Full Contact Angling?
Fishing in cover? No, fishing on it
by Nick Ruiz
You may wonder, could this be a new form of
"extreme" fishing sport which requires shoulder pads
and a crash helmet? Does it require casting while teetering off a
skateboard? In a word…no. However, for many it may be a style
of fishing that is very unfamiliar, and in some cases may even
seem outlandish. The basis of full contact fishing lies in the
fact that instead of fishing in and around cover and structure…you
fish right on it. For all intents and purposes the cover becomes
part of the overall presentation.
Immediately one might assume this falls under the category of
a "fishing fad", but the truth is, it has been a secret
of many top pros for years. It works in heavily-fished tournament
waters and in other pressured "high population" areas
where bank beaters pound away at the same fish day after day. If
you discipline yourself to learn how to do it, this just may be
the underlying secret to your success in popular lakes.
The true beauty of this kind of fishing is that not only is it
challenging, but also nine out of ten times it is something that
the fish have never seen before, and surprisingly enough, full
contact fishng won't cost you a dime!
No new equipment is needed. Perhaps the
most appealing point of all is that unlike many other
"new" techniques available, you do not need to buy
anything to enjoy full contact fishing. In this day of hunded
dollar rods and reels, and top baits going for tens and twenties
of dollars, chances are that the average bass angler already has
all the tools needed to be a highly effective full contact
angler. Jig and pigs, Colorado blade style spinnerbaits, tube
style baits, a variety of soft plastic crayfish and spider grubs,
as well as some crankbaits can be used in this discipline.
Usually, experience and an anglers attuned eye will determine
what's the best bait to throw when full contact fishing.
Indeed, the sky's the limit for bait selection.
This is one of the few styles of fishing where one's imagination
can come into play. Just envision what the lure might look like
while passing in, around, and on cover. If you imagine it might
look good, give it a try. Figure out how to make it work in full
contact with cover. So, figure out how to use what you've already
got in your own tacklebox, but for purposes of demonstration and
instruction I will list my favorite baits below.
Soft plastic spider grubs or crayfish. I
feel one of the most effective yet ignored baits to throw in a
case like this is a soft plastic crawfish or skirted double tail
spider jig on a jig head that stands upright. These can be
purchased either pre-assembled already on a jig head or the bait
and the jig head can be purchased separately. I prefer to opt for
the latter and select individual components. For the actual soft
plastic jig I have found great success with Berkley's 3-inch
"power" spider jig, in either black or pumpkinseed. For
the stand up style of head I have found that the "Football
Head" from Bass Pro Shops has been more than effective.
Number one, this football head has a nearly 90 degree straight up
resting point when it lands on cover. Number two, it has proven
itself nearly snag proof if used correctly. Rigging is very easy;
simply thread on the soft plastic as you would for any other type
of fishing.
Now you're ready for your first lesson
in full contact fishing. Remember that any type of cover that you
know holds fish will do, but the secret is to find the cover that
holds fish and will make for a good bait presentation. It is this
reason that I like to fish large expanses of laydown logs, fallen
trees with plenty of big limbs, as well as sprawling,
feature-rich dock structure. Position the boat as close as you
feel the fish will allow without spooking, and provided there is
no back seat angler, get the nose of the boat pointed directly at
the structure you wish to fish. Now, the cast can be made with
either a pitching or flipping method, or if you happen to be very
accurate with side-arm or back-hand type casts, these can be used
as well. Once delivered, after some practice you should be able
to virtually "steer" the lure through the cover. At
this point, find a shallow trunk or branch, cast past it, bring
the lure closer and try to "land" it so that the lure
"sits" on it. If you have achieved this, you should
have a spider jig sitting on a log or branch, with some deeper
water dropping off on either side. Here's where the beauty of
this type of fishing comes in…attempt to "walk" it
off the branch and allow a free fall to the next piece of
structure. Repeat this, as often as the cover will allow,
attempting to "stepping stone" your bait through the
nasty stuff. Chances are most fish will hit it a second or two
after it begins free falling. If fish are more aggressive, they
may even come up to pluck it off the cover. This phenomenon only
occurs when fish are truly aggressively feeding.
Each and every cast is a lesson in lure
control, and will make a better presenter out of all you!
That's another wonderful advantage of this kind of fishing is,
even on the off days when no fish are caught.
Spinnerbaits. The next presentation I
like to use when full contact fishing is the spinnerbait. I
prefer to match a lighter weight spinnerbait with a larger
Colorado style blade. This combination allows for a good,
straight, slow free fall, very similar to slow rolling. Because
it moves more slowly, the spinnerbait offers a little easier
control over the lure than the spider jig, but for all intents
and purposes the presentation is the same. One slight variation I
like to add is a small twitch or jerk halfway through the
spinnerbait's free fall to the next branch or log. I have found
that that twitch or jerk is enough to provoke even the least
aggressive bass to take a whack at a spinnerbait presented in
this manner. In cases where the cover proves to be ultra heavy,
there is a slight modification that can be made to the
spinnerbait to make it a little easier to free it from snags. By
taking a page out of trout anglers book of tricks, flattening the
barb on the spinnerbait hook will in many cases save you from
having to break off, or head into the cover to free a snagged
bait, and spooking fish away. One might say, "but won't that
just about guarantee half the fish I catch will throw the hook?
