 FISHING
WITH PROFESSIONAL BASS FISHERMAN TODD ARY
Grassy-Lake Tactics
EDITOR’S NOTE: Todd Ary of Moody, Alabama, a
professional bass fisherman, fishes all the FLW and
Everstart tournaments. This week, Ary talks about what
types of lakes he fishes and the tactics he uses to
catch bass in the fall.
QUESTION: What other tactics do you use on grassy lakes
at this time of year?
ARY: One secret that allows me to catch bass at this
time of year is my logbook. I not only list the name
of the lake, but the type of lake I’m fishing.
This way, I can refer back to my logbook to see which
type of lures I’ve used on certain types of lakes.
I can also determine which baits have worked best.
On deep lakes with good river and creek channels,
like the Tennessee River in north Alabama, you’ll
find the grass flats are  close
to deep-water drop-offs. Therefore, if your grass pattern
is not working to produce bass, look toward the main
river or main creek channels. You’ll normally
see large schools, about the size of a trash can lid,
of tiny baitfish, usually 1/4- to 1-inch long. If your
boat is positioned at the edge of the grass, you’ll
see 20 or 30 trash-can-lid size schools. The larger
shad in the lake will feed on the smaller baitfish.
The larger shad will hold on the lip of the break, where
the bottom drops off into the river channel or creek
channel. These larger shad usually school around logs,
stumps or brush piles to ambush the small schools of
bait. The larger bass don’t normally feed on the
smaller baitfish. However, they will feed on the bigger
shad holding on the ledges.
To catch these bass, I use a Series 6 Strike King Crankbait
in any of the shad colors, using a technique I call
45ing. I position my boat in a river or a creek channel
and cast toward the lip of the break at a 45-degree
angle. As I cast the Series 6 Crankbait, it will dive
12- to15-feet-deep, depending on the length of my rod,
the size of my line and the speed of my retrieve. Most
of the areas I fish on the Tennessee River are not any
deeper than 12 feet. By the time my Series 6 Crankbait
reaches the bottom and starts bouncing off cover, it’s
coming over the lip of the ledge. So, I’m getting
a reaction strike from many of the bass holding on that
cover. They  also
see the shad hit the cover and swim out to deep water
while aggressively attacking and crashing the crankbait.
To be effective I use a highly-abrasive resistant line,
similar to the kind I use for flipping. To get the crankbait
down deep, I use a small-diameter line that’s
very strong like the new 10-pound-test Mossy Oak Fishing’s
Buck Brush Line. The secret to this tactic is what you
do with the bait when it hits the cover. For years,
anglers have known that to trigger a strike, they need
to stop the bait and let it sit still in the water or
allow it float up like a dazed baitfish. I’m trying
to spook the shad not holding on the cover. I try to
get them to run in all directions, which in turn excites
the bass and causes them to feed. I don’t stop
my Series 6 Crankbait when it hits cover. I keep crashing
it into everything. When the bait gets past the lip
of the break, I reel it really fast. I seem to get more
strikes this way than when I fish a crankbait like everyone
else does. When you are continually crashing your lure
and line into cover, your line will take a lot of abuse.
This reason is why you have to have a strong abrasion-resistant
line, or else you’re going to have to retie after
almost every cast. Another secret to this technique
is to fish the Series 6 Crankbait faster than you think
you should. Most fishermen think that when their crankbaits
hit bottom, they need to work them slowly along the
bottom. Many of them have watched some of the other
high-profile crankbait fishermen use that tactic while
fishing deep-diving crankbaits in the hot summer months.
But, when the weather changes and the feeding pattern
of the shad changes, you have to change your retrieve
to better match what the shad are doing. When you hit
the cover with the crankbait, you spook the shad, causing
them to swim out to deep water. Therefore, if you’re
not reeling the crankbait as fast as you can - faster
than you think you should - the bass will eat the shad
and not eat your crankbait. I call this technique ledge-busting.
 I’m
using a 5:1 gear ratio reel that has about 23 inches
of take-up power to every turn of the handle. I reel
this crankbait about as fast as you will reel a buzzbait
if you’re top-water fishing. When that crankbait
starts crashing the cover, I keep my retrieve constant,
without slowing down. This style of crankbait has a
fairly-wide bill; when it hits the cover, the bait will
bounce and give an erratic action. The more erratic
bounces I can get the crankbait to produce, the more
I’m going to spook shad, which attracts more bass.
This tactic usually works best when there isn’t
any current. When there’s no current, you can
usually see those trash-can-lid size schools of baitfish.
That’s your signal to move out to deep water,
and try this ledge-busting Series 6 Crankbait tactic.
My favorite color is Tennessee shad, but if the water
gets muddy, I change to a chartreuse and blue color.
To learn more, visit www.strikeking.com
and www.mossyoakfishing.com.
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