“Minnesota’s Mark Gomez Fishes Mister Twister and Mepps Products”

Part 1: Meet the Mister Twister Comida

Editor’s Note: Mark Gomez of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, in the Minneapolis Metro area, is a tournament-bass fisherman and vice president of the Minnesota B.A.S.S. Federation Nation, the amateur arm of B.A.S.S.

Question: Mark, why do you like the Mister Twister Comida?

Gomez: The Mister Twister Comida is my bread-and-butter lure for bass fishing. My favorite colors are Christmas tree and holographic silver. These colors are productive in the spring when the bass move up to the sand in about 1 foot of water. When I cast out the Comida, I let it float toward the bottom. The Comida sails down with a weird action, especially if you twitch it during the fall. The bass can’t stand that action and really will gobble-up the bait.

Question: How do you rig the Comida?

Gomez: I rig it a couple of different ways. In the springtime, I’ll use a heavy-action rod and a No. 4/0 wide-gap hook with 50-pound-test braided line. I’ll Texas rig the Comida and cast it toward sand or heavy weeds in shallow water. When I rig the Comida this way, I rig the bait with a weightless hook to send the Comida on a slow fall. The fall, however, isn’t nearly as important as the way you fish the Comida after the fall. Once the Comida falls on sand or in grass, I dead-stick it. I don’t move my rod tip. I watch my line for the strike. When I see a twitch on the line, I reel-up those bass.

Question: How long do you let the Comida sit still before you move it or reel it into the boat?

Gomez: I’ll allow the Comida to sit still for at least 30 seconds because I’ve noticed the bass will stay suspended and move close to the Comida to look at it. The bass almost will have a staring contest with this bait. Since the lure hasn’t moved, a bass will make up its mind to move in and eat the Comida. Oftentimes when a bass is looking at the Comida, if I twitch the bait, the bass will turn, swim away and never return. In the past, I’ve tried fishing the Comida several different ways without as much success.

So, I watched the bass in clear water to observe the bass’s reactions to the Comida. After observing the bass’ reaction to the Comida, I decided that dead-sticking the bait was the most-productive way to fish this lure. By watching the bass’ response when I moved the Comida, I learned to watch the bass and let them show me how they wanted the bait presented to them.

Question: Most fishermen wacky-rig the Comida. Do you ever rig this bait wacky style?

Gomez: Yes, I do. But I rig it a little differently than everyone else. The Comida is a deadly lure for dock fishing. Most people stick the hook through the center of the worm, so that the worm wiggles on both ends as it falls. By watching the Comida fall, I’ve learned that if I move the hook from the center either to the left or to the right, the worm has a completely-different action and catches more bass.

Moving the hook causes one side of the worm to be heavier than the other side of the worm. The side furthest away from the hook seems to wiggle more than the side closest to the hook, making the worm dive. The Comida doesn’t wiggle on both ends like a normal wacky-rigged worm will, and it doesn’t dive nose-first like a Texas-rigged worm. The Comida has a different kind of fall than the bass have ever seen before, and this unique fall is one reason why I’ve been able to catch numbers of bass using this bait and tactic.

Question: What type of tackle do you use?

Gomez: I fish spinning tackle with 15-pound-test line and a 7-foot rod.