Big Boy on Top
I was fishing an open-water flat with submerged moss
beds scattered over it, prime habitat for big large mouth bass in late summer
and early fall. After making a long cast over one of the beds I began twitching
the rod tip in cadence with
the reel to work
the lure. As the bait snaked over the dark moss bed the big girl engulfed it,
and the fight was on. Funny thing, the Zara-Spook is a big-bait, but hanging in
the mouth of an 8 lbs large mouth it looks pretty small. Many people shy away
from this old bait because of its size or maybe they think it’s outdated.
Neither is true, it can still produce with the best of them. The Spook presents
a large image in the water and its slow presentation makes it natural for
enticing big fish. It should be fished with equipment ready to handle these big
bruisers and it doesn’t hurt to make a few modifications to the bait.
Given the Zara-Spooks weight it makes a pretty big
splash when it hits the water and may scare a bass from his hiding place if it
hits to close to him. When I can I like to cast the lure beyond the target and
work it back over or along the
cover. If this can’t be done I simply let the bait lie for a few seconds to let
the water settle down. The colors I like the best are the Black w/ White Ribs,
Clear, and my favorite is the Blue Shore-Minnow. Often times a bass will hit or
slap at large prey trying to stun it a then pick it up as it sinks. This is
common when fishing a Spook and for this reason I like to keep a couple of extra
rods with me. One rigged with a Pop-R or variation there of, and the other with
a soft-plastic shad, big curly-tailed grub or a wacky worm. When the bass hits
and misses get the Spook out quickly and follow up with one of the other baits.
It doesn’t always work, but many times the fish will take the second bait.
The combination I use to throw a Spook is a 6’ All-Star BCH rod with a Garcia 4600 C3 reel spooled with 17-20 lbs monofilament line, usually green. All-Star’s BCH is just right for “Walking the Dog”. Walking the Dog refers to the technique used to get the Zara-Spook to work in the snakelike side-to-side presentation, requiring the fisherman to twitch the rod tip in rhythm with his reels retrieve. The rod has a strong “back-bone” for casting the bait and getting a good hook set. The tip is stiff enough to handle the baits weight yet soft enough to allow it to work. The handle is strait and short so it doesn’t get tangled in your shirt or jacket. I use the Garcia 4600 C3 but any reel will work fine. A small reel, with a powerful drag system, is recommended to keep your hands from getting tired over a long day on the water. The reel should be filled with heavy line, and I spray it with Reel-Saver to make it soft and limp. This improves cast-ability and lure action. Heavy line also aids in getting a solid hook set and allows you to put extra pressure on a big fish to keep him out of the cover.
To improve the action of the bait it is important that it be able to move as freely as possible. This can be done by adding a large split ring to the front eye of the bait or by using a loop knot. Either works fine. The brackets that hold the hooks on the lure are really strong but the hooks can get caught in a bind. When this happens in a fight the hooks can twist in the fishes mouth and be pulled loose. To remedy this heart-breaking experience I add split rings to the hooks so they hang freely. The hooks on this bait are large and should be kept extremely sharp. Big hooks are harder to get set than small ones. The sharper they are the less force it takes to get them stuck. The jaws of a big bass are super strong and can actually hold a big lure in it’s mouth giving little or no movement to the jerk of your hook set. I use a sideways sweeping motion to set the hook. This technique allows you to cover more distance with the rod than an overhead hook set, and use the strength in the butt of the rod to drive the hooks into the bass’ tough mouth.
By late summer and going into the fall a large mouth bass’ over-all prey has grown up. This prey includes shad, minnows, and the previous springs spawn of bream, catfish, and anything else that may swim in front of old bucket mouth. As water levels rise from increased rains this prey moves into the shallows to feed on numerous types of food. Following the food chain the bass move into feed on them and with the cooler surface temperatures and available cover the bass spend more time in the shallows. Flooded timber, grass lines, lay-downs, and submerged vegetation provide prime cover for bass to ambush their prey. This is where the big Zara Spook thrives.