Jared Helms Pick 3 - SoftPlastics - Caffeine Shad

KVD Magic

I get excited just talking about this bait! I’ve liked throwing soft jerkbaits for a long time. Caught my first ‘’quality’’ bass one a Zoom Super Fluke, and have always just taken a liken to ‘em. Then, come the day I found the Caffeine Shad from Strike King’s Perfect Plastic line of baits. The tail has a different shape to it that most soft jerks. Instead of the normal split tail, it’s more of a bulbous tail which gives it a different action. It’s also loaded with salt, so you can cast this baby a mile on baitcasting gear. Not to mention, they smell delicious!

What makes it so special to me is the way this bait is designed. You can jerk it like you normally would, or, you can burn it real fast and it has a great swimming action. But, the Caffeine Shad really shines when you kill the bait. It has a fall very similar to a senko style bait, and this can draw a tone of strikes! There are just so many ways to fish this bait, so I’m gonna do my best to go over my favorite scenarios.

Locating Lovers

My favorite time to throw this bait is around the spawn. Whether they’re just moving up, shackin’ up, or at the hotel check out, this is a great way to locate spawning fish. If the clouds or wind take sight fishing out of the equation, I can fan cast a Caffeine Shad around bedding areas. And even still, if the sun comes out or wind dies and I locate a bedding bass, I can pitch past the bed, work the bait up to it, and let in fall in there just like I would a senko. This tactic can be killer! I really like a pearl color this time of year because it help me really keep an eye on the bait if I need to work over a bed with it. If I’m dealing with stubborn bass, I’ll switch to KVD Magic or watermelon and dip the tail in chartreuse to more closely imitate a bluegill.

Morning Coffee

Smokey Shad

Once the bass have made it back home and kick into their old summer patterns, most people start everyday out throwing a topwater. While that can make for a good time, when the water is seeing a lot of pressure, this just gives them a different look. I can still cover water quickly, working the bait right near the top, but can also kill it and let it shimmy down if it’s a hit and miss. Most of the time, that bass will come back and clobber it! Color choice depends on the main forage. Most of the time, especially around the shad spawn, I’ll opt for Smokey Shad. But, again, when I’m imitating bluegill, I’ll throw KVD Magic or watermelon tipped off with a little chartreuse.

Takin’ ‘em to School

This is the number one reason I have one tied on all the time. Year round. You never know when you might see bass come up and start chowing down. 9 times out of 10, a Caffeine Shad will catch ‘em. This is also my favorite time to take advantage of the swimming action of this bait. If I see bass bust the surface, I’ll chuck this thing past them, burn it for a few reel turns, and kill it.

My tools for the trade are a 6’10’’ MH rod with a high speed, 7:1, reel. I like to use a 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook. Just like a topwater, I’m usually keeping this bait where I can see it, so when you see that strike give them a second to eat it. With so much plastic to go through, once they eat it, I want to really drop the hammer on ‘em.

If you’ve ever fished soft jerkbaits, you know they can be fun and catch a lot of fish. Next time you’re headed to the water, pick up some Caffeine Shad and try ‘em out. They straight up catch fish, and I guarantee you’ll be back for more!

G-man (Wise) and the Choma Moment

This is a story my buddy, Chad Wise, posted on his face book a while back about him and his son. It's a must read for any fisherman, father, ..........or anybody with a heart, really.
 


First let me explain,
G-man: My oldest son's nick name, in this note I'm shortening it to G because I'm to lazy to type Garrison or G-man.
Choma Moment: An unexpected, unbelievable event that happens while Bass fishing for fun, or in a tournament. This was coined from adding my name with one of my fishing buddies nickname, "Coma", which is a whole other story, hence the name, "Choma." It's corny but it's stuck with me and my fishing buddies and even their other fishing buddies. It's also a lure company Keith Stevens, Jeremy Stevens, and I to an extent started.

