Bigger bait is the key to catching bigger fish

For many anglers, there is no higher calling in freshwater fishing than landing a largemouth bass in excess of 10 pounds. And Florida probably has more fish of that size than any state, although Texas and California, with Florida-strain bass stocked widely, certainly could challenge.

There's no more dependable way to catch a double-digit bass than with a huge baitfish that grows to more than 1 pound. It's the golden shiner, and it's found in just about every wet spot statewide.

These slab-sided minnows, some big enough to be filleted and cooked in their own right, have an uncanny attraction for the largest bass. While good anglers who work hard in the best lakes might come up with a 10-pound bass every year or so, those who fish the big shiners sometimes catch fish that size and bigger on nearly every trip during the winter, when the fish are spawning and feeding heavily.

Expert bass anglers often catch their own shiners with bits of dough on tiny wire hooks fished deep in weed beds, canals or blackwater ponds. It's slow business, but it produces very fresh bait.

More common, though, is to buy them at bait shops that specialize in bass fishing, such as those around lakes Kissimmee and George, where the shiner tactics were devised. The dealers catch the baits by baiting numerous sites with soybean meal, then cast-netting the amassed baits.

The baitfish cost about $1 each, retail, so anglers can spend some money getting enough to fish for a day for two. However, anglers who are serious about catching trophy bass don't bat an eye.

Keeping the baits alive can be a challenge.

Anglers used to fishing with sardines in saltwater will find the drill familiar. Large bait wells, lots of oxygenated water pouring in and wastewater pouring overboard, and keeping the baits cool are keys. Otherwise, you can wind up with $100 worth of dead bait in no time at all.

The best size for trophy fishing is typically 6 to 8 inches long. While baits up to a foot long attract large bass, it's difficult to get a good hook-set with such a slab of baitfish in the way.

Most anglers fish the baits on extra-strong 5/0 to 7/0 Kahle-style big-bend hooks. Line testing 30 pounds and more is the norm, a must for hauling heavy fish out of thick weeds, and the rods are likely to be 7-foot-long "broomsticks" with enough backbone to whip a tarpon. Rods with less authority simply won't set the hook as the fish motors through the vegetation.

The baits are hooked either in the lips or behind the dorsal fin, then fished around likely bass cover - floating hyacinths, on the edge of peppergrass fields, along maidencane edges and around midlake weed beds. Some of the biggest catches come from the latter, because schools of big bass sometimes gather in these areas during the spawning months, basically from late December through mid-April.

Some anglers do well by simply slow-trolling the big baits, lip-hooked, at trolling-motor speed. Drop-offs, river bends and deep canals are good spots for this tactic; it's deadly on the Ocklawaha River, among others.

Another favored tactic is to tail-hook a shiner and guide it under floating vegetation such as that found along much of Lake George and the St. Johns River. Sometimes the bait swims more than 10 feet back under the hyacinths, where it is met with the jaws of a bass that wouldn't even see the bait with any other delivery.

Strikes often occur just after the bass chases the baitfish to the surface. The boil can be tarpon-sized when a 10-pounder engulfs a shiner. Then, the ticket is to restrain yourself, let the bass run a few yards as it gets the bait well into its mouth, then set the hook with all you've got. Wimpy hook sets don't work when fishing wild shiners.

It's also possible to do well with "domestic" shiners, which are pond-raised - same breed, but not as tough and durable, nor do they have the same natural fear of bass, so they generally don't draw strikes as readily as the originals. The big benefit of domestic baits is they're often available when wild baits are sold out, and they're usually several dollars cheaper per dozen.

For anglers used to flinging artificials, the slow, patient business of fishing shiners takes some getting used to, but the results can be so dramatic that you might find yourself becoming a convert.