Kentucky Lake

One of my favorite baits to flip and pitch into heavy cover is the Strike King Rodent. It is bulky, yet compact enough to get into the thick cover. Another great thing about this bait is that it is very soft which helps the fish hold onto the bait much longer. Recently during a tournament on Kentucky Lake I was able to locate bass in the flooded bushes. In past years these same bushes generally have around two feet of water around them but with the recent flooding, the bushes were in five to six feet of water. I opted for a heavier 3/8 oz. Strike King Tour Grade Tungsten weight to ensure the bait would get to the bottom of the bush. Once the Rodent reached the bottom, the fish would grab it and hold on. The fish were in all three stages of the spawn. Some of the bass were just coming in to spawn, some were actually spawning inside the bush, while others used the bushes for an ambush point while they recovered from spawning. Although I did not win the event I was fishing, I had one of the best days of my life during practice. I was able to catch a seven pound fish and one almost nine pounds. Every fish throughout the week and in the tournament came off a black and blue Rodent. I caught multiple limits each day including some real giants. To get the fish out of these bushes I used twenty pound test Vicious Fluorocarbon, a Denny Brauer Ardent Flipping stick, and an Ardent Edge 6.5:1 reel. Anything less than heavy equipment would have resulted in failure to get those big bass out of the bushes. The Strike King Rodent is my go to bait when the bass are in heavy cover. In my opinion, there is no other bait on the market that can compare to it.