This note is note being written by a proud father, or to boast, or to even sell Choma baits. It's just an unbelievable story and events that happened when I took my oldest son to fish in his first Tournament with his old man. A day God literally reached down and blessed a father and his son. I'm also writing it to have a record of it as well.The Wiregrass Bass Trail, sponsored and ran by Sportsman Outfitters, had it's February Tournament at Lake Eufaula this past Saturday the 12th. Already having other T's(tournaments) planned this month and the wife on me about fishing so much, I came up with the ultimate plan, take your son fishing so you can.

With a 29 degree outside temp, a high of only 56, 8-12 mph winds expected, and muddy water from recent rains, Eufaula is not a place to take your kid for his first Tournament right now. G of course didn't care, he was ready. We blasted off as boat# 12 from Lakepoint and set off on a 20 minute ride to the south end of the lake to get out of the muddy water. G was bundled up and I brought a thick sleeping bag that he covered up under and laid in the bottom of the boat during the ride. Water temp's were anywhere from 43 to 47 degrees. Tough fishing and not many bites when it's that cold so you got to make them count.

We started out in White Oak and fished for 3-4 hours with no luck. Moving on to several other spots running and gunning but shooting blanks we rode to the Georgia side of the lake around 11 am. Now I'm frustrated, I knew it would be tough but I can usually catch a small fish in that amount of time. G has fished hard the whole time. I've had to untangle his line, get him unhung from trees and docks, and even let him off on the bank for a Mother Nature call in the woods( another proud moment for me...lol, my buddies understand). G had his Ipod on the boat and never touched it, that's how focused he was.

We arrived at one of my best docks on the lake about 11:30 and G says to me, "I think this is where we'll get it going." I played it off because I've fished enough to know we were on a fast track for a goose egg and bad day on the lake. This dock has 2 boat slips in it and has always produced a small fish. I flip my jig up in the first boat slip, THUMP, the line jumps, I rear back and tell G to get the net. He jumps up, gets the net in the water and scoops the fish up, a solid 3 1/2 pound fish. He's going crazy while looking at the fish in the livewell, I flip under the other boat slip, THUMP, I set the hook and G jumps for the net, a solid 4 lber in the boat. In 2 casts we've turned the day around and lit a fire in this boy.

I think we may have found a pattern but for the next 2 hours we catch nada. It's 2 pm and weigh-in is at 3. We run back to Lakepoint and head to a spot where several Choma Moments have happened in the last hour of a tournament. The water is 44 degrees and a deep red mud color. I was hoping for at least one more decent fish and I knew we may get a top 10 out of the 30+ boats due to the conditions. Now as lucky as the 2 fish may have been earlier, I never would have expected what would happen that last 20 - 30 minutes of the tournament.

G is fishing hard. He's using a little $1 spinnerbait that he and his brother usually throw and catch a lot of small fish on when we go fun fishing. I had put a trailer hook on it just for extra sticking power if he did get a bite, even a 14 inch fish would have put us past the middle of the pack. I see some small shad flicking right on the bank, haven't seen this all day so i head for them. Where there are shad, usually there are bass. I'm clipping along pretty good and G is casting out the back of the boat. I look down at my clock, 2:30, guess we will have to see where those 2 good fish will place us. Then I hear a huge splash behind the boat, then the cry, "DADDY! DADDY! It's a fish!". I turn and G has this monster bass jumping trying to throw the spinnerbait. Now my tournament instinct kicked in and wanted to grab the rod from my rookie big bass catching son and get the fish in the boat, I mean he was using a 6' spinning rod with 10lb test line and a rinky dink hook on a spinnerbait to land this fish. But the father in me won out, I coached him and coached him, the fish took him around the boat and finally I got the net around it. G threw a fit like I've never seen,"I GOT HIM! I GOT HIM! I thought I was hung up daddy but it was a huge bass." The fish had engulfed the bait and the only hook in the fish was the trailer hook, which was only looped around a gill, no penetration anywhere, tell me God didn't want that boy to catch that fish.

