FIVE SECRETS FOR CATCHING SMALLMOUTH BASS

Bet on the Carolina Rig

EDITOR'S NOTE: Larry Nixon has fished competitively for more than 27 years. He's won the Angler-of-the-Year title on the BASS Circuit twice and the BASS Master's Classic in 1983. He's appeared at 24 BASS Masters Classics. He's also won four MegaBucks tournaments.

QUESTION: If you're in a pinch, which lure will you bet on to catch smallmouth?
ANSWER: The Carolina rig can and will produce plenty of big smallmouth for you because you can cast it a long way. Too, it won't hang up as much as a tube will in certain conditions. To build a Carolina rig, I like either a 5/8 or a 1/2-ounce slip sinker up the line, plastic bead below the slip sinker, a barrel swivel below the bead, a 3-foot leader coming off of the bottom of the barrel swivel. This leader will be 8-pound test and the very heaviest I ever will use will be a 10-pound test. I prefer green XT Trilene for both my main line and my leader line. If the lake can produce big smallmouth, like Pickwick Lake in Alabama, I'll be fishing a 6-inch green pumpkin lizard with a chartreuse tail.

I like to fish the Carolina rig on the sides of points or anywhere I can find gravel and broken rocks. If the smallmouth are in their spawning stage, you'll more than likely find them on gravel banks. But if they are not in the spawning mode, broken-rock areas will usually produce more smallmouth. I like to cast in shallow water -- 5-feet or less -- and drag the Carolina rig into deep water -- as deep as 25 feet. I try to maintain bottom contact at all times with my sinker when I'm fishing the Carolina rig. If the lake is super-clear, I'll be fishing 10-pound-test line with an 8-pound leader. If the water visibility is not clear, I'll be using 14- pound-test line for the main line and 10-pound-test line for my leader. Remember the rougher the bottom, the more you need to concentrate on the Carolina rig. If the bottom is not extremely rough, then fish with the tube with an open hook.

TOMORROW: DIAMONDS FOR SMALLMOUTH