Power Bassin' with Finesse (cont.) "Rigged on a 4-foot leader, a floating lizard may float 4 feet off the bottom -- if sinker movement is slow enough and pauses are long enough to allow the rise. But floating lures are forced downward each time the sinker is moved. Long rod-sweeps and rapid retrieves keep floating baits near the bottom. "A slow-sinking lure may land on the tops of vegetation, but each pull tends to force it down into the cover. And baits sink when they don't land on weedstalks or brush." Click on illustration to view larger version. After checking his map, Peter Thliveros studies the area with sonar to pinpoint key weedline features. Marking them with GPS icons or waypoints, he then returns and places marker buoys to help him visualize the shape of the structure and plan efficient casting angles. SEASONAL SCENARIOS Anglers have generally regarded Carolina rigging as a summer tactic, since the big sinker quickly can put a bait into deepwater bass hideouts. But modifications have made it effective from the Prespawn Period well into fall. Spring Patterns: Texan Clark Wendlandt began his pro fishing career by relying on a Carolina rig and has used it with success from Lake Fork, Texas, to Minnesota's Lake Minnetonka. "Though the Carolina rig is regarded as a deep-water tool, its characteristics make it ideal for shallow fishing, too," Wendlandt notes. "In natural lakes and reservoirs with vegetation, the inside weededge is a draw for prespawn bass, and largemouths sometimes nest there, too. The attraction of the Carolina rig lies in the weightless presentation of the plastic lure. It falls slowly and, once on the bottom, it slowly meanders along the edge in lifelike fashion." This same minimal action can entice spawning bass, as well. Bass sometimes build beds on sandy flats where clumps of vegetation form in spring, particularly hydrilla, Eurasian milfoil, or curly pondweed. Often these beds can't be easily spotted, as can those along a bank. But casting a Carolina rig and slowly retrieving it among the clumps entices bass to eat the bait. Pull the rig quickly through open areas, then pause it alongside clumps. The water may be clear and just 2 or 3 feet deep, but bass lurk out of view to bite a passing bait. "After the spawn, inside weededges remain a focus for bass activity in grassy lakes," Wendlandt says. "Largemouths cruise the edge or hold in thicker weed clumps, looking for bluegills, shiners, and other preyfish that are shallow feeding and spawning. Bass can be spooky in clear shallow water and you have to make long casts. Again, the Carolina rig is ideal, as it allows distance casting with the action of a weightless lure." Summer C-Rigging: In reservoirs with little or no submergent vegetation, the bite shifts offshore once the spawn is done. Wendlandt comments: "There isn't a better way to catch bass on deep structure, a key location after the spawn, when females quickly shift to underwater bars, points, roadbeds, and other structure and begin to feed heavily. Males move out later, after they've left the beds. At first, all the fish you catch are big, spawned-out females. If attractive structure with cover like stumps and brush is nearby, fish tend to move there first, but they may also appear on spots far removed from spawning bays." Continued -- click on page link below.

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