Typically, schooling bass come up all of a sudden and require long casts. You need a lure that’s heavy enough to get out there and a rod and reel that will let you make long casts.
My rig for schooling bass is a 7 ½-foot medium-heavy rod and baitcasting reel with 20-pound-test braid. And because I’ll need something that I can get some distance with, I like a small half-ounce spoon or a tail-weighted pencil popper or jerkbait. Which one works the best usually depends on the size of the shad that the bass are busting.
The most important thing is that you keep the rig ready to go on the casting deck, even if you don’t use it for anything else. Any time bass come up within 100 yards of where you’re fishing, you need to get on them fast, and that’s why you keep this kind of rig handy.
-- Chevy pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C.
