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As you read this, countless quantities of befuddled bass are swimming about the waters of Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana’s, Red River. The puzzled fish have never seen anything like this before. The forage is biting back...
It’s all because at this very moment, four Rapala prostaff and BASSMASTER greats—Mike Iaconelli, Ott Defoe, Davy Hite, and Brandon Palaniuk —are passionately plying the waterway while prefishing for the BASSMASTER Classic – the event officially taking wing February 24, 2012; rapping up three days later with tickertape and big bucks exchanging hands.
The fish can’t help biting, which leads to getting bitten back. Chomping occurs when Rapala’s fantastic four cast lifelike shaped and sized baits to the right type of water for the season, structure and circumstances at hand. ‘Biting back’ takes the form of solid sets on lure’s featuring VMC hooks.
All four pros allowed us a sneak peak at the methods they’ll be bewildering bucketmouths with during this prodigious event. Best of all, these same tactics and techniques will work wonders on your home waters when you’re confronted with similar situations.
Defoe plans to cast Terminator’s new T-1 Titanium Spinnerbait, 3/8-ounce with chartreuse and white skirt and silver Colorado/gold willow blades if the fish are in water 4 feet or deeper; a 1/4-ounce version of the same bass-thumper if fish are ranging shallower. “Like so many other waterways, the Red’s chock full of structure, including stumps and lily pad stems, which the bass should be hanging tight to; a spinnerbait’s the only lure that can be pulled through the thick of things and at the same time illicit strikes.”
Palaniuk, however, has a different ploy. “I’m casting my confidence baits: Crankbaits - #3 and #5 Crankin’ Raps, to be exact,” says the Idaho bass wrecker. Palaniuk’s plan is to clip his cranks to 15 to 20-pound-test fluorocarbon and cover water in search of fish that remain in a pre-spawn state of mind. “The Crankin’ Rap’s just so different than any other hardbait on the market in both look and action. It has a wide wobble, even when retrieved at slow speeds, which is what you need in cold water.”
Hite’s bass fight will have a more old school look about it. “If the bass are still pre-spawn, there will be a Rapala Shad Rap hanging from their lips,” says the veteran South Carolina bass-man. “I’ll be retrieving Shad Raps through deeper water very near where the bass will be spawning. But by the time the tournament gets underway, some fish might be starting to spawn. If that’s the case, I’ll flip them a large Trigger X Aggression Formula bait, like a Big Moe, in the shallows.”
And what’s the iconic Iaconelli’s premonition of what a BASSMASTER Classic win’s going to entail? “I’m keeping it simple, casting Rapala DT’s to structure, letting the crankbaits bang the bottom and strike stumps. And during the whack is when most bass smash it.
“All of Rapala’s DT crankbaits are easy to fish as their “dives-to” ratings make choosing one for the depth you’re fishing simple. And this time of year, I want the lure to dive to the bottom and stay there, which the DTs do.”
(Insider info: Iaconelli’s body-bait induced bass will surely take aim at his new Ike’s Ink DT-Series from Rapala. These wicked cool patterns will get wet for the first time during the Classic.)
Like all superheroes, these fantabulous, fantastic four boast special powers. And who maintains the most potent of powers, or combination of them, will save Shreveport from evil doers in other boats.
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