SPINNER-BAIT TRICKS AND TACTICS OF THE PROS

George Cochran and Chris Daves

EDITOR'S NOTE: George Cochran, 52, of Hot Springs, Arkansas, has won the 1987 and 1996 BASS Masters Classics. Arkansas has honored him by selecting him for its Outdoor Hall of Fame. Thirty-one-year-old Chris Daves of Spring Grove, Virginia, has fished professionally for eight years and has competed in two Classics.

Since the age of 10, George Cochran has loved to fish the spinner bait. "I enjoy fishing spinner baits, especially in shallow, dingy water around stumps and wood," Cochran says. "I won the BASS Masters Classic on Lay Lake in Alabama in 1996 by throwing a spinner bait past cover and then reeling it up and bumping the cover. As soon as I bumped the cover, I'd kill the spinner bait for a second and then start the retrieve again."

Cochran also likes to buzz a spinner bait while using a stop-and-start retrieve that works in all types of water to catch bass. "I'll cast the spinner bait and reel it back --keeping the blades just under the surface of the water. To give the bait added action and trigger even more strikes, I'll also shake the rod during the retrieve and when I drop the bait. Because the spinner bait makes a wave on the surface of the water, the spinner bait resembles a minnow or a shad trying to get away from something chasing it. I get the most strikes using this technique."

Chris Daves says he prefers to fish a spinner bait very fast in the fall. "I like to burn a spinner bait just under the water," Daves explains. "I enjoy fishing a small spinner bait with a big head and small blades, such as a 1/2-ounce bait with No. 3 willow-leaf blades on it. This style spinner bait works great for catching both spotted and smallmouth bass. But, when I want to take largemouth bass, I change tactics. I've probably caught more largemouth bass by slow-rolling a big spinner bait than using any other tactic."

TOMORROW: WOO DAVES AND RANDY HOWELL