Out West Crankin’ – Its Just Plain Different! - Part II
The Secrets to Fishing the Clear Deep Reservoirs of Arizona
by Chuck Bailey
In Part I, Intruder Baits prostaffer Bill Garcia shared some hard earned bass fishing secrets to unlocking the clear deep reservoirs of Arizona. He began with helping us rethink the way we fish, and helped us grasp an effective shallow water crankbait pattern. Now, he explores what to do when the bass move a little deeper.
DEEPER?
So if the shallow presentations (6 - 8 feet) don’t capture the bass’ attention, Bill goes deeper – again, fishing the same stretch of shoreline. “My two favorite deep divers are the Deep-X and The Slither. If I want go 12 to 25 feet, those are the two I go to.”
The Slither looks longer and is more banana-shaped (like something walleye anglers tend to use). Bill acknowledges this but states, “Slithers can get through those tighter spots without getting caught up. For instance, when you are between two different rock ledges, and you actually want to accurately direct the bait – whatever direction your rod tip is pointing towards, that is where The Slither is going. Because of the long, slimmer bill, you can ‘drive it' right and left with your rod tip much better than you can with a wide-billed crank, such as the Deep-X.” Still, Bill uses both because they present a different look to the bass, even though they both fish the same depths.
How does Garcia pick which deep-diver to throw first? Just a glance at The Slither and it’s obvious this bait in no way resembles the shad in the lake. Bill picks it first when he wants to throw something different from what they are used to seeing. Besides, he says “You’re not going to have shad going down to that depth level consistently anyway, and the bass know that.” Anything that reaches that deeper level commonly carries a different profile than the shad. Even the Deep-X is more bass-shaped than shad-shaped – but shape doesn’t seem to be the primary triggering factor at this depth.
In deeper water color can be important, but no more important than with the shallow crankbaits. The water is still clear so there is no need to go to brighter or darker shades to present ‘contrast’ as when fishing stained water. For instant, Bill prefers his Slither, with either a “goldish pattern with red bottom and black back” or one painted in just “plain silver”. Another favorite is “silver with a red face and chartreuse belly”.
What is important to remember is that these deeper bass have seen everything else the angler threw higher up in the water column, but being inactive, they’re less likely to rise up and chase those shallow baits down. So the angler must bring the meal to the bass. Bill pictures the fish saying “Yeah, it’s too hot during the midday, buddy, and I’ve seen 15 tempting lures today and they all look good. But I’m too hot, and I’m staying here in the shade right where I am at.”
Until, of course, the angler temptingly brings the meal down to their level. Then, no longer having to expend a lot of energy or move far from their comfortable shade - why not eat? Still, Bill reminds us that just because a lure enters the deeper fish’s smaller strike zone, it still has to be appealing. One deep-diving crank may wiggle, and another wobble, and an angler may still have to experiment on that same stretch of water with a variety of shapes, sizes, retrieves, speeds, etc... until the right combinations on the menu are served up trigger a strike.
WORKING A STRETCH
Prediction: a visiting angler in Arizona will quickly become frustrated if all they do is run down a rocky shoreline blindly casting ahead of the boat. Bill strongly suggests sticking with a shorter stretch of shoreline, turning around, and coming back through again and again – utilizing different lures, speeds, depths, actions and presentations. It is important to remember that the hidden bass are seeing everything you are throwing, they’re just not seeing it presented the way they want it. But as soon an angler presents the right crankbait at the right level utilizing the right presentation – all that attention to detail will start to pay off...
“That’s the way it works,” Bill insists. Once the proper menu has been discovered and presented, then suddenly, “You catch one. Two casts later you catch another. And two casts later you’re on your third fish.” And once you have figured out what they want, an angler can now take that pattern anywhere on the lake and produce the same thing – at least for a while. “Until the lake has a major change. For instance, once the sun starts going down, it may now be time to move back up and use something that runs a little shallower.”
EQUIPMENT – SCENT, SNAPS, AND KNOT
While Garcia believes in scent for plastics, he sees no need for it when throwing hardbaits.
When it comes to connecting his line to the crankbait, he ties his knot directly to the eyelet. Bill is one of those traditional crankbait fishermen who see no need for snaps. “I feel that the additional weight is detrimental, and believe that crankbaits are not 
designed to run with snaps or swivels on them. I find it hard to believe that all manufacturers design their baits by keeping in mind that some anglers are adding an extra 1/8 of an ounce of metal to it. I suspect a snap makes the lures run significantly differently from the designer’s intent.”
