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Ben Matsubu Dropshots Toledo Bend
By Russ Bassdozer
February 27, 2001
This news article is a story of pro angler, Ben Matsubu, who competes among the world's best anglers on the BASSMASTER Top 150 Trail, and who won third place in the Louisiana Top 150 over the weekend by dropshotting Toledo Bend.
It is a rare story because it withholds no secrets. It tells it straight without fanfare or pretense. This is what fishing is. This is the Inside Line.
Q: What colors do you use to dropshot, Ben?
I often dropshot the series 7 Cut Tail Worm in 238 (smoke w/black & hologram) and 157 (smoke w/black & purple). On Toledo Bend, I used those two plus a Tifa Body Shad - a worm from Japan with a thin tail. That was an oxblood cinnamon w/red flakes and a purple bloodline.
Most days, I feel as if color does not matter as much as presentation. Presentation is the thing. When I dropshot, what matters is to present a bait that is perfectly suspended where bass have never seen a bait before. Bass have seen bait on the bottom, bass have seen bait suspended up above them, sinking down or swimming past them, but never exactly where a dropshot suspends the bait. Especially on 6 lb. test, fish have never seen that presentation. Color is often secondary to me.
In fact, some days I get a weird feeling as you could dropshot any bait in any color. The key is just the straight suspend. Any bait can do that on a dropshot. Hula grubs work really good. I used to dropshot craws but it was weird. Have you ever seen a craw suspend itself above bottom? I don't think craws act like that. The dropshot is something the bass have never seen, so they hit it. I don't think they care what the bait is or what color as much as putting the bait somewhere it has never been before.
Q: You mention 6 lb. test being part of the presentation. Do you prefer a certain line, Ben?
Yes, 6 lb. test is a part of the presentation that the bass have rarely seen. On many tournament bass lakes, 12 lb. test is considered light line, and 15 to 20 is the norm. I use spinning gear to dropshot and the flurocarbon-coated P-Line is the way to go. This line is pretty tough for 6 lb. test, but I still change it daily because it twists up badly due to the dropshot. There is also this 5.5 lb. grey fluoro that the dropshotters who come over from Japan use on spinning. They whip us bad with that line. I'm trying hard to get some of that.
Q: What can you tell us about the weights and hooks you use, Ben?
The weight is important. I use two types that have swivels molded into them. First, the Bakudan sinkers are like round splitshots on swivels. Second, the X-Metals from Japan are teardrop-shaped and made from the heaviest tungsten I have ever seen. There is a lot of different tungsten, but it is incredible how small the 1/4 oz. X-Metal sinker is because it is so heavy. If you want to feel the rocks, the X-Metal is the way to go.
Q: What you always hear to use the lightest weight possible, is is true?
Yes. By using the lightest weight, you can feel the pressure bite of a fish a lot easier. The dropshot bite is often just pressure. On Toledo Bend, it was almost imperceptible. I was fishing a point at the end of a huge weedbed. It was a place I found while prefishing down near the dam where most people never go to fish for bass. The dropshot weight would just get soft like it went into the weeds. When that happened, I would hold the rod perfectly still and look at the tip. If I saw the tip move forward a little, I knew it was a fish. Other than that, there was never any sensation to signal a bite.
In water up to 20-25 feet, I usually use a 3/16 weight in calm conditions or a 1/4 oz in windy conditions. In water beyond 30 feet, I use 3/8 to get me to the bottom faster. I usually want the bait to hit bottom within 5 seconds. I'll use the lightest weight that lets me do that. If it takes too long, I feel like I am wasting valuable fishing time.
On very windy days, there's no way you're going to feel the bottom or a bite with anything. Under those conditions, the only thing that works for me is the series 53 Split Shot hook. This hook is self-setting as the fish swims away with the bait. Fishing in wind, this hook gives you an advantage over anyone not using it.
When it is calm, I may switch to the size 2 Gamakatsu Drop Shot hook. This is only because I instinctively like to set the hook, especially when I get an aggressive bite. You will take the series 53 Split Shot hook away from the fish if you set the hook. Sometimes I react too quickly or forget that, so I will switch to the Gamakatsu Drop Shot hook on those days.
Q: Where were you fishing on Toledo Bend, Ben?
In prefishing, I found some great structure spots near the dam. The bass in this area were totally undisturbed. Many of the local anglers said they never fished there for bass, but that it was a great spot for stripers when the dam was pulling water. There were huge grass beds nearby the end of my spot, and clouds of shad as big as my boat going under me all the time for the first few days of the tournament. At the deeper edge of the point towards 30 feet of water, there were huge schools of shad suspended at 15 feet.
On the first day of the tournament, I was in third and moved up to first on the second day in this spot. On the third and last day of the tournament, the shad pulled off of the spot and so did the bass. I was still taking some, but in the last hours of the last day, I looked in the livewell. I knew I would need to find a four pounder to win the tournament. I put the dropshot away, and went to search the shorelines for a four pound fish.
I think the series 9 watermelon Senko is the best bed bait I have ever used. What I do is let the Senkos sit in the sun for a day. This fades the watermelon out the tips. Both ends of the Senko become a lighter brown color. Those faded tips quiver like Jello. Fish see that color quivering, and it's all over. I used to use larger hooks in the Senko. Now I am convinced that there is something about the series 63 2/0 Gamakatsu EWG positively affects the fall rate or lets the Senko have a little more motion. I think it is because the hook is lighter, but it is hard to say that 1/100 of an ounce difference can do that. Whatever the reason, I know I get more bites with this particular hook than any other.
I ran down a long stretch of banks filled with beds and small fish. I passed by two 2.5 pounders, looking for the four pounder I would need to win. Not finding any four pounders, I circled back to get those two. I hooked them both right away on a Senko, played them, but both came undone right at the boat. I thought I screwed up. All is lost, I said. Then something incredible happened. Both lost fish come back on the beds. I waited a few minutes for them to get used to staying on the beds again, then I re-caught the first one on the first cast with the Senko, and took two casts to re-catch the other one.
I attribute my ability to re-catch those fish to the awesome power of the Senko. Even after playing them to boatside on heavy 16 lb. test baitcasting gear, these two fish didn't hesitate to hit the same Senko again.
I asked Toledo Bend to give me just one more hour to find a four pounder. I know I would have owned that fish with the Senko.
On Sunday, February 25, 2001, Ben Matsubu left the bed fish behind to come back to the final day weigh-in with 150 of the top pros in our sport. Ben was the third best among them, and only one pound eleven ounces out of first.
It is a story we all dream of, one that Ben Matsubu lives on the BASSMASTER Top 150 Trail. Congratulations on your awesome performance on Toledo Bend, Ben.
Thank you from all of us for telling your story. Good luck, Ben, and we look forward to hearing about you from the BASSMASTER Alabama Top 150 on Lake Wheeler next month.
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