Small lures for big bass

Late summer and early fall offer excellent topwater largemouth bass fishing. Yet some days nothing goes as planned.

The original idea was to use rubber mice and frogs to draw big bass out from under the moss off a small lake in Kansas. Problem was, this technique didn’t draw a strike after two passes – not even from a tiny bluegill. Heavy rains the night before had apparently changed bass patterns on the little lake. Steve Matt and I were both certain this technique would work and only brought a plastic box of the weedless floaters.

I noticed a plastic box stashed under the boat seat and found it was full of panfish lures, like Road Runners, Mepps spinners and Beetle Spins.

“Let’s not waste the day,” I suggested. “Maybe a bluegill will bite or even a crappie.”

Light breezes drifted the boat toward a shallow eastern shore that was covered with moss. We both threw chartreuse Road Runners and reeled back fast enough to avoid dragging through weeds. Suddenly a sharp strike doubled my medium-action spinning rod and the fight was on.

“Bass,” I guessed.

I soon released my 2-pounder and Matt hooked another one about the same size. Suddenly we found the bass we came for – and on 1/32-ounce lures.

Later that morning I felt a sharp hit and line started pulling through my reel’s drag system. Clearly this was bigger and running away. I hoped the lightweight hook would hold and hung on. The bass made several sharp runs, and I could only hang on.

Soon I reach down and lip-landed a 5-pound largemouth and probably weighing closer to 7 pounds just before the spawn as was evidenced by her big head.

Would they have hit on bigger lures if not for heavy rains pounding the surface just hours before? Possibly, but the smaller lures made less noise when striking the surface and I have found that can make a difference – especially in smaller lakes or ponds.   

There is a time and place for using small lures on largemouth bass – a lesson I should have remembered from my youth. My childhood buddy, Bob Guerra and I pounded the shorelines of a lake close to our homes with Mepps and Shyster spinners, Al’s Goldfish and Swedish Pimple spoons with Beetle Spins and Road Runners.

We caught scores of largemouth bass and all kinds of panfish too by walking shorelines. We commonly caught bigger bass than fishermen with nice boats and bigger lures. I believe this is due to two reasons – because we were closer to the structure, we were fishing around a lot of docks with weed and moss beds and our smaller lures seemed like easier meals to the bass.

Of course, I can second guess every bass in the lake like many so-called experts try to do, but only bass know what is appealing at any given time. Truthfully, the key to bass fishing is trying different techniques and lure sizes, shapes and colors. Let the bass tell you what they want.

My close friend, the late Roger Moore – not the James Bond version – was one of the first to fish B.A.S.S. Tournaments with light tackle. He only used light- to medium-action rods that some in those days called ultralight. He made a lot of money and actually won a few tournaments.

He once explained this to me:

“I give the bass an easy meal,” he said. “They don’t have to attack a big spinnerbait or crankbait, just a morsel. I present my lures on lighter line, too, and I think that makes a difference. Many of my competitors are using 20- to 30-pound test while I used 6- to 10-pound test. This is especially good in clear water.”

So try lighter lures for big bass and you might be surprised. Besides, those occasional bluegill and crappie might become your evening meal.