by Dustin Wilks,
Late summer largemouth can be quite tricky. Water conditions can be all over the place. But one thing is for certain – a lot of fish will be shallow.
Bass will often use shallow, isolated cover. One of my favorite baits for fishing around this cover is the Culprit Fat Max. I use this to make short casts directly into the cover and also to swim around the outer edges of cover.
The Fat Max is a unique worm that was difficult to manufacture – that is why you won’t find anything like it on the market. It was designed with the tail oriented upward and the flat side of the belly down. Not an easy bait design to produce, but we did it for balance that is crucial to heavy cover fishing.
This, combined with the thicker body and tail, makes it the ideal worm for heavy cover fishing. It also allows for the use of larger hooks and heavier weights required for getting fish hooked and out of the thick stuff.
Also, the Fat Max profile presents the fish with something different from all the creatures and jigs they are accustomed to seeing in shallow water.
Fat Max has a lot of “presence,” making it easier for bass to detect in the often stained water fishermen like to find in late summer.
Bass will usually bite this bait swimming just above the bottom after the initial fall. This appeals to fish set up slightly deeper or just off the cover they are feeding in.
Use a 5/16 or 3/8 oz. weight Texas rig with 4/0 hook and 20 lb. Fluorocarbon for the thick stuff.
When the going gets tough, the tough reach for the Fat Max!
