Bass Catching Secrets of the Rapala Floating Minnow

Ever been bass fishing on your favorite lake then after a morning of continual bass catching action conditions suddenly change in the afternoon?  I imagine it has happened to you as often as it has me. 

The most drastic change seems to occur on those days with lots of sun and little morning breeze then poof … the bass catching switches to bass fishing as quickly as the wind quits in the afternoon!

Did the mood of the bass just completely switch off? 

Not really … Typically when this happens, the bass aren’t switching from an aggressive to completely negative mood but actually slip into more of a neutral one.

Fortunately, I discovered a secret presentation technique for enticing those neutral bass into rising and slurping up what they believe to be “LUNCH”!

The light clicked on during an early summer outing on one of my favorite bass haunts somewhere in southern New England (perhaps I’ll let you in on that secret later).

My buddy and I hit the water at the crack of dawn and instantly started catching fish (mostly bass with the occasional pickerel, perch or crappie thrown in for good measure). The action continued at a steady pace for the entire morning.

As the sun lifted higher overhead, the bass became less and less cooperative until the bite went flat-line the moment the morning’s slight breeze quit right after noon …

Both of us being of Gaelic heritage (a.k.a. stubborn!), we continued fishing but shifted our focus out around the deeper weed-lines. The bass weren’t really cooperating al all but I notice a few fish popping bugs and small fish right off surface along the weed edges.

After trying a few different topwater standards (hula-popper, torpedoes, etc.) with little change in action I heard what sounded like the “pop” of panfish popping amongst the swirls. Figuring catching panfish was better than catching nothing, I picked up a light action rod and tied on a #9 Rapala floating minnow using traditional slow swimming and stop and go retrieves adjacent to the weed-lines.

Although a few more fish (bluegills, yellow perch and one small bass) started to cooperate, it wasn’t really the “trigger” I hoped for …

While I was experimenting with the Rapala, my buddy started throwing a shallow-running crankbait along the weed-line and hooked into a huge pickerel. Though I had just made a cast to the edge of the weed-line, I let the Rapala minnow sit idle in the water while I netted the pickerel.

After landing his fish, I turned my attention back to the floating minnow. I was surprised to see the lure start quivering after picking up the rod. Curious to see if I could control the lures quivering action, I started to lightly shake the rod so the rod tip and line were barely moving and the quivering action continued. Even more surprising … I was instantly rewarded with a 13.5” bass swirling and slurping up the bait.

Over the next few hours, I continued to catch fish on the Rapala (my buddy soon followed suit and started catching fish as well). Most were small to medium sized bass that literally exploded on the lure while the panfish just “popped” it as they would other forage off the surface.

The discovery of this little variation in presenting the Rapala floating minnow was just the change the “Doc Bass” ordered! It ended up delivering a steady stream of bass fishing and catching action for the rest of the afternoon but it even got better!

Working our way around the edges of the deeper weed patches, we started fishing a new area where the emergent weeds (lily pads and bulrushes) started to mix with coontail. As we entered the area, there was a lot more surface action though mostly associated with the “popping” noise of feeding panfish.

I made my first cast to a pocket where I could see a clump of coontail butt up against some bulrushes. After quivering the lure for several seconds, the Rapala vanished with the sound of a pop. Thinking the fish was a panfish, I made a light hook-set and was instantly greeted with a heavy weight as the rod bent almost in two and the line started singing from the tension.

The fish (a 5 lb. largemouth) rolled on the surface and I almost had a heart attack knowing I was connected to the fish with a light action spinning rod, 6 lb. monofilament and weeds all around it! To this day, I am still not sure how I landed that fish but fortunately it headed out into open water after the initial strike even though instant freedom awaited if it dove into the weeds … I was very thankful and happy it didn’t to say the least!

So the next time you are out of the water with little to no wind yet there is evidence of fish activity on the surface, remember to try the quivering dead-stick retrieve with a floating minnow plug.

I can definitely vouch for the effectiveness of the Rapala for this presentation technique!