Photo Courtesy of BASS

WarMouth Not Just An Early Season Option

Spring is the prime time to reach for and rig Big Bite’s WarMouth onto your line and start your search for bass getting onto the beds getting ready to spawn. We just were able to see Big Bite Pro Dean Rojas use this pattern to take a 2^nd place on the second Elite stop of the 2014 season when Dean rode the power of his signature bait the WarMouth to a second place finish on the St. Johns River.

Once again Dean showed just what this bait can do if fished in the right conditions. Let’s take a closer look at how to fish the WarMouth during its prime time in the spring, but let’s also look at how we can work the WarMouth throughout the season and catch bass all season long.

Texas Rigged WarMouth (Flat)

This is how the WarMouth is fished by Big Bite Pro Dean Rojas most of the time when he is using the bait. This bait offering excels in the springtime like we have talked about. Some of this is fueled by the fact that warmouth or bluegill (as they are called in the north), are natural predators of the bass nest if the nest is left unattended. Warmouth will turn on their sides and flap with their tail to get the bass eggs to break free from the nest then turn around and eat them. So when a bass see’s the warmouth or bluegill turn on their sides it is kind of like fighting words to them and they will strike them if they are not even intending to attack the nest. This is a nut shell will get you more bites from this bait even if the bass are not eating, they will strike the bait out of anger.

When rigging the WarMouth on its side, I use a 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG Worm hook and generally use a tungsten weight that is pegged to the bait. Weight of the sinker, I will let the conditions I am fishing in dictate that, but the majority of the time I am fishing a 3/16oz to 3/8oz sinker. The reason for pegging the weight is I want to keep the offering together, it is easier to pitch the whole bait into the nest and keep it there instead of the weight landing in the nest and the bait not.

Most of the time I will fish my spring offering on a 7’6″ flipping stick, teamed with a matching baitcaster reel that is spooled with Sunline FX2 braided line in the 50lb class. If I am worried about the bass seeing the braided line I will spool up my baitcaster with 20-25lb Sunline Shooter then.

When the early part of the season is done it is not time to put the WarMouth away. The WarMouth then becomes a good flippin bait to use around cover like lay-downs and around docks. Bluegills are a natural around docks; in fact most of the time what the bass are feeding on around docks are the warmouth and/or bluegills. I generally use the same setup that I use in the spring, have the WarMouth rigged on its side but I have also been playing with the WarMouth rigged in a natural swimming position.

Swimming Rigging

I have been using this rigging more during the year with allot of success. As the bait falls it has more action to it then when rigged on its side. I also think the bait has more attraction to it when it is fished this way.

If I am fishing is heavy cover I will stay with my flipping setup to make sure that I can get the bass out of the cover but if I am pitching this WarMouth offering around docks and on the edge of the pads or cover I will opt to use a 7ft heavy action baitcaster, teamed with a reel that is spooled with either 20lb-25lb Sunline Shooter. When fishing in clearer water conditions I will use the Shooter line option.

When rigging the WarMouth in a swimming position you have a few different options, to start I take a 3/0 or 4/0 30-degree jig hook and on the eye I attach a HitchHiker trailer keeper. I take this and screw it into the nose of the WarMouth and then tread the hook through the tail and skin hook the hook in the back of the WarMouth (Please see photo).

I then weight the WarMouth as to how I am going to fish it. If I want to flip the bait I will use a 3/16oz to 3/8oz tungsten sinker pegged to the bait. If I want to swim the bait I will use a 1/16 to 1/8 pegged tungsten sinker, by pegging the sinker I can fish this on a lift and drop retrieve to drop the bait in on key cover that I am trying to trigger a strike from. Also a good substitute hook to use if you are going to swim the bait is a weighted swim hook once again in 1/16oz-1/8oz 3/0 or 4/0 hook.

I have also started to use the WarMouth on the back of a jig as a trailer in some pitching presentations this make a great bait to use around docks and sparse cover that the bluegills hang around.

So if you are looking to jump start your spring fishing this season grab a few packs of Big Bites WarMouth and try a few of the riggings we have talked about, but remember one thing the WarMouth is a bait to fish all season. Do not think you have to put the WarMouth away when the shallow spring bite is done. To see all of the WarMouth colors please log onto www.bigbitebaits.com