No boat? No problem! Lucky Tackle Box’s Travis Moran lays out two of the best bank fishing strategies so you can catch more fish while walking the shoreline. Travis rigs the Big Bite Baits Battle Bug with a Texas rig and a drop shot to show you how to catch bass.

* Transcript below:

What’s up guys? Travis here with Lucky Tackle Box. I’m always getting comments from you guys saying, “Travis, we don’t have a boat. Can’t you do some how-to videos, fishing from the shore?” Today, we’re doing just that. I’m unhooking the old LTB bass boat here, jumping in the old crusty moho and we’re gonna be cruising around, doing some fishing from the shore and I’ll be breaking down some of my favorite techniques.

When it comes to fishing from the shore, you can’t carry as much tackle, right? You can’t carry a bunch of rods. You can’t carry a bunch of lures, so you need a lure that is very versatile. Today we’re using Big Bite Bait’s Battle Bug. This is a creature style bait that rigged a couple of different ways, you’re gonna be able to fish a lot of the situations you’re gonna run into. Hopefully today, you’ll see a couple of techniques that’ll work at your local water to help you catch some big, old bass.

At first, let’s talk about the pure beauty of this bait. It’s all legs. First you’ve got these nice little flappers that are actually thicker at the end. What that’s gonna do is as this bait sinks down to the bottom or you’re hopping off the bottom, those legs are gonna kick, drone and strikes. Then you’ve got these tentacles that I’m gonna twirl, give a more natural look to it. Then throw in two more legs up the body right there? Bravo Big Bite Baits. Well done. Really liking this little thing. Makes a very versatile little bait.

I’ve essentially got two setups I’m gonna use. The first one is gonna be a Texas rig. That’s gonna be for fan casting and really fishing a majority of the stuff I’m gonna see right now. The second rig is a drop shot. That’s gonna be for fishing around this vertical structure like these pilings around the docks or even kind of sea walls. Also, if I want to keep that bait up off the bottom for whatever reason, if there’s a city bottom or there’s some grass on the bottom, I want to keep that bait above there. The drop shot is perfect for that.

Okay, for the Texas rig, it’s real simple. I use a bullet weight, anywhere from a 3/16 to a 3/8 ounce. Lead or tungsten. I’m using a 3/8 tungsten today so I can have a little more sensitivity and then I tie that with a Palomar knot to a 4/0 EWG worm hook. That extra wide gap on that hook is gonna give me more penetration. It’s gonna get more hook through that thick plastic, so I’m gonna get more secure hook sets.

Now, the drop shot set up, it’s pretty much the same as well. I tie a Palomar knot to that same 4/0 EWG hook and then on the tag end I leave about 6-8 inches and then I’ll put on about a 3/16 ounce drop shot weight. For the gear, starting with the rods, I’m using a hybrid sticks, a big caster and a spinning rod. For the bait caster, that’s on the Texas rig. I’ve got a 7 foot medium rod here. It’s gonna allow me to really fish the versatile situations out here and then I’ve got 12 lb fluorocarbon. You can use anywhere from a 10, all the way up to 20 if you really want to, depending on the water clarity. Then for my drop shot set up, I’m using a spinning rod, but I’m not going with the traditional real limber finesse rod. I’m using the hybrid stick so I’ve got a little bit more rod, ’cause this is a little bit bigger bait that I’m gonna be throwing around, so I want to be able to control that a little bit more and then I’ve got 8 lb fluorocarbon on that.

Both these set ups are extremely versatile baits. Now, with the Texas rig, I would say it’s a lot easier for me to feel out the bottom, explore the area, look for any kind of cover structure down there that’s other guys… that you can’t see. Right now I can see the pilings. I can see the different rocks, but as I’m working this bait down low, I’m just kinda dragging it. Every once in a while, hopping it off the bottom and if I feel it come through some kind of wood or over rocks I can line that spot up and keep making more casts and kind of slow down my retreat in that area, ’cause that’s gonna be a higher percentage area. There really is no bad way to throw this. You just kind of experiment. Do they want hopping or do they want just dragging along the bottom? Once you figure out what the cadence and where these fish are… If they’re up shallow or if they’re out deeper, then you kind of nail in on that spot.

