Deadsticking anyone? Or a better question is how much patience do you have? Deadsticking is one technique that takes a lot of patience, but it's a dead easy but an extremely effective way to target bass in shallow water and over fished lakes. So what is deadsticking?
It's easy take a Gary Yamamoto Senko and texas rig it with no weight and cast it out and let it die. When I say let it die, I mean let it fall to the bottom SLOWLY and wait. Bass will hit the Senko on the fall 99% of the time! When the bait stops sinking pick it up slowly to feel for a bass that may have picked it up. That's it! Cast It, Sink It, Lift It, Reel It In. So know you can imagine why I said you need patience, however if you start catching bass with this method your confidence in this technique will be forever. Here are some great places and times to take advantage of deadsticking a Senko:
Deadsticking Where & When
- Over Fished Lakes - Deadsticking can be deadly on lakes where the bass has seen it all. Deadsticking a Senko looks really natural to bass and often will fool a pressured bass into biting.
- Spring - When males are in hanging around the beds and the females are sitting out from the beds on structure this technique will kill some monster female bass. Great places to target are shoreline trees, stumps, and weedlines.
- Fall - When bass are schooled up and feeding on baitfish busting the surface no bass will turn down a slowly failing Senko. In the fall bass are feeding up on baitfish and often smacking at them on the top to injure them then eating them when they fall.
- Buddy Fish - Your partner has a bass on and there are several other bass that follow the bass to the boat, toss out a Senko and kill it in the area of the bass. They will attack the bait as it falls slowly.
How To Rig
- Hook - The choice of hook is important because that's how you will determine the fall rate of the Senko. If you want your Senko to fall more slowly you will want to use a thinner diameter hook, if you want your Senko to fall more rapidly you can use a heavy flipping hook. Always texes rig the Senko and make sure it is perfectly straight.
- Line - You will want to use 12 to 16 lb test line the heavier you line the slower you fall, however if bass are shying away from your bait you may want to consider using 12 lb test Fluorocarbon line.
- Rod & Reel - 6 ft to 7 ft foot long medium heavy baitcasting rod teamed up with a good reel that can easily cast this lighter weight lure.
What makes deadsticking so great is it's different and looks extremely nature to a bass. Fishing pressure now is heavier than ever and anything you can do to that makes your presentation different can only benefit you.