Fishing Heavy .......Naked with Jon Stanco

Year and year out there are different trends in the fishing industry, specifically bass fishing. There was the tungsten craze, the dropshot frenzy, and the west coast infiltration of swimbaits. Each one of these new techniques generated a boom and anglers everywhere flocked to purchase the right gear and set out to master the hot new technique in hopes of catching a bunch of fish or, even win a tournament.

I always have my ears open to new ideas, and when a good one comes along I usually to try learn about it just like everyone else. Sometimes, however, there is just a refinement on an old method that can be just as successful.

I like to fish jigs. They catch alot of fish, and big fish at that. They are also an amazingly versatile lure that can be flipped, pitched, punched, swam, dragged, and hopped. There is one problem with jigs however, in the very thick vegetation, fishing them can be a nightmare. While the invention of weed guards and wedge shaped heads has helped, they still tend to get mired down in heavy vegetation.

Fast forward to the fall of 2009. I was fishing coontail and vegetation so thick that a jig was not getting to the fish, just staying mired in the middle of the vegetation. As the old cliché goes, then a light bulb went off. I decided to make a weedless jig that could be used to punch through vegetation. Using a Naked Bait Co. Skirt weight I made up skirts in colors that I knew would produce. I went on to catch several nice bass between 3 and 4 pounds testing my idea and a new type of specialty "jig" was born.

Now onto the good part, what was I actually doing? The idea is remarkably quite simple in design. Here is the design:

Step 1) Make a skirt using the Skirt Expander and material from the Naked Bait Co.
Step 2) Fasten the Skirt on the Naked Bait skirt weight by sliding the o ring into the groves of the weight. Cut the tag ends. (You will now have a skirted weight.)
Step 3) Run the line through the fishing weight and tie on a fishing hook appropriately sized for your soft plastic trailer. I like to use a Poor Boy's Baits Bertha Bug.
Step 4) Rig your plastic weedless with the hook buried in the plastic.
Step 5) Catch fish!

Why does this work? Simple, I can put a jig "profile" in a place where a jig would be a ineffective to fish. It is the most weedless way to catch a bass in this situation. It will take you about a minute to make this set-up. But, if you fish a lot of heavy cover as I do, it will save you hours of pulling vegetation from your lure and trying to muscle a stuck jig back to the boat.

OMEGA ALPHA SHAD

When it comes to catching better than average fish I would say my two favorite baits to throw are jigs and buzzbaits. Jigs do such a great job of getting deep into the cover where the big girls live, while buzzbaits can produce the most explosive strikes.

I have been throwing OMEGA Custom Tackle's jigs for a while now with great success and just recently I started throwing the New OMEGA ALPHA Shad buzzbait. The ALPHA Shad has just been tearing them up. While there are a lot of other buzzbaits out on the market you can really see and appreciate all the time and effort that went into creating the ALPHA Shad.

When you retrieve the bait it comes to the surface really fast and the gold blades shimmer in the sun as they hit each other on every turn of the reel which produces a ton of spit and noise unlike any buzzbait I've ever thrown. The buzzbait produces a great bubble trail and the skirt pulsates in the water giving off a tremendous amount of action. The blades allow you to crawl it along the bank really slow and keep it in the strike zone.This buzzbait produces the sound and action of a double buzzer but is real easy to cast due to a 7/16oz head.

The ALPHA Shad has a Z wire which works with a long shank Gamakatsu to hook bass fast and keep them hooked all the way to the net. I haven't found the need to add a trailer hook yet. The skirts are really lively and it's available in the Chartruese Shad "Big Money" color and Black.

The OMEGA Custom Tackle ALPHA Shad is now available at www.omegacustomtackle.com

Tackle Warehouse and AiRRUS Rods

One of my favorite places to purchase fishing tackle online is Tackle Warehouse. Tackle Warehouse carries just about everything that you can imagine and they have three different models of AiRRUS Rods in stock.

The AiRRUS Feather Touch T6 is available and has features that could only be found on a custom made rod. The rod features a one of a kind Feather Touch Reel Seat which is built with air craft grade aluminum that reduces weight and increases strength and sensitivity. The handle puts an angler in direct contact with the rod blank which reduces weight and allows for the ultimate feel. This rod also has an aluminum screw lock cap that reduces weight from a foregrip and allows faster transmission of vibration to the reel seat increasing sensitivity. The rod has Fugi Alconite Guides which are extremely durable and allow line to flow through without drag which increases casting distance and accuracy. These rods also feature the popular split grip handle design which adds style as well as performance. The rod is also assembled in Texas by American craftsmen.