“No, I tie a traditional palomar knot. I think the other main reason I don’t I don’t like snaps, is it is just one more thing between me and the fish that can fail. I’m tying that knot directly onto that eyelet, and I don’t have to worry about another little piece fouling up if I’ve got a big fish on the end of the line.”
HOOKS
Bill admits that many lures come from the manufacturer supporting cheap and dull hooks, but this is not the case with any of the Intruder Series. “Net-Pro hooks work very, very well. In fact, last summer I had a frog colored Pop Top II, (pro-series), that I took down to Texas with me where I had 468 fish for the entire day! I was just nailing the bass. They ranged from 2 pounds to 9 and a half pounds. It was an angler’s dream! I used the same factory hooks that came on the products all day long.”
“The only reason I have swapped the hook out is for action.” Bill explains, “I have found that if I put a larger front hook and a smaller back hook on a lure like the Enticer, it runs just a little better. Otherwise, the Net-Pro hooks are fantastic.”
RODS, REELS, AND RETRIEVES
Bill uses 7 1/2 to 8 foot medium heavy rods, which seems a little stiff for open water crankbaits. So when asked about it, he chucked and confessed. “Why medium heavy? The honest truth? Because I haven’t had the money to replace them all! Truth is, they are what I used in the Midwest and down south. They are a little stiffer than needed, true, but I have been able to compensate for the stiffness by loosening my drag and just playing my fish carefully. In my dream world I would use 8 foot medium action rods. But why switch and spend the extra money if I don’t have to.” Never knowing where the Navy will send him next, Bill is sensitive to the fact that fishermen must use whatever equipment they have and doesn’t believe a visiting angler has to purchase new equipment to fish out west.
As to gear ratios on baitcasting reels, Bill explains “I believe the 6 to 1 gear ratio creates one of the most diverse reels you can get. You can run it fast, but you can also run it slow. It’s almost the ‘all-in-one’ – if you will. In my opinion, the 6 to 1 is just a very generic reel that allows you do a variety of things. You can not only use cranks, but you can flip a 6 to 1 easily. You can go deep with Texas or Carolina rigs. You can use it for topwater.”
Though an opposing train of thought suggests it’s hard for an angler to slow a higher geared reel down, Bill disagrees. He believes it’s easier to slow down a 6 to 1, than try to take a 3.5 to 1 and make it speed up all day to throw faster moving presentations. Recognizing that “reel ratios” is a controversial issue, Bill finds it ironic that anglers who fish soft plastics can leave their cast out for 15 minutes so as not too rush the presentation, but are unable to slow their crankbait down to run at the required speeds. With the proper discipline, a higher geared reel can be fished slow and fast.
Though Bill utilizes a variety of retrieves while exploring what fish prefer, one of the most productive shallow water retrieves is basically a three count presentation. After getting the bait down to its running depth, Bill cranks the rod two times, and on the third, adds a short steady rod pull. The count is… Crank One, Crank Two, and Crank and pull. “And that hesitation while you are reeling in the slack, allows your lure to repositioning itself, often triggering a strike. I do this three count retrieve over and over again during the full retrieve.”
HEAT AND LIVEWELLS
Many of the Arizona tournaments Bill Garcia fishes in, follow what is called an “All-star” format. Each contestant brings only one bass to the weigh station. Naturally big fish wins. And many of these one day tournaments take place during the evening or even at night. Why? “I think it is the heat.” Bill explains. “If you expose 5 fish into a crowded livewell during the heat of the day, it is possible that 3 or 4 may not make it out alive.”
So if an angler is going to go out to an Arizona lake and wants to keep a few fish their livewell, they have to make sure they are keeping the water cool. Bill insists, “Your livewell in your boat must work. What I do is get a 20 pound bag of ice and divide it up into two different bags and put it into both of my livewells. Now granted, it melts in the first hour and a half, but you now have that cooler water recirculating within. And I also keep a reserve 20 pound bag of ice underneath one of my passenger seats that has a built-in cooler. And if I am in a tournament, later on during the day, I will add that in also. The temperature and circulation of livewells out here is critical.”