This big burly, hairy, eat hot sauce on everything man, welled up with tears. As excited as he was, i was twice that way inside. It's 2:45 now and I was hoping to get one more from the area since we were only 5 minutes from the weigh-in. I changed to a spinnerbait similar to his but had no luck. G wanted to look at his fish so he put his rod down. I grabbed it immediately and threw it toward the bank. Not but one turn of the reel and BAM, I'm hooked up with a good fish. G almost literally does a front flip trying to get the net and I play the fish carefully because I can see it's barely hooked. I get the fish in the net and the bait comes flying out of it's mouth! G starts packing up everything so we can make it back to weigh-in.

At the weigh-in, G is grinning ear to ear. He wanted to carry the bag but it was too heavy so he follows me along side it with his hand touching it. The 4 fish weigh 16.54 lbs and wins the tournament by 3 lbs. G's bass weighs in a 5.34 lbs and winds up the 2nd or 3rd biggest bass of the tournament. That's a cool $1000 bucks in our pockets. G only wants to get some more spinnerbaits with his cut, he's hooked. Miracles happen every day, but what happened those last 20 minutes of the tournament was a literal gift from God, no doubt. Now I've had many last second catches, some won the T's some got us a high finish and a check, but that one right there may never be topped, except maybe when Will fishes with me in April in a tournament. He's already saying he'll catch a bigger and more fish than what G caught. Got to love that brotherly love.

Thank you if you suffered through reading this Dothan High School educated writer's story. This  was the definition of a Choma Moment.
Thanks from one proud dad,Chad

Jared Helms Pick 3 - Soft Plastics Part 1

With so many plastics to choose from nowadays, it’s easy to rack your brain until your tackle box is overflowing with a ton of baits you’ll never use. Not saying my tackle box is not like that; but, I do have my go-to baits that I know will get me through the tough times and produce fish in a number of situations. I’ve decided to list the top three in a three part series, and break down why I chose them and how I use them.

 

Big Bite Baits Fightin’ Frog

I discovered this little gem just last year, but since then, I have found this bait very productive in many different scenarios. I’ve fished it a ton of different ways and I’m sure I havn’t even tapped into everything that’s possible with this bait.

Flippin’ the ol’ Texas Rig

My favorite way to fish this bait, like most other people, is to flip it into shallow cover. Whether, it be wood or grass, this bait really produces bites for me. I like it because it’s got a perfect, meet in the middle, action. It’s not quite as bulky and active as something like a brush hog, but it’s got more action in the pincers than your beaver style baits. I flip and pitch this bad boy on a 7’6’’ heavy action rod paired with a Lews Speed Spool high speed reel. My line is determined by the cover. In thick wood and brush I’ll use 20 lb fluorocarbon, whereas, in grass I prefer 65 lb braid. I don’t really worry about downsizing my line in clearer water, just because fluorocarbon is highly invisible and I’m usually putting this thing in the thickes

t stuff I can find. 98% of the time, I use a 3/8 oz tungsten bullet weight and a 4/0 straight shank hook.

Shakin’ things up

Another way I like to fish the Fightin’ Frog, is to rig it on a Buckeye Spot Remover jighead. Anytime I’m fishing a hard bottom like rocks or hard clay, I’ll pull this trick out of my hat. When fishing it this way, I want to ALWAYS maintain bottom contact. There are very few instances where I’ll hop this bait. This is great for cleaning up a school on clay points and ledges where most people will be throwing a football jig or a Carolina rig.  The ¼ oz Spot Remover usually gets the nod for most situations, and I can fish it on baitcasting gear and 12 lb fluorocarbon. But, when things get tough, I’ll get out the small size Fightin’ Frog and rig it on an 1/8 oz jighead. This is when I throw it with spinning tackle and 8 lb fluorocarbon.

