Part 2

I had ample reason for selecting the color of the Mack’s Lure Stan’s Spin that caught one of the largest bass I’ve ever put in the boat.

If you read my last column you’ll recall I bumped into a fellow who wanted to know the complete details of how I’d boated a largemouth of more than 10-pounds on a fishing trip at Mexico’s El Salto Lake. 

Lures that have black and blue coloration are among the most successful at Mexico’s El Salto Lake.  In no way am I saying it’s the only productive color at that bass fishing paradise.  As far as I’m concerned there’s simply
no question that it is indeed one of the very best.

I’ve ample reason for feeling that way.  The largest bass I’ve ever caught came out of El Salto Lake.  It grabbed a 10-inch black and blue Berkley Power Worm.  Scores of other anglers have had similar experiences.

It's always a good idea to show largemouth bass lures of the same color as the forage fish they most often feed on.

The single greatest catch of bass I’ve ever written about in a lifetime of writing about bass fishing was caught by my friend Les Melton, of West Virginia.  Les has been a frequent visitor to beautiful Anglers Inn that’s located right on the shore of the El Salto Lake.  That’s where he made the record catch I wrote about.  

In just six days he boated 27 bass of 10-pounds or more.  Two of those 27 whoppers weighed 15-pounds.  Les told me that 90 per cent of these fish were taken on the same 10-inch black and blue Berkley Power Worm that got my own largest bass.

You’ll recall that in my previous column I mentioned how important it is to select lures of the same color as the baitfish the bass are used to feeding on.  I went to work on a couple of my Stan’s Spins before I headed for
Mexico.  I had a hunch they might make a difference when those El Salto lunkers were in an aggressive mood.

Matching the forage was what I attempted to do with the colors on this Stan's Spin spinnerbait.  I knew lures with shades of black and blue had been steadily effective on Mexico's Lake El Salto.  It worked.  The lure you see here took a 10-pound, 4-ounce largemouth for me down there south of the border.

I selected a pair of Stan’s Spins in the 3/8th-ounce weight.  These lures came with a white body.  I painted the bodies a blue shade.  For starters I removed about half of the strands on the skirts that came with the baits.  
At the time the Stan’s Spins did not come with black and blue skirts.  I also altered the skirts on both baits so they held a combination of both
blue and black strands. 

Before I put the skirts back together I added a few strands of blue shaded Flashabou material.  I’ve found that the Flashabou strands add a nifty flash as a lure is manipulated.

As I’ve mentioned before in my these columns, I enjoy pooping around with my baits whenever I have a bit of down time.  I find it a great way to relax and to often learn a few things in the process.  It’s especially satisfying when some of your experiments pay off. 

My experiments with the pair of Stan’s Spins I’m talking about paid off big time.  If you know beans about bass, you’re also aware the big ones of 10-pounds or more are tough to come by.  I lost one of the larger bass I’ve ever hooked on one of those remodeled spinnerbaits but it came unpinned right next to the boat.

Less than 15-minutes later I nailed a second lunker on the other Stan’s Spin.  That one didn’t get away and weighed 10-pounds, 4-ounces on my Boga Grip scales.

You’ll recall the fellow who asked me all those questions wanted to know the kind of retrieve I was using as well as the time of day.  I told him I’d cast into open pockets of water around submerged timber.  I detailed how I fished my lures at a moderate pace, but bumped them off underwater cover
whenever possible.

He also had asked about a trailer hook.  I wasn’t using one.  I realize they work and that I might have caught that first big one on my Stan’s Spin if I’d had a trailer hook attached.

A spinnerbait tends to be fairly snag free if used without one.  Its single hook rides upright.  Even so I manage to hang it up often enough without a trailer hook to not want to add to the snag up miseries.

I’m not a tournament angler.  Nobody ever had to dangle a bag of bucks under my nose to get me to go bass fishing.  I’m out there because I love it and because I can do it without the tension and pressure that’s so
much a part of professional angling.

Like I said in the beginning, every now and then I run into somebody who wants the specifics.  I’ve provided them for one of the largest bass I’ve managed to catch in more than a half century of fishing.

In the process I hope I’ve provided an idea or two you might be able to utilize in your own search for fish.

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