Ask The Pro

Ask the Pro: Jim Moynagh

This week, Jim Moynagh discusses how available prey affects a bass bite, how co-anglers should approach their pro partners with advice and how to improve your chances of “feeling” a jig bite.

If you are interested in participating in future columns, submit questions along with your full name and address via e-mail to askthepro@jacobsinteractive.com.

Q & A with JIM MOYNAGH


Q: Does the amount of prey available on a particular lake affect the bass bite? Have you ever experienced a time when crayfish molt or spawn that would make fishing impossible due to the overwhelming amount of available baitfish? We were recently fishing a smallmouth lake with lots of rocks and good smallmouth structure, but the fish were few and far between. We actually wound up catching more crayfish than smallmouth that day. My question is this: Is their a way to catch these fish when there is an overabundance of food?

- Mike Jensen , Rice Lake, Wis.

A: I’ve fished two smallmouth lakes in the past that have had massive crawdad populations – Lake of the Woods in Canada and Lake Vermillion in Minnesota. There are so many crawdads in these lakes that they actually pinch onto to your lures as they drag along the bottom. If you look around in the shallows, you’ll see countless crawdads, even during a bright sunny day! But just like your examples, Lake of the Woods and Vermillion have excellent populations of smallmouths. Obviously, crawdads are a huge part of their diet. However, despite all of these extremely vulnerable crawdads everywhere, awesome numbers of bass can still be caught from these waters.

For whatever reason, smallies will still chase an artificial lure despite the abundance of crawdads. I do notice at times that smallies, in this type of environment, will tend to feed down toward the bottom of the lake. It’s like they’re conditioned to search for food on the bottom where the crawdads inhabit. Therefore I recommend crawling something along the bottom – either a Jim Moynagh’s Rock Jig or a tube (both available at allterraintackle.com). This is not a hard and fast rule though, because I’ve had lots of fun catching smallies from these waters on minnowbaits and top-waters as well.

In the end, I believe weather has more influence on the aggressiveness of smallies versus forage abundance. Instead, the role of the type of forage and its availability will often dictate which presentations will be successful. In the presence of a dominant forage species, smallies can become very choosy. They’ll still behave very aggressively towards the right presentation, but may ignore most other offerings.


Q: As a co-angler who has fished for over 20 years, I hesitate to say anything to my pro when I think he is doing something incorrectly. But if I truly believe my advice would help, how should I go about approaching these concerns?

- Robert Faber , Waldorf, Md.

A: Wow, interesting question! I’ll break it down into two different types of information you can help with. First, there’s help with locating areas to fish. If you have pre-fished, let your pro know that you did at the registration meeting. By informing him of this, the ball is now in his court. He may want to know more about it, or he may not. If he doesn’t want to know anything about it, don’t push it. Many pros don’t want to muddy their minds with information that may blur their focus. Maybe he’ll ask more about it while you’re fishing, if his patterns or spots don’t produce. The other type of help would be with presentation. I would just let your own catch do the talking here! If you are catching bass and the pro isn’t, let him come to you for advice. If he doesn’t, it’s his loss because he just blew a chance to learn something! But most pros will eventually want to know how you’re getting the bass to bite and will start asking questions. This would be the time to offer your suggestions.

Q: I am just starting to learn how to fish a jig, but I am having trouble feeling the bite. Some people have told me to go with heavier or lighter jigs. But does the weight of the jig really matter that much to someone who is just starting out? Any advice would be appreciated.
- Buddy French , Monticello, Miss.

A: One thing that can rob us of “feel” is slack in the line. Lighter jigs are more prone to allowing slack, especially in the presence of wind. Heavier jigs will maintain a tighter line and, therefore, a better “feel.” Two other aspects of your equipment also affect “feel” – the rod and line. Most rods are constructed of fiberglass, or some combination of fiberglass and graphite. Graphite is a much better transmitter of “feel” compared to fiberglass. The amount of graphite built into a rod will vary; therefore, shop for a rod with a high degree of graphite. Fishing line is the other thing affecting “feel.” When spooling up, choose a line with low stretch to maximize sensitivity. Stretchy lines do have a place, but they will deaden “fee,l” especially on longer casts. Berkley Vanish is a type of fluorocarbon line that has little stretch and would enhance your “feel.” If you like braided lines (which basically have no stretch), try Berkley’s Fireline or SpiderWire Stealth.

Q: When the weather is really windy and there is not much available sun, what techniques do you try to employ in order to catch fish?
- Hank , Indianapolis, Ind.

A: Wind and/or cloud cover tend to increase the “strike zone” and aggressiveness of bass. The “strike zone” is defined as the distance a bass is willing to move to capture prey/lures. Therefore, under these conditions, I may opt for presentations that cover more water and tend to call the bass to them (mainly spinnerbaits and crankbaits). If I need to stick with fishing jigs or soft plastics, I’ll hurry up the presentation a bit in order to cover more water.


Hailing from Carver, Minn., Jim Moynagh has been an integral member of the FLW Tour since 1997. With career earnings approaching $485,000 and five top-10 finishes on the FLW Tour to his credit - including a first-place finish on Lake Minnetonka in 1997, a second-place finish on the Connecticut River in 1998 as well as a ninth-place finish on Lake Murray in 1999, a third-place finish on Lake Champlain in 2002 and a fourth-place finish on Beaver Lake in 2003 - Moynagh has clearly carved out a niche as one of the more consistent and successful anglers on the tour. Readers can find more information about Jim Moynagh at his Web site located at moynagh.com. Moynagh's sponsors include Ranger Boats, Yamaha Motors and Minn Kota trolling motors.




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