascua will use a nine-inch Big Ham- mer swimbait. He rigs the soft plastic tail on a four-ounce or heavier pyramid-shaped jighead and adds a 4/0 treble hook trailer with a piece of 80-pound braided line. “Drop the bait to the bottom, crank up five turns, pause, crank in five turns and repeat,” he says.
BIG MOUTH: BIG BAIT
Big baits have become a fad for freshwater anglers looking to catch trophy largemouth. When pro-circuit veteran Fred Contaoi is going for a win on western lakes and reser- voirs, he breaks out the big baits. His current favorite is River2Sea’s S-Waver 200—a six- to eight-inch hard plastic lure broken into sec- tions joined by hinges.
He fishes the lure in the spring and fall over ledges in eight feet of water. “Because it’s a
Hogy Original: Long, thin and super active, Hogy Original is deadly on a leadhead jig or rigged weightless.
www.hogylures.net
River2Sea S-Waver: Realistic design and finish makes S-Waver better than the real thing.
www.river2seausa.com
Big Hammer Swimbaits: This beefy bait can be dropped into thick kelp and bounced off rocky bottoms.
www.swimbait.com
glide bait it naturally attracts big bass with a lifelike swimming action,” explains Contaoi. He says that a quick crank of the reel will make the bait dart 180 degrees; stop cranking and the lure will sink slowly. “My rule of thumb is to fish the biggest bait possible,” says Contaoi. “The larger size makes fish commit to striking and eating.”
BIG BAITS FOR BIG FISH
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