Author: Lawrence, Craig

u skipping school: how to skip a wacky worm 1

FALL

u join the club 1

u Hitting The Books To Set More Hooks 2

WWS

Bass Team News

Skipping school
By Coach Lawrence

The technique of the week is how to skip a worm under a dock or under overhanging branches. By no means do I encourage skipping school, but I highly recommend you learn the art of skipping a worm.

“Once you learn to skip a wacky worm, you will be hooked.”

It was one of the hottest days of the summer; the sun was blazing, and it had to be 95 degrees in the shade—quite unlike the gray skies and bitter cold of the past few weeks. Postings on message boards indicated that the fish were tight-lipped. A visit to my trusted advisor at the local bait shop only heightened my fears that this was going to be a tough day of fishing.
We went to a spot that traditionally paid off when drop shot-ing, but it didn’t pay off. My buddy then thought it might be a good idea to throw a jig to the weed edges, but that was no use. We started to head back to shore to get out of the heat, and I couldn’t resist taking a few more casts
before we tied up at the dock….And bang! It was our first fish of the day—a 3lb bass that was simply hanging out in the shade under the dock. Before long, my friend and I were both slinging wacky worms under docks. We had unlocked a pattern that produced a lot of quality fish that day and a technique I have used often on many different lakes and ponds.
Simply put, just as we were
aiming for cover that afternoon,
so were the fish.
In order to catch bass under docks or under overhanging branches, you can use the technique of skipping a worm. I suggest using a spinning reel with a medium or medium-light rod. That afternoon I used 12lb. Berkley Fused Crystal line which made it easy to see my line jump. Using “wacky O’s” allowed me to catch many bass on the same worm that afternoon. I sometimes melt shrink-tubing to the worms for the same reason of getting the most out of one worm. To actually “skip” the worm, you need to utilize a side-arm cast (much like skipping a rock). We will learn more about this technique and practice this cast this season. In short, this is one technique that has paid off for me and is worth adding to your arsenal.

JOIN THE CLUB!
We are now recruiting members for the WWS Bass Fishing Team. All students at Wheaton Warrenville South High School are invited to join the club. No fishing experience or fishing equipment is needed to join. Any student interested in meeting new people or learning about fishing should join. Students can sign-up on Synergy ParentVue as they would to join any other club. It is free to join. Official meetings are each week January through May. See Coach Lawrence or Coach Tang for more information.

Hitting the Books to Set More Hooks

How you can be a student of the sport this off-season as a way to catch more bass this Spring

The Quest for State:
Getting Back to Carlyle

To do well in school, it clearly pays off to study before tests, read what you are told to read, and take good notes to help yourself prepare for each day. How is fishing any different? To catch more bass in the spring, summer, and fall, anglers must work hard in the “off season.” You can look over maps to find key structures that may hold fish or simply take notes on tips from TV or radio programs.

The bottom line is in order to catch more fish you must become a student of the sport. There are many ways one can go about doing this. For one, consider joining a local sportsman’s club. Another good way to get information about fishing is to read magazines or online fishing forums [we have a team subscription to In-Fisherman and Bass Master available for check-out from Coach Lawrence]. Also look over maps of local ponds or tourney lakes for the Spring. Check your local listings for upcoming shows on TV or radio that may give helpful tips for when the ice is off the water. Some WWS team members ice fish or take family trips to areas where they can fish. Some learn new knots or practice casting. In general, there are many ways that you can become a better angler this winter. See Coach Lawrence if you would like to learn more about how you can become a student of the sport this winter.

In over half of the tournaments I’ve ever won, I’ve found the winning spot or pattern at home..
Bass pro, Mike iaconelli

The WWS Bass Team has had an impressive tourney record which includes DVC Conference and IHSA Sectional titles. The team also was State Runner-Up in 2013. The big test will be in April. They will be face some great competition this year with the hopes of once again qualifying for the IHSA State tournament in Carlyle, IL.

Questions/Comments:

Contact Coach Craig Lawrence
Craig.Lawrence@cusd200.org
630.784.7200 ext. 8687