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John's Journal... Entry 207, Day 5

SPINNER-BAIT TRICKS AND TACTICS OF THE PROS

Jay Yelas

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thirty-seven-year-old Jay Yelas, of Tyler, Texas, has had 46 top-10 finishes. A participant in 12 consecutive BASS Masters Classics, Yelas won the 2002 Classic on Lay Lake in Alabama. Jay Yelas likes to fish big-bladed spinner baits slowly near grass, rocks or trees where he finds baitfish.

"This tactic works especially well in dingy water," Yelas reports. "If you can find the combination of dingy water and shad, the bass always will bite a spinner bait. I use a 1/2-ounce or a 5/8-ounce spinner bait with a No. 3 Colorado blade in front of a No. 5 willow-leaf blade.

"I also like to fish a 1/8-ounce spinner bait with tiny blades, like a No. 1-1/2- or a No. 3 blade. I'll work this small spinner bait slowly around shallow-water cover, like logs, rocks, grass and blown-down trees. On a sunny day with high light levels, a big bait may spook the bass. However, a small spinner bait, like the one I've described, will catch a lot of bass. I also like this little spinner bait because when it lands near cover and comes through cover, it doesn't create nearly as big a splash. Then you don't spook as many of the bass you want to catch. If you pull a heavy spinner bait through a shallow cover, silt will fly everywhere. Or, if a heavy bait hits a limb, and the limb moves and stirs up mud, that may spook bass."

To catch more bass this year, rely more heavily on a variety of spinner baits. Try these tactics of America's leading bass-tournament fishermen, and you too will become an avid spinner-bait angler. For more information on spinner bait lures, here's some manufacturers these pros recommend:

Hawg Caller/Paragon Plastics Inc., PO Box 100, Union, SC 29379 (800) 842-0582, email: sales@lunkerlure.com or visit www.lunkerlure.com.

Ledgebuster Lure Co., 520 South Eufaula Ave. Unit H, Eufaula, AL 36027, (334) 616-6959, email: info@ledgebuster.com or go to www.ledgebuster.com.

Leverage/McGuiness Fishing Products, PO Box 80282, Athens, GA 30608, (706) BAS-BAIT, email: info@bassbait.com or check out www.bassbait.com.

Strike King Lure Co., 466 Washington St., Collierville, TN 38017, (800) 467-5873, email: info@strikeking.com or visit www.strikeking.com.

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about SPINNER-BAIT TRICKS AND TACTICS OF THE PROS ...

Day 1 - Spinner Bait Versatility and Denny Brauer
Day 2 - George Cochran and Chris Daves
Day 3 - Woo Daves and Randy Howell
Day 4 - Alton Jones and Roland Martin
Day 5 - Jay Yelas


John's Journal