BIG BASS DRAW A CROWD

“Things are going to be much different up here this year,” said Cole

Burnett while trying to thread a transducer wire through the maze under

his console.”The “up here” he was referring to was Toledo Bend.

“Based on what’s happened so far, I think we are going to have a super

spawn, but we are also going to see more fishing pressure than we have

seen in years. I think everyone that owns a bass boat was up here last

weekend and I attribute that to the word getting out about all of the

new hydrilla.”

The little shot of warmer weather also had something to do with the

crowded launches, but as a rule the majority of the bass fishing

population usually misses the first few weeks of the spawn waiting on a

good report.That, however, has not been the case thus far!

“The grass is absolutely a game changer for folks that don’t get to fish

a lot as everything from major points to flats will now hold bass,”

stated Burnett.“My next door neighbor doesn’t know a crappie from an

alligator gar and he limited on bass up to six pounds yesterday.I am not

complaining because I love his fried fish and his wife’s rum cake.”

I couldn’t help but entertain the thought that there is no mistaking rum

cake, but he may be eating gar!

According to Burnett, the biggest surprise for him thus far is the

number of bass being caught in shallow water.As a rule, the larger

females are still staging in six to ten feet of water, but not this

year.I know of two bass that were caught last weekend over seven pounds

on Whacky worms fished around dock pilings in less than five feet of water.

I have no idea what patterns most of the fishermen participating in last

weekend’s Bass Champs tournament fished, but they obviously found some

very solid bass.Cole Brewer and Bob Richards anchored their winning

33.15-pound stringer with a 9.29 lunker to edge out another 30-pound

plus catch and net a $25,000 check.A pair of Orange anglers, Jonathan

Simon and Corey Stanley, finished in the top ten and cashed a $2500

check with a solid 19.55-pound bag.

Burnett has already caught and released two huge bass this month, but

was not into sharing the area he was fishing.“I’ll guarantee you that a

large percentage of the biggest bass caught every year on the Bend come

out of Six Mile and Housen,” added Burnett “and that is due to super

spawning structure and lots of casts.”

He was, however, willing to share a technique that he fishes that is yet

another tweak when fishing the Whacky worm.“The fishing world owes you

one for coming up with the Whacky worm back in the late 70’s,” said

Burnett, “but the truth is that I’ve always fished it better than you do!”

The Whacky worm actually fishes itself, but I will readily admit that

the technique has been greatly refined over the years.I started it with

a gold 3.0 white perch hook and a 197 Crème Scoundrel.

Burnett’s latest improvement makes the technique more effective when

fishing a little deep water simply because he gets to the magic depth a

little quicker.“No more poking a piece of a finishing nail in the head

of the worm,” he informed me with a sly grin.”

His latest tweak is to simply rig the worm Whacky style on a one-eighth

ounce ball head jig.“The lead head doesn’t bother the fish at all and I

think it is easier to jerk it free from the grass without tearing up the

worm.I caught both of those big fish in eight feet of water using this

technique with a watermelon black flake Scoundrel.”

The jig head he uses is not the typical head used for fishing plastics

for saltwater fish all though the stronger hook may be a bonus when

battling larger bass.He is using the same lead head with a 2/0 hook that

we use when fishing a Gitzit or any four inch Tube jig.

“I like the longer hook because it allows the worm to slide up and down

the shank,” says Burnett.“The one-eighth ounce lead head keeps the worm

from sliding up the line and tearing up.”

He fishes the rig with a seven foot medium heavy spinning rod, 15 pound

braid and two to three feet of fluorocarbon leader.He added that he

still fishes the shallower inside moss line with the conventional rig.

How you choose to get it done is your business, but it is “game on” as

far as the spawn is concerned!