Bass Fishing with Chad Pinkerton
The Spike-O
 Editor’s
Note: “Every fisherman’s looking for a different
lure that the bass have never seen before, with a color
that’s never been introduced into the bass’s
environment and that will make bass bite. I’ve
figured out how to give bass those unique colors and
lures,” Chad Pinkerton of St. Cloud, Florida,
a tournament angler and a bass-fishing guide at Disney
World, s ays.
Pinkerton’s so addicted to fishing that he says,
“I can’t go anywhere without a bag of Spike-It
soft-plastic lures in my pocket. I’ve even sat
in church, pulled out a plastic worm or a jerkbait,
taken my knife and started carving designs in the lure
while the preacher’s preaching. Sometimes I feel
like the Lord’s speaking to me about how to make
a unique bait, and I just have to try it.”
Question: Chad, I know you’re fishing the Spike-O,
which is a cigar-shaped worm. Why and how are you fishing
it?
Pinkerton: I finesse fish the Spike-O with no lead.
I’ve used lead on it and caught bass, but I think
I catch more by using it without a lead. I caught a
10-pounder in late July by casting the Spike-O out and
letting it freefall. Most people fish a Spike-O around
cover that  they
can see, but I’ve learned that the Spike-O’s
also deadly effective on points. I like to fish it on
the break of a point. Most people know that bass will
stack up on the break line of a point, but they usually
fish bottom baits from the top of the point over the
break line. When I see some fish stacked up on a point
with my depth finder, I’ll pull my boat away from
the break line where I’ve spotted the fish and
cast to that same place. I’ll let the Spike-O
fall all the way to the bottom, pull the Spike-O up
and then shake my rod tip as it falls back – like
I’m fishing a shaky-head worm. I’ve found
that generally by the second or third time that I pull
the Spike-O up, the bass will take the bait. Most people
o nly
fish the Spike-O on the fall. Therefore, they’re
leaving plenty of bass that they can catch. I work the
Spike-O not only on the fall, but when I jerk it up
off the bottom, I’m shaking it as it falls back.
I’ll let the bait come up and fall in the same
spot different times before I reel it in to the boat.
I’ve found that many times you’ll get the
bass’s attention when the Spike-O first falls
to the bottom. But then when you pull it up off the
bottom and it starts to fall the second time, that’s
when the bass will eat it. To keep the bass’s
attention when I’m pulling the Spike-O up, I’m
shaking the bait. When you shake the bait as you pull
it up from the bottom, the Spike-O arches and flexes
like a live worm.
Question: What color do you like?
Pinkerton: I really like the Junebug clear Spike-O.
I like this bait because on bright sunny days and even
on the middle of the day, I can catch those hard-to-get
bass using this color.
To learn more about Spike-It’s top-quality products,
click here.
Tomorrow: Ribbontail Worm
|
