"I know there's bass underneath them when I cast at them and they don't spook," Jocumsen said. "Sometimes they spook and swim off. That's when there's no bass there, because if they did that, they'd get eaten. When they stay, I know there's a bass there, so I'll stay and work it. Within five minutes I usually catch one."
Jocumsen is rigging the soft plastic bait on a 5/16-ounce weight, rather than a jighead, which is another key, he believes.
"I just like the way it glides," Jocumsen said. "It either glides into them or glides away and they want to chase it. It's not just sinking on top of their heads, like a jig would."
Jocumsen said he noticed the same baitfish pattern at Lake Guntersville, where he posted a 6th-place finish, his best so far in the Aussie's rookie season on the Elite Series. The baitfish in Guntersville were gizzard shad, rather than bluegill, but they behaved the same.
"They stayed near the surface," he said. "They didn't want to go down. They were scared."