BAIT BOILS
Anyone who peruses the pages of outdoor fishing magazines has stumbled upon tales of anglers running across "bait boils" on large clear water reservoirs. The articles described participants experiencing heart pounding non-stop action in terms of catching both quantity and quality of fish. This is possible in Arizona. Bill always keeps his eyes peeled for bait boils. “If my fishing partner and I see a boil, (even if we’re running at 60 miles an hour), we will immediately stop the engine.” But before grabbing the rod, Bill observes the direction and speed of the boil.
“It’s almost like deer hunting. I will look and ask ‘where are they going?’ I look for their trail. So perhaps I notice that this school of bait may be working their way from east to west. After noting direction and speed, my goal is not to interfere with their line of path. I grab my Mutant (lipless crankbait), and I try to get ahead of the bait boil while matching their speed. Then I cast behind the bait school. I want my crankbait going in the same direction as the bait boil. But hopefully the Mutant is looking like a straggler that’s fallen behind and trying to catch up. I want my crankbait to act as if I am one of those frightened shad that is running from the trailing predators.”
“It’s important to try and stay ahead of the shad,” advises Bill. “Most of the predators we hope to catch are 4 to 10 yards behind the boil, between the surface and 6 feet down. That’s where I have caught all of mine. But understand, the majority of what you will catch are stripers. I have caught largemouths, but I’d say 80% will be stripers. But in my opinion, when you are fishing for fun, a bass is a bass.”
WEATHER CHANGES
Should an angler arrive on one of those rare days when clouds move in and the sunshine fades, Bill says the bass generally tend to run shallower. They are no longer concerned about hiding in the shade; they tend to roam more freely. But the water clarity doesn’t change, and the same baits in the same sizes and colors work well. Any of the shallow-running, shad-imitating crankbaits drive the bass nuts.
GPS?
If an angler doesn’t own a GPS – don’t worry, says Bill. “Out here, you’ll use a GPS for navigation only. Marking a fishing spot in the spring on your GPS that will be 75 feet in the air by fall doesn’t make a lot of sense. If you are fishing an unfamiliar Arizona lake for the first time, you may want to use it just to follow the same exact line back to your launch, but generally you won’t have to worry about getting lost.”
“When you are fishing on Lake Michigan where you have miles and miles of shallow water flats that all looks alike, that’s an entirely different story. But on Lake Pleasant and other Arizona lakes where the majority of your fishing is going to be along the shoreline, GPS isn’t going to make a big difference.”
LAKE ROOSEVELT
What Bill has learned on Lake Pleasant has paid off handsomely when fishing other Arizona deep-water canyon lakes. Most fo these lakes fish the same. The exception is Roosevelt. Why? Because Roosevelt is the rare lake that does have vegetation, grass, gravel, dirt bottoms and many of the features that resemble Midwest or southern lake fishing environments. Bill believes that is why many big pro-tournaments are held at Roosevelt - not because it has bigger or more fish – it’s just easier for visiting anglers to fish a body of water similar to what they have at home.
Other lakes like Apache, Canyon, Saguaro, Barklett and many more reservoirs, more closely resemble Lake Pleasant than Lake Roosevelt. Visitors should be aware that “Lake Roosevelt is an entity of its own.”
ARIZONA FISHING – A HUGE SECRET
Bill was asked why we don’t read or hear much about monster fish, (10, 11, and 12 pound fish), coming out of Arizona like we do in southern or Midwest waters. “Personally, I don’t think there are that many anglers out here with enough experience on these waters to produce those larger fish. But they are here.”
“‘The big quest out west’ started a few years ago when big bass were discovered in California. Almost instantaneously, people were booking trips to Castaic for a week at a time, trying to catch these big gigantic bass. Well, that put California waters and bass on the map. Arizona lakes were by-passed. That’s too bad, because as far as I am concerned, Arizona bass fishing is still a huge untapped secret!”
Bill Garcia admits that fishing in Arizona is just plain “different”, but feels that these lakes with their shad forage populations make them a perfect venue to utilize crankbaits. With a few adjustments, anglers from around the country will discover and meet the challenge of finding bass in clear-water canyon reservoirs. Are you up to the challenge?
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Bill Garcia is one of the brightest young anglers impacting the fishing industry today. A pro-staffer for Intruder Baits, http://www.netprolures.com/, Bill is a man of great faith, a strong husband and father to his three 3 children, and has been serving his country in the Navy for more than a decade. Comments and questions should be addressed to Bill Garcia at info@netprolures.com.
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