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This is the first installment of the “Spring Fishing Frenzy" series of articles, detailing productive fishing techniques and opportunities across Kentucky. These articles will appear on the second and fourth Thursday of the month. The series will continue until early summer.
Chad Miles, host of the Kentucky Afield television show, had a royal field day earlier this week on Dale Hollow Lake.
I caught about 10 pounds of smallmouth bass in two casts," he said. "One was over four pounds and the other weighed 5.2 pounds. Miles said the fish wanted a faster retrieve than what is typical for reservoir smallmouth bass in March. "You didn’t want to burn your lure, but you didn’t want it on the bottom either," he explained. "A spybait would work really well right now for smallmouth bass in reservoirs.
Miles said the fish wanted a faster retrieve than what is typical for reservoir smallmouth bass in March. "You didn’t want to burn your lure, but you didn’t want it on the bottom either," he explained. "A spybait would work really well right now for smallmouth bass in reservoirs.
The Japanese technique of spybaiting is an excellent tool in spring for catching trophy smallmouth bass, like this one caught and released by Kentucky Afield television show host Chad Miles.
The spybait is an import from Japan and designed with exquisite detail and subtle movement to fool the highly pressured largemouth bass in that country. The term spybait means "silent capture" in Japan.
The lure resembles a diminutive version of the old Devil’s Horse topwater lure with a propeller on each end. Most spybaits are just over three inches long and feature finely tuned propellers and incredibly detailed life-like paint schemes. They weigh from 3/16- to 9/16 ounce and designed to slowly sink and wobble down to a desired depth.
The subtle nature of the spybait makes it a deadly lure from late winter through late spring for smallmouths on our clear, spooky world-class smallmouth bass reservoirs such as Dale Hollow Lake, Lake Cumberland and Laurel River Lake.
Miles said the water temperature was 56 degrees earlier this week at Dale Hollow and the fish are moving up on points near their spawning areas in the evening period.
Some of these fish have been out in open water chasing shad, but are now moving toward the bank, " Miles said. "They are congregating and this increased competition makes them more willing to strike a lure.
This is a perfect situation to work a spybait along the side of points and in the middle of small cuts and coves to intercept these migrating smallmouths on Dale Hollow, Cumberland or Laurel.
A spybait also draws strikes in the smaller highland lakes east of I-75 that hold good populations of smallmouth or spotted bass. Check the annual Fishing Forecast to find some of these waters to fish.
Miles uses the electronics on his boat to find schools of baitfish as smallmouth bass are rarely far away from them in these waters. Note the depth of the baitfish schools and cast the spybait near them. Allow the lure to sink to that depth by counting it down and then slowly retrieve it. Watch your line intently while it sinks as bass often strike a spybait on the fall. The internal weighting of a spybait gives it a nearly imperceptible shimmy on the retrieve, thus imitating a struggling shad.
Stop reeling occasionally and let the spybait slowly sink and gently wobble a bit. This sometimes provokes a wary smallmouth bass following the lure to strike.
The spybait will stay at that depth on the retrieve," Miles said. "Hold on tight to your rod. When a fish hits, they smack it.
Anglers without sophisticated sonar units can prospect for smallmouth or spotted bass in these lakes by casting the spybait in the middle of main lake cuts, small coves or along points. Let it sink for a count of 10. Retrieve the lure slowly. If there is no action from bass, let the lure sink to a count of 15, then reel it in slowly again. Count it down to 20 on the next cast. Move to another cut or point after the third cast if your efforts prove fruitless.
Medium-light power spinning rods from 6 feet, 8 inches long to 7 feet long designed for the drop shot technique make excellent rods for spybaiting. Japanese anglers often use 4-pound fluorocarbon line for throwing spybaits, but anglers here can get away with 6- to 8-pound test fluorocarbon line.
The large outdoor retailers and bass fishing tackle websites carry spybaits. Some models cost less than $10, but most go for between $12 and $15. Make sure to fish these lures in the middle of the water column. If they contact any woody cover or snag on a craggy bottom, even a lure retriever may not save you from losing one.
Colors that imitate shad make a good choice for spybaits for Kentucky fishing. Hues of silver, blue, with wisps of chartreuse work well. Many spybaits have shad in the name of some of their lure color choices, making finding the right one easy.
It is effective," Miles said. "If you can catch them on a suspending jerkbait, you can catch them on a spybait and it doesn’t wear you out.
Tie on a spybait from now until late spring and use an underutilized, but deadly, technique for smallmouth bass.
Look for Miles excellent outing on Dale Hollow Lake in a future broadcast of the Emmy award-winning Kentucky Afield television show. The show airs on KET 1 Saturdays at 8:30 EDT and on Sundays at 4:30 EDT. You may also watch episodes of the show on the Kentucky Afield YouTube Channel.