Florida bass pro Jesse Mizell uses moving baits like spinnerbaits and ChatterBaits to find scattered bass on grass lakes, but you need to adjust your methods and gear on high-pressure days. Mizell shares 4 tips for finding bass faster, triggering more bites, and keeping them hooked.
TACKLE & GEAR
- LURE – Z-Man Evergreen Jack Hammer ChatterBait
- TRAILER – 13 Fishing Joystick
- ROD – 13 Fishing Envy Black 3 Crankbait Casting Rod, 7’4″ Moderate
- REEL – 13 Fishing Concept A2 Casting Reel, 6.8:1
- LINE – Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon, 20-pound
- Focus on grass clumps. Bass congregate in grass clumps on high-pressure days. Keep your eyes peeled for these areas as you fish along or side imaging when idling around.
- Contact the cover. Similar to contacting cover with crankbaits, the same principle applies with ChatterBaits. Mizell stresses the need to hit and disturb the clumps to root out and trigger strikes from otherwise tentative fish.
- Slow down. While many anglers think they can slow down with a fast reel, most continue to retrieve too quickly. For Mizell, there’s no substitute for using the appropriate gear ratio, which is in the 6.1:1 arena for him. A reel in this range supports fishing the bait slower and more methodically.
- Use a moderate action rod. Mizell uses a heavy crankbait rod when fishing spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits, and bladed jigs. He’s a firm believer that the more moderate action is essential for increasing hookup (prevents taking the lure away from the fish) and keeps bass hooked better too. Oh, and he prefers 20-pound fluorocarbon when fishing around the heavy stuff to prevent break-offs (will use braid in dingy water) but will drop down to 14-pound when the cover is more sparse.
