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Sweepin' the Jig
By Jerry Puckett

Yeah, sure...10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish, yada yada yada...we gotta learn to do it like they do it, blah blah blah…show up on the same cover, fight for the same fish, yeah...right. Maybe not.

Let's be reasonable, can you beat that 10% at their own game? I guess if you could you'd be one of the 10%. Time for a bit of a reality check. I agree that in most cases it's the same 10% of old toughies that bring in 90% of the winning stringers. But, I also think that 90% of the winning weights come from a small percentage of the overall fish population.

Unless you're willing to plunk down your hard-earned bucks for the pleasure (not!) of going one-on-one with David Fritts on a crankbait bite, we need another plan. One that capitalizes on the huge percentage of fish that never sees a bait. Oh yea, most of 'em get pestered just like the rest of the fish during the spawning cycle but these are the fish that sell out for a less popular (or pressured) neighborhoods come post-spawn and for the majority of the summer and early fall. What's that you say, that's when you do the majority of your fishing? Go figure.

Frank Waters in the Twilight Zone

I got a rather pointed wake-up call on where a lot of the fish are early one June morning a couple of years ago. I had taken Frank Waters out before dawn (our dear and thankfully not recently heard from correspondent) in order to make a valiant (impossible) attempt to teach him (improbable) to split shot a grub (Some things even Frank could screw up.).

We're 35 miles up-lake, mach three, sun's not up yet and a water line fitting for the pressure gauge lets loose. Whoops, whoa, big fella. Rather than take a chance I decided to throw down the Motor guide and fish our way the couple of miles back to the mid-lake marina. (As I recall, Frank was hysterical and figured we'd starve to death.)

Okay, so how bad could it be? A couple of miles of ugly nothing bank that no one had ever fished, most of it slickrock and the water was only 400-ft deep 30-ft. offshore – I threw a buzz bait (I'm easily amused) and had Frank drag the split-shot rig (minimizing the chances that he would cause me great bodily harm).

What I wasn't prepared for were the 35 fish we caught by the time we made it to the marina. We had an hour of very hot fishing, throwing the stupidest bait choice (at least I thought the buzzbait was) in the absolutely worst place. What the heck? Welcome to the Twilight Zone, or at least that part of it that rarely or never sees a bait.

A Hunnert' in the Shade

Fast-forward to the '94? U.S. Open on blisterin' hot Lake Mead. Pre-fish day one and I'm with the Boss. Yamamoto is showing me his secret for Hooverin' up (you know, vacuum) Mead's nothin' banks with a one ton jig (you know, one ounce). It was awesome, the middle of nowhere, sloping banks and we didn't see any of the other 200 tournament boats except those blowing by on plane a couple of hundred yards away.

And we caught fish. Lots of fish, off of nothing. It was a simple matter of logistics – sweep up the shoreline and don't stop and for your trouble you boat a chunky bass every hundred yards. The worse the shoreline looked the more productive it was. Too stupid, but as I recall the Boss stupided his way to the pay window for 4th place and $9,000. Unfortunately I melted a piston on the third day and fell out of the top ten to nowhersville. The next year Yamamoto swept (gotcha-one ton again) his way to the top and a not particularly stupid $75,000.00 pay day. Stupid like a fox; a well paid fox.

How to Sweep 'Em

The one-ounce jig is used to cover a large area in a fast and efficient manner. The jig is worked along the bottom in much the same fashion that you would slow roll a heavy spinnerbait, but at a faster speed than would be possible with a spinner. At Lake Mead we were keying on chunk rock and gravel banks that sloped at about a 45-degree angle or less to maximum target depth of about 35-ft The majority of our fish were caught between 15 and 35-ft Based on the general slope of the banks we were working, these fish were about the same distance from the bank that they were deep...15 to 35-ft out.

Gary simply stood on the trolling motor about half speed as he worked down these banks, positioning the boat about 40 to 50-ft from the bank as he moved steadily along. Quartering casts were made at about a 30 to 45-degree angle to the bank. The fast dropping one ounce jig would pendulum toward the boat quickly as it closely followed or swept the bottom contour, kicking up silt, gravel and banging into rocky structure as it sped its way downward. Lien was retrieved as necessary to maintain the tight-line slide or sweep down the bank. Hold that thought, tight-line slide.

When the bait would stop, the tight line and our sensitive rods would let you know immediately with a resounding thump. Yamamoto would immediately retrieve any slack and sharply snap the bait over the ledge or obstruction. Even though the bait was making a sharp jump a couple of feet its weight would place it immediately back in touch with the bottom as it continued the tight-line slide down the slope.

If you will visualize the quartering cast to the bank and the tight-line slide down the structure as the boat is in constant motion, you can see that by the time the bait has worked down to the maximum target depth of 35-ft the line is perpendicular to the bank, and the bait is beside the boat. A few fast turns on the high speed reel and you're making your next presentation.

