Current AOY leader Brandon Cobb is laying it all out there for the Bassmaster LIVE viewers. Cobb found schools of smallmouth during practice out in 20- to 50- feet of water that were roaming around chasing bait. During practice though, Cobb could get the fish to chase a dropshot down to the bottom and eat it. Today, he hasn’t been able to get the fish to follow his dropshot and has instead had to swap over to a “jiggle rig” as he calls it, a 3/16 ounce jighead rigged with a small minnow style soft plastic. He’s using this bait to target fish higher in the water column, sitting 20 feet below the surface over 50 feet of water.
Several of the other anglers on LIVE have mentioned intersecting schools of 50 fish or more like this as well. Early in the day, they were able to catch several on consecutive casts from these schools. As the day has worn on and the wind has picked up however, it’s become increasingly harder to catch multiple fish.
As soon as an angler spots a school with his electronics and pitches his bait out, a bite comes quick. But then the school scatters before a second attempt can be made. The ever-increasing winds are making it harder and harder to relocate the schools as well, leaving the guys scratching their heads and getting more and more frustrated with the pelagic smallmouth.
