Throw-Back Tactics

[Roy]

Throw-Back Tactics

By Kyle Schauf

Throw-back: A term that you have most likely heard in the language of bass fishing. To be clear, the throw back we are talking about here is not in reference to busting out a vintage Bill Dance mesh back Tennessee Vols cap.

What we are referring to comes in various forms, from follow up to second chance, each carrying the same meaning. Surely every fisherman who’s ever cast a topwater frog or swimjig through a grass bed has had it happen. An explosive splash or strike, a hook set, but no bass.

“You’ve got his attention, he’s on guard, and he’s vulnerable,” Bassmaster Elite Pro Kevin Hawk says. When you evoke a strike while using shallow power techniques like a top water frog or swim jig and the fish misses, this is the best time to employee a throw-back bait.

While on the 6th stop of the Bassmaster Elite Series in La Crosse, WI, Hawk engaged his throw-back tactic to help propel him into a solid finish. On Day One of the event, the weather was stable with high, sunny skies and vicious strikes. Kevin caught his fish by using a frog and swim jigs thrown on sporadic clumps of hydrilla grass. Day Two was a different story. The bright, sunny skies turned to torrential downpours, heavy wind and thunderstorms and the fish threw anglers a curveball right along with the weather. The vicious blow ups and strikes turned to half-hearted attempts and very little action.

Kevin’s Day Two luck began to change when he starting using a Texas rig Senko as a follow up bait to the diminutive strikes he was getting. “When a fish would short strike the swim jig, I would immediately pick up that Senko, pitch it back in there and almost always catch that fish”, said Hawk. That was really a turning point for the day, using a throw-back technique to help finish off his limit.

At one point Kevin was working a stretch of manmade rip rap island on the south end of Pool 8 with a swim jig. “I got a hit on the swim jig but didn’t connect so I immediately pitched back in there with the Senko and instantly hooked up with a fish. I threw the Senko back to the same exact spot four or five more times and caught a fish on every cast.” When you get a short strike or a blow up it’s important to your follow up bait ready and get it back in there as fast as possible. “I always throw back my follow up bait to the exact same spot where the strike took place.” Whether the strike creates a blow up hole in the mat or a break in the grassline, getting the bait back to the exact same spot allows for the highest percentage of catching the fish.

Kevin avoids throwing back the same lure that evoked the initial strike admitting, “While it’s hard not to just throw the swim jig or frog back in there because it’s already in your hand, your chances of catching that fish are a lot better with the Senko as a follow up.” Using the Senko throw back bait gives you a better chance of getting a hook in that fish without wasting a bunch of time. “I think I'm more likely to get bit on the Senko because it gives the bass a different look and action than my initial presentation did. The Senko falls slowly and will stay in one spot for as long as I want to leave it there. You can't always do that with the swimjig or frog.”

Kevin’s Set-Up
Depending on the cover, Hawk throws a slight variation in his set up but in almost all cases the setup revolves around a 5” Green Pumpkin or Black and Blue Flake Senko. As a throw-back bait for swim jigs in open or sparse cover, Kevin leans on a weightless 5” Texas rigged Senko on a 4/0 Owner Rig-N-Hook. His rod of choice for the throw-back rig is a 7’-0” Medium Heavy Irod 703 with 25# Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon, and a 7:1 Abu Garcia Revo reel.

For heavy cover his throw-back set up is comparable; with the addition of a 3/8 oz tungsten weight, 60lb Seaguar Kanzan braided line, and a heavier action 704H Irod rod.
There are a lot of anglers both on the professional tour and weekend anglers that don’t take advantage of throw-back baits and they could be missing out on a huge opportunity. Next time you find yourself in a situation where the bass are taking swings but missing, try utilizing Hawk's throw-back technique to put more bass in your boat.