Part 2

In my last column I talked about fishing a big Outlaw Baits saltwater plastic grub for freshwater largemouth at Mexico’s El Salto Lake.

That big grub, it’s 8-inches in length, is tougher than boiled owl manure. As aggressive as those El Salto largemouth are, I knew they weren’t going to tear the grub up as they do some of the softer plastics. But that overgrown grub is big in diameter as well as being tough.

If you read my last column you know I was using a Gamakatsu Extra Wide Gap 5/0 hook when I missed the first fish that hit. I immediately reeled in, snipped off the hook I’d been using and switched to an EWG 6/0. I rigged the grub Texas Style behind a 7/16 th-ounce slip sinker.

As experienced bassin’ men know, there’s more than one way to rig Texas Style. We all insert our hooks in the head of the worm or grub, then swing it around so the point can be driven into the body of the bait. Not everybody does the same from there on.

I have friends who simply insert the hook point into the body of the worm and leave it there. That’s not for me. I much prefer to run the point all the way through the body of the bait. I push the hook point far enough so it rides on top of the bait. After the hook point is exposed, I also make sure I poke it just under the skin so it won’t hang up on whatever cover I work it through.

Once I had that Gamakatsu 6/0 rigged the way I wanted, I took time to daub it with scent before flipping it back to the same spot where I’d missed the fish I told about in my last column. This time the strike came before the big grub got all the way down. I didn’t feel the hit, my line just slacked then started sneaking off to the right. I snapped my rod up and back.

This time the “fish on” part was for real. As soon as that bass made its first surge down and away I knew it was a good one. That didn’t come as a surprise.

As I mentioned in my previous column, big plastic baits have a deserved reputation for taking larger bass. That’s as true at El Salto Lake as it is elsewhere. Earlier this year I interviewed a man from West Virginia who had taken 27 bass of 10-pounds or more in just six days at the famed Mexican lake.

What you’ve just read isn’t a misprint. It’s for real. Imagine that! Twenty-seven bass of 10-pounds or more in just six days! The guy who established that almost unbelievable record told me 90 per cent of those pot-bellied heavyweights were caught on 10-inch plastic worms. And two of those 27 fish were whopping 15-pounders!

The man who made that fantastic catch was Les Melton. Melton, a lifetime bass angler and obviously a darn good one, has made dozens of trips to El Salto Lake. I’ve interviewed him on more than one occasion. Every darn one of those fish he caught was weighed on a Boga Grip scales. If you’ve used those scales, and I do, you know they give you a weight that’s right on the money every time. Melton doesn’t trust digital scales and I don’t either. I’ve got a couple of the darn things but I don’t trust either one.

I mention Melton, big bass and big baits because it’s an established fact really large bass are most often caught on large lures. The biggest bass I’ve ever caught came the same way.

Decades ago I participated for five successive years in the Oregon Bass & Panfish Club’s annual largest bass contest. I won that contest all five years I competed.

In my next column I’ll get into the details of how larger lures helped me do it. I’ll also detail why some of those big Outlaw Baits saltwater grubs just might also turn out to be to be dynamite when it’s big bass you’re after.