AiRRUS Feather Touch T6



Tackle Warehouse also has the AiRRUS Ultra XL in stock. This rod has thermalon grips which trap heat and keep your hands warmer on cold days while wicking away moisture and adding comfort which all add up to less hand fatigue after a days worth of fishing. The rod comes with two interchangeable butt sections which can be easily swapped out allowing the angler to customize the rod for different presentations. The sections are 4 1/2" and 7 1/2". I have found this feature to come in handy when throwing jerkbaits in the winter and then cranking in the summer. I like to stick the 4 1/2" in for jerkbaits in the winter time because a shorter handle doesn't get caught up my clothing as much as a longer handle would making it easier to work a jerkbait. The 7 1/2 inch comes in handy for increasing your leverage when you need to make two handed casts with a deep diving crankbait. The interchangeable grip is a great feature that you just can't find on any other rod on the market. Ultra XL rods are extremely light and easy to handle and make putting in those long hours on the water a whole lot easier. If your looking for a rod with great performance and style this is one rod you need to try.

Top to Bottom: AiRRUS Ultra XL, Co-Matrix 457, Copperhead Series, Ultra XL, Co-Matrix 457.

The AiRRUS Co-Matrix 457 is also available at Tackle Warehouse. The Co-Matrix has a great feel and is priced right for the angler who is looking for a lot of performance without breaking the bank. The rod has a thermalon grip which makes it really comfortable in your hand which is a big plus. The grip also wicks away mositure and keeps your hands warm on those chilly days. These rods are really durable and can take a ton of abuse. I have used the Co-Matrix 457 in the 7 foot medium heavy action for pitching jigs and plastics for the past couple of years without having any break. The durability has saved me a lot of money that I have been able to put towards other expenses like gas and entry fees. Even though everyone tells you not to swing fish over 5lbs in the boat, I do that all the time with these rods and it doesn't seem to hurt them at all.

Success with the Naked Bait Co. Skirted Weight System

Although a lot of anglers might be more familiar with the Pay Check Baits Punch Skirt, which was just recently created out on the West Coast for fishing the California Delta and other grass filled lakes, The Naked Bait Co. Skirted Weight System has been a secret set-up with anglers on the East Coast and throughout the Midwest for some time.

Naked Bait Co. Pro Jon Stanco who hails from Plainville, CT has been reaping the benefits of the Skirted Weight System for the past couple of years since he joined forces with Naked Bait Company. Stanco has been using the Skirted Weight System to probe the immense grassbeds on his home waters, the Great Lakes.

Stanco said the Skirted Weight System really shines when fishing grass that doesn't top out and canopy on the waters surface to where it is open underneath. Often Stanco finds himself fishing coontail grass on some of his favorite lakes and it can be a real challenge to get a jig to come through the grass easily. Stanco said that whenever he would try to bring a jig through the coontail, he would have to often fight to get his jig to come through a lot of times and it would a lot of times come back with grass all over the weedguard which made for an unatural presentation. When he started using the Skirted Weight System, fishing the grass became a whole lot easier. He was also able to keep the same profile and action of a jig but have a bait that wouldn't get caught up in the grass.

Recently Stanco used the Skirted Weight System to flip up big smallmouths on braided line on grass beds that were in six and half to twelve feet of water. His setup consisted of 3/4 oz to 1oz Skirted Weights that he pitched on a flipping stick with 65lb test braid which enabled him to yank the hard fighting smallmouth out of the grass and into the boat. Stanco has shared his Skirted Weight technique with a couple of close friends who have become big believers in the Skirted Weight System. He admits that a lot of his friends thought the rig was a bit goofy until they gave it a try and then they witnessed its performance first hand.

Stanco does make a small modification to his Skirted Weights by taking a sharpie and coloring the Naked Bait Co. Skirted Weights whatever color he desires. After he is done coloring the weights he will add a clear coat to give the weights a slick finish. He says it's more of a confidence thing and that the unpainted weights will work just as good.

One thing is for sure the Skirted Weight System from Naked Bait Company is catching on with anglers all across the country and the whole system is a lot more economical than other variations on the market. Naked Bait Companies Skirted Weight System can be purchased by visiting www.nakedbaitco.com.

The Ultimate Twist on Hooks.....The Honey Hole

Over the past couple of years there have been so many improvements to boats,motors, rods, and reels and all have made fishing much more enjoyable. Honey Hole Hooks has now shaken up the hive with their innovation and technology in producing one of the biggest break throughs in hook design with the Spring Hook.

There are a couple of reasons why I like the Spring Hook. The hook does a superb job of keeping my plastics perfectly positioned with the screw-like keeper that is one with the shank. There are no swinging screws to break or become worn after catching a couple of big ones. I don't have to go through the hastle of adding super glue or stop fishing during the course of the day to adjust my plastic to keep it positioned correctly on the hook. These factors add up to make me much more efficient on the water which is one of the keys to success. I'm also saving a lot of money because I don't got through as many plastics. The keeper holds the plastic on really good and it doesn't tear or rip like on other hooks.


Spring Hooks are sharp as a needle out of the package and I have always been able to get great hook penetration. A hook isn't much good though if it's just sharp. A great hook also has to hold up to the abuse of rocks, stickups, and hard pulling bass in thick cover. The Spring Hook has been the strongest hook that I have ever thrown and I have yet to break one in half. The points hold up great and I know this because I have set the hook on a fair share of logs and rocks to have the hook come back just as good as new.


In order to get your hands on the Spring Hook please visit Honey Hole Hooks website at http://www.honeyholehooks.com/