Date: Sep-17-2001

Name: Woo Daves B.A.S.S. Pro

About:


WOO DAVES’ LURE TRICKS

In 25 years of competing on the BASSMASTER Tournament Trail, Woo Daves has learned more than his share of tricks for every conceivable aspect of bass fishing. You don’t get to be a 15-time BASS Masters Classic qualifier — an the 2000 Classic champion — without being highly resourceful in a boat.

This is particularly true when it comes to lure modifications. “What I’m talking about are the things you can do on the water to get a lure to do certain things that are required to get fish to bite on that particular day,” Daves said. “In the tournament business, these are the things that help you out when you’re in a bind. Like when your partner has a particular color or bait that you don’t have with you.”

Jigging spoon trick.
During the worst situations when dormant or suspended deep-water bass just won’t cooperate, Daves doctors up a jigging spoon by inserting it into a plastic tubejig. The tube’s tentacles give the spoon an added visual attraction, while the soft texture sometimes convinces fish to hold onto the bait longer.

Spinnerbait savvy.
“There are times when you need a fairly heavy spinnerbait with a small frame for clear lakes like Table Rock, Bull Shoals or Norman,” Daves explained. “On any of the clear-water lakes that have a lot of boat docks, you can catch a lot of fish by throwing a small-frame spinnerbait past the dock and buzzing it by the fish.

“But you can’t buy small spinnerbaits that are heavy. So what I do is add weight to a 1/8-ounce spinnerbait by using small-diameter lead wire that you can buy in the fly-tying department in sporting good stores. By wrapping this wire around the shank of the hook, I can make a 1/2-ounce spinnerbait that has a real small, compact frame.”

Daves also wraps the wire around the trebles of jerkbaits for added ballast.

Being resourceful.
In a tournament years ago on Kentucky Lake, a perplexed Daves found that he was getting “waxed” by his partner, who was throwing an identical Bomber Long A. Finally, he happened to notice that the jerkbait sank unusually fast.

It seems that the angler had cracked the lure by accidentally banging it off of the outboard. So Daves used his pocket knife to drill a hole in the belly of the bait to allow it to fill up with water. That trick produced three bass that enabled him to qualify for the Classic that year.

Instant paint.
A major part of Daves’ in-the-boat resourcefulness involve paint dyes. The dyes enable him to instantly add color to a lure for each individual day. He most commonly adds a chartreuse or pink tip to a Slug-Go; changes the color of the pinchers on a plastic crawfish; and adds chartreuse or red to the tail of a lizard or the tip of a worm.

By Tim Tucker