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Video: A Deadly Hack for Bass Fishing Heavy Cover

Angler holding large fish on boat; hat reads "CATCH FISH NOT FEELINGS"

Oliver NgyOliver Ngy is a self-taught angler from Southern California. He learned the values of commitment and dedication at an early age, and has since become a familiar face in the bass scene. He's renowned for catching monster fish of many species with a specialty in double-digit largemouth and 5-plus-pound smallmouth bass. Oliver is currently competing nationally in the Bassmaster Open Tour while exploring multi species fishing opportunities along the way. He has appeared on every season of MeatEater's fishing show, Das Boat.Sep 29, 2021

Basshave a way of catching lockjaw when they see the same presentation a bunch of times, especially when there’s 224 anglers doing the same thing. That’s how it was at the recent Bassmaster Open on the James River, and we all saw catch rates wane with traditional techniques.

In mylast videoI showed how to properly rig acreature baitfor flipping and pitching in heavy cover. In this clip, I’ll teach you how to how to use those same basic elements to create an entirely different presentation that may draw more strikes when the fish are being finicky.

It’s called a Bubba Shot rig—basically a really heavydropshotfor flipping into dense cover. I used the same blue creature bait and 1-ounce tungsten bullet weight, but instead of keeping it all inline I put the sinker at the terminal end, pegged to a split ring. I set the creature about 8 or 10 inches above it, nose-hooked with a bigwide-gap weedless hook.

This setup allowed me to continue punching, prospecting, and crawling through heavy cover with minimal snags, while creating a completely different presentation. The dropshot leader kept the bait suspended above the thick layer of bottom muck with the appendages flapping in the current. Just make sure you use aheavy rod,reel, and line in order to fish this rig right and get big fig out of that dense cover. Your chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Make sure to check out my appearance onDas Boat Northeastwhere I fish the famous Lake Champlain for largemouth andbowfinwith my buddy Blane Chocklett!