Two anglers working this technique in a leap-frogging, staggered-cast method can absolutely vacuum up a mile of shoreline in short order. If the boat speed and length of casts are coordinated you will be making a tight-line slide at about 20 to 25-ft intervals all the way along the bank.

Summertime Sweepin'

In the case of the Las Vegas Open we were addressing late July summer pattern fish that were situated from 15 to 35-ft deep. These quality fish (all two pounds plus) were active but in very low densities. It was rare to catch more than one from any spot and in most cases it was a long way between spots.

In a major tournament it still astounds me how quickly a shallow cover bite will simply vanish into thin air. If a spot looks good to you, it also looks good to the other 200 pros and their amateur partners. The pressure on those "good-looking" spots is incredible. After the first couple of hours of day one, everything has been hammered, even on a lake the size of mead. If you haven't found a hideout (doubtful) you are in trouble (probable).

This thought process is what motivated Gary to seek out an efficient method to work the miles of "nothing banks". Again, these were high quality fish by Mead standards that had seen little pressure due to their location, but you had to cover a world of shoreline to produce a limit. Every fish that came on the once ounce jig was in the two-pound class or over. Now this was very tough fishing under heavily pressured major tournament conditions that you may never have to deal with. But on the other hand, this scenario may be in place more often than you think on your home lake. Post-spawn and summer pattern fish can be some of the most fickle, particularly during the late morning through early afternoon hours. When the pressure is on, the one-ounce bite is frequently in place, but remember, it may be hiding in some pretty stupid looking places.

The Bite

When working the system the bite is normally not tentative. The fish simply eat the bait. Who knows whether the skirted grub looks like a baitfish fleeing for safety or a crawfish scurrying along the bottom away from the shallows? All you know on your end of the line is that the bait gets heavy when the fish inhales it. In most cases when you swing on the fish he will be coming straight up like a rocket and the race is on for the surface. In the few cases when the fish chooses to stay down and slug it out with you, you're probably better off not to rush the fish. Play him against steady pressure and bring him to the boat when some of the green has worn off.

One thing is certain. If your equipment is not suited to the task you will not be happy or rewarded with a braggin' sized sack. Not only will you be fatigued but you will dump fish. Balance your tackle, get set to sweep and let the system work for you. Trust me, you will be by yourself out there but if it gets too lonely you can talk to that live well full of solid keepers.

Lead-Head

No ordinary head; this is a football head that incorporates a shank area that is longer than normal. Instead of a molded spike to hold the grub this head incorporates two recessed areas. The first securely holds a full double skirt in place. The second recess terminates in a reversed truncated cone at the hook shank. This reversed cone allows the soft skirt and grub to be slid onto the head without damage but holds the grub body firmly once it is in place.

Skirt & Grub

For the one ounce sweepin' rig opt for the separate double skirt rather than the one piece skirted grub. This not only adds bulk but allows you the opportunity to customize the color combination. For Lake Mead we were utilizing the clear/silver sparkle skirt (11-20-136). Yamamoto tried a variety of grub trailers before settling on the standard five-inch single-tail. Although colors 150 and 135 both produced fish, color 187 was the top producer. This clear/black pepper grub (18-20-187) was perfect in combination with the 136 skirt.

Scent

The use of the Yamamoto Fish Attractant is a vital part of the combination. Once the fish get the bait in their mouth they just won't spit it out. It is amazing to bring a fish up in the clear water of Lake Mead and not be able to see any part of the huge jig sticking out. They just ate this bait. In addition to applying the scent to the grubs and skirts in a plastic bag each night (the salt impregnated grubs will absorb the scent) we suggest you reapply the scent every 20 to 30 casts.

Rod

With the one-ounce rig casting is, of course, no problem. You simply choose the zip code in which you'd like the bait to land. Managing the heavy-weight is another story. You must have sufficient rod strength to "shock" the bait to cause it to hop over the cracks and crevices. You also need a reserve of rod strength to handle the fish. If you have extinguished the rod's power on the bait you have nothing left for the fish. You will find that a correctly balanced seven-foot trigger stick is mandatory with this bait. A perfect choice is the Yamamoto Grub Rod in action IV. The ultimate in sensitivity, strength and balance, this rod seems to have been made for the one ounce. Use of a lighter or poorer balanced rod will only frustrate or tire you unnecessarily.

Reel and Line

This heavyweight would seem to call for a low speed power reel…wrong, wrong, wrong! That approach will cost you fish, we guarantee it! You should use a high-speed reel such as a Daiwa PT-33 at 7:1 retrieve. Once the fish is hooked you are in a race to the surface with a bass that is in the process of going ballistic. You cannot allow the fish to use the one-ounce head as leverage. If the fish is coming up the only factor in your favor is speed.

We highly recommend Sugoi Fluorocarbon line in 14 or 16 pound test for one-ounce sweepin' in relatively open cover, clear water conditions like those at Mead. The Sugoi line combines the necessary qualities of low-stretch (super sensitive) and abrasion resistance for this system. You might opt for heavier line in off-color water or heavier cover but you don't want to unnecessarily impede the fast drop of the big bait.

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