When Bassmaster Elite Series pro Brett Hite wants to tip the odds of catching a larger-than-life bass in his favor, he hits the lake in February. Why? “They’re feeding really heavily right now in preparation for the spawn, and they’re at their biggest,” he says. “Plus, they’re pretty patternable this time of year. If you find a spot that’s got ’em, it’s usually good for a month because they replenish so well.” On man-made reservoirs, Hite is talking about where the main channels abut points near the mouths of coves and creek arms. Concerning natural lakes, he focuses his efforts on the mouth of big bays where the bass will be spawning in a few months’ time. “On reservoirs, the bass are keyed into crawfish big time. On natural lakes, it might be a big gizzard shad or hitch or trout. Either way, I like to throw a big baits this time of year,” he says. When faced with the predicament of only being able to tote four lures to the lake, here’s what he reaches for.
Bladed Jig:
Pick your favorite brand as long as it’s green pumpkin with a black blade and tip it with a complementing Yamamoto Heart Tail Swimbait. Hite targets the 10 foot and shallower range. “The deal with this is to let it sink to the bottom and keep it down there. The key is that whenever you hit something, pause it. And if you don’t hit anything, give the rod a couple sweeps toward the end of the retrieve. It’s still cold right now, so keep your retrieve pretty slow, and don’t overwork it.”
Football Jig:
If the bass aren’t fully committed to those mouths and bays, Hite checks out secondary points – those first smaller points inside a creek arm. “They might be posted up in there on those points, and if they are, they’re usually feeding heavily. Big jigs are big-bass baits, and with a 3/4oz model you can cover a lot of water since you can make a real long cast.” He prefers a regular dragging presentation, but if the bottom is too snaggy, he’ll hop it. He tips it with a matching Yamamoto Double Tail Grub.
Evergreen Kicker Eater:
Hite’s favorite jerkbait embarrasses most others when it comes to diving depth: “It’s got a big spoonbill that gets it down to the 12 foot range. A lot of baits don’t go quite deep enough to get down in the coldwater jerkbaiting. “You’ve got to vary your cadence from twitch-twitch-pause, to twitch – wait 30 seconds – twitch and so on. The other key is to use really light line. I like 8-pound Sunline Sniper FC Fluorocarbon, 10 at the absolute heaviest.”
Drop Shot Rig:
“Any time a channel comes up and hits a point, it’s worth a few casts. A great thing about a drop shot is that you can fish it really shallow and around all kinds of cover. I like to Texas rig my worm to keep it snagless.” Hite avoids snags by using a pencil-style Reins tungsten sinker, otherwise it’s a round or teardrop model. His beginning setup is 1/4 ounce weight 12 inches below a 1/0 Gamakatsu Rebarb hook and Yamamoto Thin Senko.
What Brett Hite Throws In Ferbuary
8 colors available- 10 colors available
- 12 colors available
- 10 colors available
- 17 colors available
- 14 colors available
- 14 colors available
