My Favorite 5

[TRUMAN BASSER]

When I’m out fun fishing I like to throw a lot of different baits and have fun experimenting and trying to get better at all the techniques but when it comes to tournament time I seem to count on just a handful of baits. You should choose your baits based on conditions but depending on the season I seem to have all or a couple of my favorite 5 baits on deck.

One of my favorite baits to throw in a tournament is the sweet beaver. It seems to catch them everywhere I go. There are a lot of different ones out on the market right now and they all seem to produce. I usually fish the Reaction Innovations or the Yum brand. I typically use the 4 and a half inch size and I texas rig it with a 1/4 oz weight with a 4/0 hook. It also works good on a carolina rig although I don’t fish it as much as I should that way. It’s a great bait for flipping and pitching. It comes through wood really good and it also comes through grass really well. The bait is compact enough that you can really be proficient when your trying to flip to small wholes in a grass bed. I think the key to the bait is all in how it falls and that pinching action you get with the claws. The bait has a totally different fall than what you can get with a worm, tube, or a crawl. Some of my favorite colors to throw are white, black and blue and green pumpkin. If I decide to use green pumpkin I usually dip the tails in Spike-It. Usually I’ll flip it with a 7 foot medium heavy AiRRUS Rod.


The Sweet Beaver

Another great tournament bait for me has been a Pig Sticker Bait Company 3/8 oz double willow spinnerbait. Unless the water is really cold I will usually always have a spinnerbait tied on because of its versatility. The key with a Pig Sticker spinnerbait is that it has a much thinner wire than most spinnerbaits on the market. A lot of baits out there are made to catch the fisherman. You’ll see plenty of jazzed up spinnerbaits out there with all the bells and whistles but I catch way more fish on these spinnerbaits because they look natural in the water and produce a tremendous amount of vibration. Even when using double willows it will put out a lot of vibration and you can really feel it thump. With the double willows the bait really flashes. I usually keep it simple and throw white or white and chart. I caught a ton of fish throughout the year by burning it up to some cover and just killing it and watching the blades flash. An AiRRUS 7 foot Medium Heavy Ultra XL rod throws this bait really well.

Pig Sticker Bait Company Spinnerbait

When the water starts to warm I really like to throw a 10 inch worm. Most of the fish I get to eat it are usually nice. I’ve got a lot of confidence in Powerbait but when I get down to Kentucky Lake I really like to throw a Lucky Strike paddle tail worm. One of the newer 10 inch worms out there that I like is the Netbait C-mac. Usually I’ll fish a 10 inch worm on a 1/4 oz weight , a 5/0 hook with 12lb test. I like to use 12lb test because it gives it more of natural swimming motion. I’ve got a couple of friends that throw it on 20lb test line but they do a lot of fishing down at the Lake of the Ozarks where around the docks it can be a necessity. I will throw it on the same rod that I throw a sweet beaver on.

I really like to throw a crankbait and one of my favorite ones is the series 5 crankbait from Strike King. I’ll usually throw it on 12lb test line and sometimes 10lb test if it needs to get a little deeper. As far as colors go I like the sexy shad, chart with blue back, and bone white for most of my fishing. The crank really comes through rock, rip rap, and brushpiles. I hardly ever get one of these cranks hung up even though I’m usually throwing it in and around cover. I like to use a 7 foot AiRRUS Copperhead Cranking Stick for my cranking.

Finally I almost always have some type of a jig tied on and it is usually a Thunderstruck Football Jig in a 3/8 oz to the 1/2 oz size. The jig has all the components you look for in a quality jig. It has got a very sharp hook that is really strong and really comes through the cover well.Also the skirt patterns really catch a lot of fish. I like to throw this football jig in a PBnJ or a Missouri Crawl. For trailers I will usually use a Zoom baby brush hog or a Net Bait paca crawl and try to match it to the skirt. Usually I’ll use an AiRRUS 7 foot medium heavy rod with 14lb test line for my jig fishing.
Thunderstruck Football jig in Missouri Crawl.

What are your favorite baits?