When it comes to fishing offshore, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Brandon Lester can narrow his bait selection down to three main types of baits. A swimbait, crankbait and big plastic worm are his top choices for when he needs to get off of the bank and go offshore. He shares how he approaches each of these techniques, what he looks for and more importantly, how he fishes them.
CRANKING FOR THE AGGRESSIVE ONES
The crankbait is Lester’s top choice for offshore fishing and what he picks up first. “I’ll throw the crankbait first to see if they are feeding and also to catch the most aggressive fish first,” Lester began.
His crankbait selection is one many top offshore anglers use, the Strike King XD series of baits. “I use the 5XD up to the 10XD and always change out my hooks with Mustad trebles.
The good thing about the KVD Triple Grip trebles is they have a shorter shank so you can go up a size and get a better hook in them. They still won’t tangle up even if you go up a size,” he said.
While he most often uses the Triple Grip style of treble hooks, he feels there is still a place for the standard round bend hook. “If the fish are just coming up and smacking at the bait, I’ll switch to the round bend because it does seem to hook them better in those situations,” he added.
He varies his retrieve with crankbaits; but doesn’t let them pause for too long. “I like to keep it moving,” he shared. “I’ll burn it down to the bottom and then crank and crawl the bait along the bottom.”
His cranking setup is a 7’6”, Medium-Heavy rod custom built on an MHX blank. He uses a 5.4:1 gear ratio reel and sues 15-lb Vicious Pro Elite fluorocarbon to round it out.
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SWIMBAITS FOR A SUBTLE PRESENTATION
The swimbait is next in line after the crankbait and Lester feels it is more subtle, but still enough to get a big bass to commit. “
I mostly switch to a swimbait when I see that the fish are suspended on my graph or when they don’t want a crankbait,” he said.
Lester adjusts his retrieve based on how deep the fish are and uses a countdown method to target specific depths. He will then to repeat it after a fish catch.
“I experiment with different counts until I find one that is working and then make sure to stick with that,” he added.
Most of the time he will be fishing a hollow-belly style swimbait like a Basstrix or Strike King Shadalicious on a Mustad Elite Series Bullet Head. These hooks are rated as 2X for strength and as well as length.
“It has the best soft plastic keeper I have found and big hook to fit on the six and seven inch baits,” he said. He will most often use a ¾- or 1-ounce. model and vary it depending on which size of bait he is using.
He fishes his swimbaits on a 7’2”, Heavy MHX rod and reel with a 6.4:1 gear ratio spooled with 17-lb Vicious Pro Elite fluorocarbon.
BIG WORMIN' AS A BACK UP
When the swimbait and crankbait fail to produce, Lester will pick up a 10-inch worm.
“I mostly use a Berkley Power Worm and always have. I’ll rig it on a 7/O or 8/O Mustad 2X Big Bite round bend hook,” he said.
He credits this hook for its ability to hold the bait securely and keep the bait from tearing up as easily thanks to the Grip-Pin keeper on the hook.
He fishes the big worm with a simple approach and will drag it slowly on the bottom and mix in his retrieve with several hops. His worming setup is a 7’2”, Medium-Heavy MHX rod, 7.1:1 reel and 15-lb Vicious Pro Elite fluorocarbon.
ELECTRONICS
While scanning and searching for schools of bass, Lester will set up his Raymarine units in different split screen options. At the helm, he has one unit split between DownVision and SideVision scanning technology.
Once he locates a school, he sets up his bow unit with a three way split of DownVision from the back and then Sonar from the bow as well as a map. “Having it read from the front and back at the same time lets me cover more water and find stay on top of the schools better,” he said.
He has totally gone away from marker buoys once he locates schools. “The waypoints are just as accurate and you don’t risk giving away your spot to someone,” he said.
Offshore fishing is the only way to go certain times of year. When the bite is on out deep, these three techniques are ways to quickly load the boat. Brandon Lester’s basic approach to selecting baits and using the right gear are sure to help anyone catch more big bass offshore.
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