Show Catching Bass By TED KESTING There's a tactic paying off limit It's currently called and if you haven't tried it you had better believe you've missed bass you could have WHAT IT boils down to is a method of moving certain lures faster than the average fisherman moves This gives a bass something new to look In when certain lures zip past a bass's they trigger a reflex action that causes the bass to strike without thinking or giving these lures the usual HERE'S why we call it an It is old because smarter bass fishermen were doing it back in the It is new because thousands of today's bass anglers never heard of There are many ways it can be Homer Angling Editor of describes some of them in the magazine's December TOM one of the nation's leading money-winners in professional fishing is responsible for the latest kick as far as we coined the term Tom's tactic has been so effective that you won't find another pro who doesn't give it a go several times a THESE men play the and when you see Mann lay limits on the time after you're odd if you don't emulate Tom's favorite ripping lure is one he makes called Little It has a teardrop-shape body of lead with spinner on the tail and a treble hood suspended from the belly of the TOM'S tactic is to fire a long cast and let the lure sink until it rests on the He can tell it's there because his line goes suddenly As he reels the slack out of his he lowers his rod tip upwards and reels at the same This causes the lure to jump off the bottom and rip through the water at an abnormally fast IF A bass doesn't blast he lets the lure settle and repeats the maneuver until one Tom doesn't do this only in open water over cleat-bottoms where he won't get In he hopes for snags because he knows that bigger bass are found in HE GEARS for the His spinning rod is feet very and is teamed with a saltwater spinning The reel is filled to within inch of the spool's edge with fresh THUS Tom is able to do these retrieve almost 30 inches of line with each turn of the heel use his gutty rod and monofilament to muscle his lure out of snags that would ensnare lighter rods and Before Tom loomed so tall on the tournament the average competitor carried along upwards of a half-dozen casting rods equipped with level-wind Most still but they also have at least one oversize spinning rig like Tom's for |