'Go To' Presentations
(First in a series)
by Bill Mathis

I recently asked all Classic Bass Pro Staff Members and Field Staff Members if they had to use one presentation all day long, what would it be.
In this series, we’ll focus on 2 Classic Bass Pro Staff Members.

I thought we should start off with the man behind Classic Bass, Loren Davidson.

Loren talks about using one bait and how he makes it work for him during spring, summer and fall.

If you had to use one bait all day long, what would be your 'go to' bait?

“If I had only one lure that I could use it would be a Texas rigged 4" green pumpkin tube.”

“It has very few negative clues.  It's not an intrusive bait.  By that I mean it doesn't disrupt the environment, it seems like it belongs there.  It's also the right size and shape to imitate a variety of food sources.”

“In the spring, it works great in the shallows. I can easily fish it in a foot of water; it imitates a bank runner minnow very well.
It's also a good bait to use for bedding bass. It looks like a raiding perch.”

“During the Post Spawn period it really is one of my ‘go to’ baits.  As the bass start to cruise the inside weed lines, I can throw it on the sand just in front of the weed line and do a slow drag.  If a cold front has recently passed the bass will retreat into the weed lines.  I then position the boat on the inside of the weed line and cast into the weeds drawing the bass out as the tube attempts to escape.”

“Once the bass move into their summer patterns the tube does a good job at any depth from shore to the deep weed lines.  One of the bonus features of the tube is its ability to imitate a crayfish.  If I can find out at what depth the crayfish are at, I'm in for some great fishing using the tube. The tube is my favorite bait for smallmouth for this reason. Find the crayfish, do the ‘Lake Erie drag’ with a green pumpkin tube, and hang on!”

“When Fall is upon us I still use the tube.  I use the tube most of the year as a ‘food source’ bait and fish it fairly slow.
But when fall comes and the bass ‘go on the feed’ I fish it fairly fast to take advantage of the aggressiveness of the bass during the fall feeding frenzy.”

Loren sums it up:  “No negative clues, looks like food, fishes well at any depth--what more could you ask for!”

To finish up the first article in this series,
we get another perspective from Classic Bass Pro Staff Member, Kurt Johnson.

If you had to use one bait all day long, what would be your 'go to' bait?

“As is stands today if I could only use one bait it would be the 5" Senko."

"Give me a variety of hooks and sinkers, the Senko in a dark natural color, and that's what I would use."

"It can be fished everywhere at all depths, with casting or spinning tackle, it can be fished faster that you would think and it will catch what's catchable.”

In part 2 of this series, we will be finding out the 'go to' lure choices of two more Classic Bass Pro Staff Members.

Steve Quinn of In-Fisherman fame and Tom Whitehead, one of the best tournament anglers from the Brainerd area.

Bill Mathis
classicbass.com Field Staff
Member Team Skeeter