How Gary Klein Catches Bass Fast

EDITOR'S NOTE: Regardless of where you fish, you'll usually want to catch the most bass in the shortest time. America's top bass-fishing pros face this same dilemma every day they fish. However, tournaments impose certain restrictions on the pros' fishing that you don't have.

But if these anglers could fish as they preferred, how and where would they fish, and what baits and tactics would they use to catch bass quickly? I posed the following scenario to some of the nation's top bass-fishing pros: "You and I are standing on a boat ramp at Lake X, a lake you've never fished before. I tell you that I'll give you $100,000 if you can catch a limit of bass in one hour. I won't give you the time of year, water, wind or lake conditions. I want you to take bass on this mystery lake using any tactic you choose except dynamite, hand grenades or other illegal tactics. Where and how will you win the $100,000 prize?"

Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas, has fished in more than 200 B.A.S.S. tournaments with money earned in more than half of them. He has had many first-place winnings; has finished in the top 10, more than 50 times; has qualified for the BASS Masters Classic numerous times; and has won the title of Angler of the Year in 1988 and 1993.

"I'd fish that lake with live bait, such as minnows, crawdads or shad," Klein said. "I'd look at what visible cover I could see from the boat ramp before my time started. I'd try to spot bushes in the water, logs, downed trees, marinas, boat docks and grass beds. I'd fish 8- to 10-pound test, a relatively light line. I'd run to each visible-cover area and start pitching live bait in close to that cover. I'd probably get a limit of 10 bass in an hour or less.

"When you want to catch bass fast, the easiest, quickest way to accomplish that task is to fish with naturally-occurring live bait you find in the area. Since you've put me on a short timetable, I'll fish that live bait around the cover I've seen from the launch ramp. I'm sure better places may exist to fish upriver or downriver. However, with only an hour to fish, I'll lose my fishing time if I run up and down the lake. I believe I can catch 10 bass in one hour on almost any lake in the country at any time of the year by fishing live bait close to structure."

Tomorrow: What Larry Nixon And David Fritts Do To Catch Bass Fast