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By Gary Dobyns
GYCB National Pro Staff

January 19, 2012

What ever happened to split-shotting? It was the hottest fish-catching technique for years and now, no one does it? I was fishing the other day at Clear Lake in Northern California and caught an 11lb 3oz bass off a dock corner on a 4” split-shot worm.  I was play fishing, not getting ready for a tournament, just out to catch a few.

I was trying out a new split shot rod I’d made and I knew it was going to be deadly. I rigged up a DX 792 SF Dobyns Extreme (include link from Dobyns Rods) with a Robo Worm and got after it. I hadn’t thrown a split-shot rig in probably five or six years.  It did not surprise me that my second cast caught a 4 pounder. I went on to have a great numbers day and caught a limit over the four pound mark, the best was a six-pounder. That day really got me thinking - the forgotten split-shot technique has accounted for hundreds of major wins in the West over the years, but I hadn’t heard anyone talking about “split-shotting” in years. How could this happen? The technique obviously still catches fish, I’d just smoked them on it.

By Steve Price

January 13, 2012

If Randy Howell’s recent experience on Lake Guntersville stands as any indication of just how effective the five-bait umbrella rig really can be, then it may be time every bass fisherman gives this rig serious consideration.  All Howell and a friend did was put 27 pounds of fish into the livewell in less than four hours of fun fishing.

Howell, a veteran Bassmaster Elite competitor who will be competing in next month’s Bassmaster Classic, has been using the umbrella rig as much as possible since it burst onto the fishing scene this past October, and that Guntersville day wasn’t the first time he’s filled the boat using the multi-lure, wire-and-swivel presentation.  More importantly, he’s enjoying his best success using three different Yamamoto lures as his experience grows.  Those lures are the 3.5-inch Swimbait, the 4-inch Swimming Senko, and the 5-inch Single Tail Grub.