“Catching Bass, Walleye, Northern Pike, Crappie and Muskie with Greg Haut”

Part 4: Dead Stick the Comida, If You Can Stand It

Editor’s Note: Greg Haut of Waukesha, Wisconsin, tournament bass fisherman, also guides in central Wisconsin for bass, walleye, northern pike, crappie and the occasional muskie. “I guide for any species my clients want to catch,” Haut says.

Question: Greg, what’s another tactic you use to catch bass?

Haut: I love to fish the Mister Twister Comida. My favorite colors are sand with a gold flake, Junebug, plum with the red and blue flake and rootbeer green with a copper flake. I try to match the color of the bait to the water clarity where I’ll be fishing. I really like to fish the Comida wacky-style by hooking the bait right through the center. I like to cast it out and let the fall give the bait its action. I fish this bait very slowly when bass are biting slow and are hard to catch.

This tactic is great when fishing for bedding bass or fishing on a lake with a lot of fishing pressure. I’ve caught many tournament fish on the Comida. When fishing the Comida rigged wacky-style, as the bait hits the bottom, most people will twitch it up off the bottom, let it fall back, reel it in fast and make another cast. But I’ve found that I catch more fish by casting it out, letting it fall to the bottom and then letting it sit on the bottom (dead-sticking).

Question: How long do you let the Comida sit on the bottom?

Haut: I let the bass tell me how long they want the bait to sit on the bottom before I move it. I’ve had days where the only way a bass would take the bait was when you’d leave the rod laying on the deck of your boat, go get a sandwich, return and pick up the rod. I generally try not to move the Comida when I’m dead-sticking it until I’m bored. When I just can’t stand not moving the bait any longer, then I’ll move the bait. So, there’s no set time for how long you should leave the bait on the bottom.

In the last tournament I fished, to catch the bass, I had to fish in 8 feet of water next to a boat dock and let the Comida lie on the bottom as long as I could stand it. The day was really windy. Therefore, I couldn’t hold the boat steady for a long time. So, I let the Comida lie on the bottom until I had to move the boat or else drag the Comida. I’d usually pick up my rod just before I’d get ready to move the boat, and that’s when the bass would take it.

Question: Do you catch more bass with the Comida rigged wacky style when the bait’s falling or lying still on the bottom?

Haut: I catch more bass when I’m dead-sticking the bait than on the fall.

Question: How did you start dead-sticking the Comida?

Haut: I started using this tactic accidentally. I fish a lot by myself, and I like to fish two rods. I’m not a real-patient person, so waiting for the Comida to reach the bottom and leaving it still on the bottom for some time isn’t one of my favorite things to do, even though I know it catches bass. So, I’ll cast the Comida out, sit that rod down, let the Comida fall and lay on the bottom and then pick up another rod and start casting and retrieving with a search bait like the Black Fury Combo Killer. If I see the rod with the Comida gets a strike, I’ll set the hook and catch a bass. So, anytime I’m fishing the Comida, I usually have a second rod I can cast and retrieve in search of bass, while I’m waiting on the bass to take the Comida.

Question: On what pound-test line do you fish the Comida?

Haut: I prefer to use 10-pound-test fluorocarbon line on the rod with the Comida. I generally use a No. 3/0 wide-gap hook without a sinker up the line. I let the weight of the hook pull the Comida down to the bottom.

To fish with Greg Haut, call (262) 385-2245, email greg@thehautdoors.com, or visit www.thehautdoors.com.