The reason I like this set up is because it’s always giving action, no matter if you’re just dragging it, there’s still some action coming or if you’re hopping it, all these legs and stuff doing stuff to entice fish. Really a great way to make casts out deep, but then even be able to flip these little pilings and things like that… See where these fish are. This drop shot set up I really like because of how much action I can get out of it without actually moving it very far. ‘Cause this bait sits on the bottom, if I just tighten up the line, that bait comes up. As I’m just shaking that line, I can technically get this a, or I can theoretically get this bait to be jumping around, hopping around without actually moving it along on the bottom. That’s why it’s perfect for fishing around these pilings and sea walls and stuff, because I’ll put it right up in there, let that sink all the way to the bottom and now, once it hits the bottom, I can just shake it. That bait’s staying right up against that sea wall.

That’s it. A little drop shot working down this little shade line. We got a little sea wall, kinds of little pilings and stuff and was just able to work this thing really, really slow. I didn’t even realize I had a fish on there. Nice little shore bass there. Leo, what do you think, boy? What do you think? Once you realize how to work these baits that the advantages on each one of these different set ups, then it comes down to where you throw this, location. You look behind me, you got a lot of open water, okay? Some targets… You can see rocks on the banks, too. There’s got to be some cool stuff out in the water you can’t see. That’s where I like throwing this Texas rig. I can fan cast out. I can feel off the bottom, look for those high percentage areas.

When you feel some structure and get bit, line up. Figure out where you just did. Make sure you remember that because then you want to repeat that. A lot of times, there will be an area where there’s more fish. These fish like to congregate in high percentage areas. You find a good area, especially people can’t see… That might be your little secret area. Now, with the drop shot, I like pitching towards vertical cover, like that pilings, any kind of sea walls, things like that, that I can move real slowly. I know that’s a high percentage area. I can see that structure. There’s gonna be fish around there. If I move it nice and slow, I can pick up fish that other people aren’t. Some other things is when you’re looking for locations fishing from the shore, it gets discouraging. You’re limited, right? You can’t just buzz around the entire lake. You’re only limited to the access you have.

A lot of times, man made structure is the best structure that attracts fish. That’s good news for you ’cause a lot of times when there’s man made structure, there is access for man. Launch ramps, marinas, those things tend to attract a lot of bass ’cause there’s so much cover for bait fish, for all the different things that are gonna live these bass are gonna feed on and hide in. That’s supplied by marinas, these launch ramps. Another things that launch ramps do is it I call the selfie effect. Fishermen go all throughout the lake, go catch fish and they bring ’em back to the launch ramp to take pictures at the end of the day, then they release them right here on the launch ramp, giving you a nice, refreshing batch of bass coming in… The biggest bass of the lake coming in, getting dropped off at the launch ramps, so you can have a better chance of catching them.

It’s always getting restocked, replenished. Don’t get discouraged if you see a lot of guys on the bank fishing, you think it’s fished out. There’s always more fish being replenished in that area, so there’s always a chance to catch a personal best right from the launch ramp. One of the big keys when it comes to being out shore fishing is having the confidence in what you’re doing and understanding where the high percentage areas are. It’s so easy to get caught up watching boats go by and being like, “Man, if only I had a boat I’d go over there, over there.” When you are fishing the shore, you can turn that into an advantage. You don’t have to be distracted by all these different places. You’ve got to learn that area. Having a bait rigged up in a drop shot or a Texas rig, you can really fish these spots thoroughly and really learn your areas even more, too. I’m always preaching that you really want to feel out the bottom and after half a dozen, dozen trips, you’ll really know where those sweet spots are in that stretch. Even though tons of anglers go by, you know those exact places to check every time you go.

Then by using a very versatile creature bait, like the Big Bite Baits Battle Bug… Big Bite Baits Battle Bug, holy moly that’s a mouthful of B’s. Having a creature bait like that, you can have the confidence that you know getting the action you need down there to determine those strikes. Anyway guys, I hope you enjoyed me huffing around the shore. There’s nothing like catching some fish from the shore. You really gotta earn it. Sometimes I get used to being out in the boat too much and it’s always nice getting back on the shore and catching some fish. If you like this video, throw a thumbs up and comment what kind of shore videos you’d like to see, if any more. For the next video I’ll be back out on the boat on the water, though. Until next time, catch you out in the water.

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