Not so, as many of the angler versus fish battles in full contact
fishing last about ten to fifteen seconds. It's intense. If a
fish isn't pulled free of the heavy stuff in that time…chances
are, it's not coming out and there's very little one can do about
it. One more point about the spinnerbait. If fish happen to be on
the warpath, feeding on anything that moves, don't hesitate to
speed up this technique so it is almost a "branch
hopping" type retrieve. Also, be sure to keep the
presentation going once the bait is out of the cover. Many fish
have followed and struck spinnerbaits that you continue to
retrieve well clear of the cover. Sometimes, they make their move
out in the clear when the bait can no longer escape into the
cover.
Gitzits rock the dock. One more great
bait for this style of fishing is the Gitzit, or tube style bait.
I call these baits "dock hounds" because they are
exactly that - my number one choice for probing in, around and on
docks. With medium spinning tackle, a good working knowledge of
the "skipping" cast, and a good eye for productive
docks, an angler can really clean up with Gitzits in full dock
contact. In this case, the more support beams, pylons, and in
water steps or ramps available, so much the better. Usually,
these feature-rich docks hold fish, and all the intircacies of
them also make these kinds of docks a blast to fish with a tube
bait. For this application, I prefer the tube bait that bares its
own namesake, the original Gitzit, because of the rugged way they
are constructed as well as a near infinite color and size
selection. My favorite way to rig these baits for this
application, is Texas style, with a 1/0 to 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook
with either a very small bullet weight or an internal clip-on
type weight like the ones produced by Eagle Claw. As far as the
actual presentation goes, this is where an anglers imagination
can be unleashed because each presentation can be a unique
challenge in and of itself. There are no set guidelines for
fishing in this manner, but I will list a few of the more popular
methods. As I mentioned before, steps and ramps can be very
productive when full contact fishing. With that in mind, when one
sees steps leading down into water, like those commonly found on
swimming and free floating recreational docks, do not hesitate to
let your bait "walk down the steps" into the water.
While doing this, keep a sharp eye out for ambush strikes as the
bait progresses to deeper and deeper steps. If you can see that
the steps you are fishing come to an end just under the water,
with the bait on the last step, s-l-o-w-l-y inch the lure off the
step into free fall. Many ambush strikes have come from fish that
were positioned under the dock, that were waiting for prey to be
silhouetted by the sunlight.
One more quick and easy way to probe docks for active fish is
to fire a bait as far back into structure as possible, and with a
moderately slow but steady retrieve, swim a bait back to the
boat, using the rod tip to steer the Gitzit left, righ, up and
down into direct contact with everything in its path. This is a
great way to probe structure for fish when pre-fishing for a
tournament or scouting out new spots. It is a great deal faster
than the other techniques mentioned above.
 Dock etiquette. Before closing, I
feel it should be noted that while many of the techniques
mentioned above require the use of docks as well as other man
made structure, there is one thing all these pieces of structure
have in common - they don't belong to us. And chances are they do
belong to someone else, With that said, I beg you keep this in
mind when fishing them. Use common sense and common courtesy. If
a cast looks like it may hang up on someone's dock, or boat
ropes, or may damage and deface their dock or other property in
any way, please…as much as you think it may yield fish, don't
make the cast. Especially if it looks like your bait may wind up
stuck on the surface of the dock. I don't' think we want any lake
front home owner in the hospital receiving a tetanus shot because
they didn't notice the 2/0 worm hook that wound up in their foot,
near the swim ladder. Let's remember how unpopular bass fisherman
already can be with people who live on lakes. Between early
morning tournament noise, excessively loud and fast boats, and
blatant disrespect for lake front structure, we need to make it a
point to maintain a degree of professional and personal courtesy.
I like to think that this point goes without saying. Now, with my
impromptu public service announcement out of the way...
As unorthodox as this article may sound,
I ask that you at least give it a shot the next time you hit the
water. It certainly is an extremely rewarding method of
presentation as well as a very challenging and effective one, and
certainly worth the extra effort.
See ya' on the water...Nick Ruiz
| Author Information.
Nick is a member of the Long Island Bassmasters, through which
he fishes tournaments and engages in a constant learning
experience with some of the best anglers on the Island. He also
makes frequent trips to the Tri-State area’s various “big
water” reservoir and lakes. Nick also plans to take the next
step up from local and club tournaments by fishing Operation Bass’
Redman Tournament Trail this year in the Northeastern Division.
He plans to become a certified New York State freshwater fishing
guide this summer.
Nick has learned through hard experience on heavily-fished
Long Island, NY waters. Here, the bass population has seen it all
and know it all. You either develop and precisely execute your
own meticulous tactics that fish have rarely seen before - or you
go fishless.
Email Nick at LunkerHunter313@aol.com. |
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