Happy Trails

For today, the last way I’ll cover this bait, is using it as a jig trailer. In either of my last two scenarios, if I’m looking for that kicker, I’m pulling out a jig. When I’m flippin’ a jig, I like to pinch of the first little bit of the “frog” to make it a little more compact. It just seems to go in and out of tight places a lot better that way. But, if I’m fishing deep, I’ll thread the whole thing on the back of an All Terrain football jig and drag that sucker around. I use the same flippin’ set-up as before. For the football jig, I use a 7’11’’ heavy action rod and a high speed reel to help me get a solid hookset on the end of a long cast. I still opt for 20 lb fluorocarbon, because like I said, I’m hunting that big fish. Once he’s hooked, he won’t stand a chance.

 

The Fightin’ Frog can be a very versatile bait, and I think it deserves a spot in every angler

is tackle box. Even it is already overflowing with more soft plastics than you know what to do with.

Hot Fishing on The Hootch

“Way down yonder on the Chattahoochie, it can get hotter than a hoochie coochie.”

We’ve heard this line in the Alan Jackson song, but truth is, few people know that he might actually be talking the fishing! I tell people all the time that The Hootch is my favorite place to fish, and most say, “I didn’t even know there we’re bass in there.” (You’d be surprised how many times I have ACTUALLY heard that.) Well, I’m here to tell you, that place is full of bass. It’s got some nice largemouth and the population of spotted bass is getting better, year in and year out. And the best part is, you can usually find a way to catch em doing whatever you want to do! I’ve had days where I’d spend the morning catching ‘em good shallow, then pull up over 30’ of water and start tearing apart a school on a drop shot. I talked to Jeff Hankins a couple days ago, and he backed me up on this while telling me about his last outing in the Gordon area.

 

“Man, we caught a ton of bass. The best five would have went 18 pounds, and we were catching them on near about everything in the boat.”

He told me they threw square bills, Scrounger heads rigged with Cane Thumpers, flipped Yo Mamas, and had a lot of fun catching them on topwaters like a medium sized Spook and Pop’R’s all throughout the day.

And, what about big bass?

“We put in at Franklin a couple weeks ago and went to one of my favorite holes. When they started pumping water, they started eating a Pop’R. I actually lost one over 10 pounds!” said Hankins.

But, his one that got away ain’t just another fish tale. I have seen numerous 8-10 pound bass pulled out of the river. Some over 10 on occasion. Although, usually it takes a bass in the 5 to 6 pound range to take big bass honors in a tournament.

Scott Armstrong with a nice Chattahoochee Largemouth.

I also got a chance to have a conversation with, Scott Armstrong of Scott's Rod Sleeves, about how much fun this river can be. He has been bass fishing seriously on the Chattahoochee with his partner, Sidney Goocher, for around 20 years.

“We like to fish shallow and fish can always be caught shallow on the river during the summer. Most of the fish I catch are in less than 6 feet of water and sometimes as little as 6 inches of water, even in the middle of the day,” says Armstrong.

He points out, the best time to fish during the summer is in the late afternoon with topwaters, such as a buzzbait or walking baits. And, like in most cases, current makes it even better.

 

When I asked Scott what size bass The Hootch has to offer, he said, “The past few years the tournament weights have been down, which I believe is due to the clear water we’ve had. Lately, you’re looking at 14 pounds to win.” Which ain’t too shabby, but heavier weights are definitely possible on the river. It’s known to turn out a few 20+ pound bags throughout the year.

“The biggest bag we have weighed in on the river was in July 2004, which went 21 pounds.” said Scott.

That goes to show you, there IS bass way down yonder on the Chattahoochee, and they can be a blast to catch! If you’ve never wet a line here, there’s no better time than now. And, our parting advice from Scott:

 
“Always keep an open mind when fishing the river and don't focus on just one technique. I normally have 10 different rods on the deck and am constantly alternating and covering water quickly until I find something that is working.”